Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Listening to Mike Gallagher this morning, he read on-air a letter written by a decorated Air Force serviceman who is awaiting his honorable discharge due to being "outed" as a gay man. Mike Gallagher is asking, "Why is this man being so wrongly treated? What changed after he was 'outed'? Why can't he continue to serve his country?"
As I was listening to him attack callers who were trying to defend "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as gay-haters, I just had to jot down a few of my thoughts on the subject.
When it comes to the debates surrounding the issue of homosexuality, it's really hard to come up with a one-liner response that would stand up to the 5-1/2 second window of time the typical talk show host will give you to say something that contradicts their argument.
I'm certainly not smart enough to claim that I've got it all figured out. I'm not even as well-read as I should be to tackle debating anyone on the issue (as proven in my recent debates) which is why I won't dare to call in to the Mike Gallagher show to attempt to make my argument. But I still have to work this out for myself since these types of issues come up in personal conversations as well. All I can do is take what I do know from what I have read and try to apply it to these issues.
I tried that approach with the gay marriage question by trying to defend the nature of marriage and show how a gay union cannot fit that definition, hence "gay marriage" is an impossible contradiction.
The deeper questions center on whether our society should just accept homosexuality (i.e. "sexual orientation") as another trait on equal footing with race or gender. Should one give no consideration to whether a person is gay when discerning their suitability for a given job or responsibility?
It is the general acceptance of homosexuality as "normal" by our society that bothers me most. This exercise in "tolerance" is masking what I believe to be a real disorder in people who are homosexual. This disorder affects more than their sex lives, but rather impacts their entire lives, including in some cases how they perform in their profession.
As someone who has suffered from chronic depression, I know what it feels like to suffer from a disorder that I did not want. I did not have much control over how it came to be a part of my life, and for a long time I didn't even know I was suffering from the disorder. I had to learn to identify the traits of the disorder, how it was affecting my life, and how to correct some of the imbalanced thought patterns which were perpetuating and at times intensifying the condition.
Depression is something that most affected people keep to themselves, not wanting others around them to know about it. People all around us have depression, and we don't know it. And if someone is "outed", the most common feeling is shame, and the most common response by their loved ones is, "well... just snap out of it!" which is at best not helpful, and at worst a gross misunderstanding that can actually make matters worse.
What if our society had decided that people who suffered from depression were just "born that way" and that they should be allowed to live their lives as depressed people on equal footing as everyone else? To remove the stigma of depression, what if laws were passed to legalize suicide and doctors were forced to provide assisted suicide for depressed people? What if school programs were developed to encourage teenagers to act depressed for a time to see if maybe depression was a "lifestyle choice" they would prefer? What if companies were forced to hire people who were "openly depressed", or the military was forced to accept potentially suicidal men and women? What if more and more television shows and movies included depressed characters who become role-models for our children to imitate? It's all a little absurd, isn't it?
If homosexuality was viewed as a disorder in the same way as depression or other forms of mental/physical disorder, then I think many of the hot controversies would take on a whole new color. As I said in my marriage debate, man is designed (physically, psychologically, and spiritually) to be mated with a woman, and vice versa. The result of this union is a family which is bonded in human love which we call marriage.
Homosexuality is a mental/physical disorder in which a man or a woman is unnaturally drawn to the same sex. This outward unnatural attraction reveals a disordered cognitive process, an imbalance of hormonal chemistry, and a fractured psychological makeup. Needless to say, this does not represent the ideal makeup of a person defending our country. People with this disorder need our help to restore them to a natural state of being in which they can find true happiness which is simply living life the way we were designed to live. (UPDATE 2/11/10 - Here's a great article making this point.)
By creating an environment of "acceptance" and "empowerment" we are perpetuating, and possibly even accentuating their condition from mild cases into extreme cases. People with this condition live broken lives, but most don't know it because they are told by everyone around them that there's nothing wrong with them. It is virtually impossible for them to experience real, true love since by definition this love requires a union of the sexes which results in new life. One of the greatest ironies is that the tolerance movement of our age has robbed homosexual people of living happier (and longer) lives.
While people who suffer from depression can legally have jobs in such industries as sales, police, military, suicide hotlines, etc., it's highly likely that their condition will affect their performance in these fields. Likewise, people with a homosexual disorder will be more likely affected by their condition in certain careers (as evidenced by the scandal of homosexual priests) which would include the military.
Folks like Mike Gallagher who say that the many homosexual men and women who currently serve in the military are being treated unjustly by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy argue that these men and women have served their country well and that this wouldn't change just because they were allowed to expose their homosexual tendencies. However, it is very likely that if a "tolerant" atmosphere were created in the military it would have the affect of intensifying the condition in people who until then were restraining those tendencies.
Proponents of repealing the policy are operating under the false idea that homosexual behavior would not be affected if the limitations on that behavior were removed. If homosexuality is listed as an acceptable "lifestyle" in the military, we would likely see an increase in the occurrence of homosexual activity among service men and women. Military disciplinary standards would probably limit visibility to the public but, there would most likely be an affect on the morale of the heterosexual members of the armed forces which would ultimately affect the effectiveness of our military forces and therefore impact our national security. For these reasons, I am not in favor of repealing the policy.
But I don't like the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for a different reason. I think people with homosexual tendencies should receive treatment and be restored to a heterosexual lifestyle. Those who have been cured say they are far happier than they ever were before. The "don't ask" policy allows those suffering from homosexuality to continue to do so in secret which is a great disservice to them. They deserve to be treated and lovingly cared for so that they can experience life to the fullest. That should be where our compassion for our fellow man and woman leads us. However there is a long, steep road ahead to changing the culture's course towards viewing homosexuality in this light. Until then, the "don't ask" policy is better than none at all.
