The Military's Pro-Life Policy

If you can't stand behind our gay and lesbian soldiers, you better stand in front of them.

 

          Most people who have known me for a very long time know how I feel about life and its sanctity. Like what many churches preach, I believe the right to life is important, and without life, one is unable to make a choice. Life is a beautiful gift that must be protected at all costs.

           Since life is very important to me, it makes sense that I stand up for everything that protects life—including our laws in our legal system. War is an unfortunate and miserable reality in our world today; we are constantly bombarded with images of war-torn areas in the Middle East. Why would anyone want to live in such dangerous, fatal places on earth? Why would anyone want to see somebody they love go over there and have to life moment to moment, never knowing when the next bomb will drop or which corner they will turn before they are killed by a sniper? Unfortunately, there is no law forbidding war or any other mass violence crimes, and laws that at least put limitations on what can be done during these violent and fatal acts and in the military just has to be good enough for right now. I stand for any law that protects anyone from being killed or otherwise harmed in any way. That is why I stand by our “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in our United States government.

            “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, put into effect in 1993 by President Clinton, prohibits any military member from inquiring or otherwise announcing that they are homosexual or bisexual, and anyone who is found out to be homosexual or bisexual is dismissed from the service. I cannot tell you what a relief that is to me; I cannot bear it every time my gay friends even mention the idea of joining the military. I could never bear it if they even say the words, “I want to fight for our country”; getting trained, learning our laws, defending our Constitution, going out into the world to save other people’s lives, and promoting freedom and justice aren’t worth it to me if they will simply be killed in the process. I value them and their lives too much to let them die. I won’t let the decision they’ve made and the bravery I lack get in the way of their lives. Since I won't get out there and hold the gun myself, then I must do something else; I have elected to protect the right to life for our gay citizens. Certainly the Proposition 8 committee has missed the boat in granting homosexuals their right to marriage for the sake of preserving life in the way of procreation, but at least they did something right by not allowing homosexuals to serve in the military; it has saved countless of lives.

            “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” may be discriminatory against people when they attempt to join or when they are found out to be gay, but it certainly allows people the freedom to express their beliefs; anyone can say how much they disapprove of gays and not be disciplined for saying demeaning things about their fellow service members, and since, theoretically, this law does not allow for gays to be in the military in the first place, there is no one who would feel at all threatened or have their morale lowered by those kinds of comments, including straights who are sympathetic to gay rights. The comments are directed towards homosexuals, not towards people who are straight and yet are tolerant of homosexuality; there is no reason why people against gays would have any quarrel with straights that are tolerant of gays since they are still sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex. Perhaps since everyone is straight, the ones of the straight people who are sympathetic to gay rights can reason with people who are unsympathetic to gay rights; since everyone is straight, they will see eye-to-eye and see that being homosexual is not a prerequisite to being tolerant towards gays. In this case, however, enough people may decide that gays are every bit as capable as holding a gun, running long distances, flying planes, calculating strategies against the enemy, and having a passion to protect our country and everything it stands for; this may lead to a strike down of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which would send our gay citizens to their untimely deaths. Surely, the country isn’t willing to see more blood spilled. Most Americans are Christians, and with Jesus Christ’s non-violence stance as well as His preaching on love for one another’s neighbor, most Americans are abhorrently against violence and murder of any kind, so anyone who believes in His message must also believe in this life-saving policy.

            I am grateful for the rights our forefathers before us, as well as the many men who died in the American Revolution, fought to obtain for us, and for the many people who died in the Civil War to ensure equality for all. I am also proud to support “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” because it saves lives and protects people from being put down for being gay. Now gays don’t have to worry about being killed in combat; they can stay here in America where they can live and love. Promoting life is promoting love and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” guarantees the protection of life for gays right here in our country; they will never have to worry about anyone, anyone at all, in other countries trying to kill them.

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Drew Wade]

Nice and clear. One thought. Shouldn't it be listed as non-fiction?

[Matt]

Nice piece, astute and clear writing. I think connecting your own life to it makes it honest, lending strength to the argument.