An Interesting Take on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Never really thought about this aspect of it before…
“What will be the effect on soldier-to-soldier relations? What will be the effect on two sailors submerged in the same submarine for a couple of months? Now, when this question is usually asked, it is asked with the assumption that I am raising the quesiton of one soldier or sailor hitting on the other one. Right now, he is not supposed to do that, or be open about his orientation. But that is not where my question lies. I am asking if the serviceman who is evangelical will be permitted to witness to his fellow serviceman, who is now out of the closet. Will he be allowed to believe that homosexuality is a sin that God will judge at the last day? Sure. Don’t ask. Will he be allowed to call his fellow serviceman to repentance? Surely not. Don’t tell.”
- Douglas Wilson
Read the full post here.
Yeah, Wilson had good thoughts on this issue. I heard Bill Bennett interviewing some lady this morning on his radio show and she brought up the great point that once homosexuals are openly allowed in the military, that will mean “diversity days” and diversity training will be a standard requirement. Ugh.
Darius:
Bill Bennett got that from World Net Daily, which is not a legitimate news source. World Net Daily got that from a 2008 study by the Center for Military Readiness, which is a non-profit funded by right-wing groups interested in opposing any attempts at softening DODT.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=86120
http://cmrlink.org/principles.asp
In fact, one CMR’s stated goals shows their slant:
“The armed forces should not be used for political purposes or social experiments that needlessly elevate risks, detract from readiness, or degrade American cultural values.”
In other words, they have a dog in this fight. They’re looking to smear anyone who threatens the ‘cultural values’ of America.. which, presumably, are whatever THEY decide. In this case, anti-homosexuality.
Now, I am no gay rights activist and I am a Christian. But this is just simply disinformation that you’re believing. There will be no forced diversity training to make members of the military accept homosexuality or homosexual behavior. NOWHERE has this been suggested except on right-wing websites that have a clearly stated agenda.
Just thought you should know.
By the way:
I would bet a decent amount of money that the woman Bill Bennett was talking to this morning was the President of CMR: Elaine Donnelly.
She likes to pass herself off as unbiased and non-partisan.. but she is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
..just checked Bill’s website. And I’m right. It was Ms. Donnelly.
http://www.billbennett.com/
You are wrong, Brian. Diversity training is already happening in all other areas of government… it is the height of foolishness to think it won’t happen in the the military. I’d recommend reading up about what’s going on in the UK for a better understanding of diversity training and how evil it truly is.
As for what cultural values are, that’s in the Bible. Homosexuality is wrong. And it corrodes every culture where it is propagated as morally good.
1. The type of diversity training to which you refer are not evil. It’s simply understanding that people are different and we should respect their personal choices – at its core, this is a libertarian view. Respecting other’s personal choices and not discriminating against them. This does not control YOUR beliefs. It just means you can’t discriminate or openly judge them – Which, Biblically speaking, you shouldn’t be doing ANYWAYS. So, what exactly is the problem here? Essentially, diversity training asks its participants to extend empathy, respect and acceptance to those around us – How is this not Biblical? Jesus accepts us ALL how we are and asks us to do the same for those around us. It doesn’t mean that we’re okay where we are – but it’s NOT our job to change people – it’s our job to love people as best we can without extending judgement. God uses this to convict in his own way and his own time.
2. Who cares what the Bible says? We are not a Christian nation. We are not a Christian government. We are not attempting to establish a religious theocracy. We do not form our laws from doctrinal statements of belief. You cannot draw a straight line from doctrinal statements to laws of the land.. there are far too many unintended consequences.
Brian E. said…
“It just means you can’t discriminate or openly judge them – Which, Biblically speaking, you shouldn’t be doing ANYWAYS.”
Well, that depends on what you mean by judge. To say that the Bible forbids openly judging anyone is ridiculous – after all, you’re openly judging the wisdom and morality of Darius’ position right now (as he is yours). If we’re talking the self-righteous judgment of the Pharisees, then no, we shouldn’t. If we’re talking about calling sin sin and pleading with people to repent and trust Christ, then we absolutely should. The Bible commands us to do that kind of judging, and I can promise you that it wouldn’t be acceptable according to these kind of diversity rules. That was the whole point of Wilson’s article, and I think he made it well.
Brian, your apparent understanding of Christianity is, in my opinion, badly lacking. Christ is Lord of all, and so it is our duty as Christians to promote His Lordship EVEN to those who will not bend their knees to Him.
Regarding diversity training… I assume that, based on your comment, you are completely ignorant of what goes on in such training. As Doug Wilson alluded to, this diversity training is likely to entail suppressing anyone who would dare tell a homosexual that he is in sin. Politically-correct diversity training (I suppose that’s redundant) is as anti-Biblical and anti-Christian a program as anything in society, since it promotes dishonest moral obfuscation and religious oppression (much like your comment above, which DJ pointed out). Diversity training paralyzes people from using common moral sense because they’re afraid they will commit the unpardonable sin: bigotry.
As DJ touched on, you seem not to want these Christian lobbyists to have their say unless they agree with you. You put “religious beliefs” in a special category in a dark corner to be mocked and spat on (and, gasp, judged!) while all other beliefs are allowed to enjoy full freedom of expression as long as they don’t mention God. In truth, all beliefs should have equal standing in society, no matter what informs them. “Rational secular thought” is no less religious than “fundamentalist Christian doctrine.”