As I was listening to him attack callers who were trying to defend "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as gay-haters, I just had to jot down a few of my thoughts on the subject.
When it comes to the debates surrounding the issue of homosexuality, it's really hard to come up with a one-liner response that would stand up to the 5-1/2 second window of time the typical talk show host will give you to say something that contradicts their argument.
I'm certainly not smart enough to claim that I've got it all figured out. I'm not even as well-read as I should be to tackle debating anyone on the issue (as proven in my recent debates) which is why I won't dare to call in to the Mike Gallagher show to attempt to make my argument. But I still have to work this out for myself since these types of issues come up in personal conversations as well. All I can do is take what I do know from what I have read and try to apply it to these issues.
I tried that approach with the gay marriage question by trying to defend the nature of marriage and show how a gay union cannot fit that definition, hence "gay marriage" is an impossible contradiction.
The deeper questions center on whether our society should just accept homosexuality (i.e. "sexual orientation") as another trait on equal footing with race or gender. Should one give no consideration to whether a person is gay when discerning their suitability for a given job or responsibility?
It is the general acceptance of homosexuality as "normal" by our society that bothers me most. This exercise in "tolerance" is masking what I believe to be a real disorder in people who are homosexual. This disorder affects more than their sex lives, but rather impacts their entire lives, including in some cases how they perform in their profession.
As someone who has suffered from chronic depression, I know what it feels like to suffer from a disorder that I did not want. I did not have much control over how it came to be a part of my life, and for a long time I didn't even know I was suffering from the disorder. I had to learn to identify the traits of the disorder, how it was affecting my life, and how to correct some of the imbalanced thought patterns which were perpetuating and at times intensifying the condition.
Depression is something that most affected people keep to themselves, not wanting others around them to know about it. People all around us have depression, and we don't know it. And if someone is "outed", the most common feeling is shame, and the most common response by their loved ones is, "well... just snap out of it!" which is at best not helpful, and at worst a gross misunderstanding that can actually make matters worse.
What if our society had decided that people who suffered from depression were just "born that way" and that they should be allowed to live their lives as depressed people on equal footing as everyone else? To remove the stigma of depression, what if laws were passed to legalize suicide and doctors were forced to provide assisted suicide for depressed people? What if school programs were developed to encourage teenagers to act depressed for a time to see if maybe depression was a "lifestyle choice" they would prefer? What if companies were forced to hire people who were "openly depressed", or the military was forced to accept potentially suicidal men and women? What if more and more television shows and movies included depressed characters who become role-models for our children to imitate? It's all a little absurd, isn't it?
If homosexuality was viewed as a disorder in the same way as depression or other forms of mental/physical disorder, then I think many of the hot controversies would take on a whole new color. As I said in my marriage debate, man is designed (physically, psychologically, and spiritually) to be mated with a woman, and vice versa. The result of this union is a family which is bonded in human love which we call marriage.
Homosexuality is a mental/physical disorder in which a man or a woman is unnaturally drawn to the same sex. This outward unnatural attraction reveals a disordered cognitive process, an imbalance of hormonal chemistry, and a fractured psychological makeup. Needless to say, this does not represent the ideal makeup of a person defending our country. People with this disorder need our help to restore them to a natural state of being in which they can find true happiness which is simply living life the way we were designed to live. (UPDATE 2/11/10 - Here's a great article making this point.)
By creating an environment of "acceptance" and "empowerment" we are perpetuating, and possibly even accentuating their condition from mild cases into extreme cases. People with this condition live broken lives, but most don't know it because they are told by everyone around them that there's nothing wrong with them. It is virtually impossible for them to experience real, true love since by definition this love requires a union of the sexes which results in new life. One of the greatest ironies is that the tolerance movement of our age has robbed homosexual people of living happier (and longer) lives.
While people who suffer from depression can legally have jobs in such industries as sales, police, military, suicide hotlines, etc., it's highly likely that their condition will affect their performance in these fields. Likewise, people with a homosexual disorder will be more likely affected by their condition in certain careers (as evidenced by the scandal of homosexual priests) which would include the military.
Folks like Mike Gallagher who say that the many homosexual men and women who currently serve in the military are being treated unjustly by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy argue that these men and women have served their country well and that this wouldn't change just because they were allowed to expose their homosexual tendencies. However, it is very likely that if a "tolerant" atmosphere were created in the military it would have the affect of intensifying the condition in people who until then were restraining those tendencies.
Proponents of repealing the policy are operating under the false idea that homosexual behavior would not be affected if the limitations on that behavior were removed. If homosexuality is listed as an acceptable "lifestyle" in the military, we would likely see an increase in the occurrence of homosexual activity among service men and women. Military disciplinary standards would probably limit visibility to the public but, there would most likely be an affect on the morale of the heterosexual members of the armed forces which would ultimately affect the effectiveness of our military forces and therefore impact our national security. For these reasons, I am not in favor of repealing the policy.
But I don't like the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for a different reason. I think people with homosexual tendencies should receive treatment and be restored to a heterosexual lifestyle. Those who have been cured say they are far happier than they ever were before. The "don't ask" policy allows those suffering from homosexuality to continue to do so in secret which is a great disservice to them. They deserve to be treated and lovingly cared for so that they can experience life to the fullest. That should be where our compassion for our fellow man and woman leads us. However there is a long, steep road ahead to changing the culture's course towards viewing homosexuality in this light. Until then, the "don't ask" policy is better than none at all.
posted by AdmiralDack | 8:45 AM
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