On these pages, I have written in the past year on several occasions how I can no longer in good conscience encourage young men or women to join our nation’s military. At the time, some of my readers expressed mild criticism for my position. But the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the open military service of homosexuals in the military, and now Defense Secretary Panetta’s lifting of the ban on women in combat beginning in 2016, makes the United States military an increasingly unwelcome (and dangerous) environment for more conservative and/or Christian believers. Even high-ranking general officers agree with an assessment that devout Christian and more conservative soldiers are no longer welcome in today’s Army. In fact, in 2010, Lieutenant General Thomas P. Bostick, then the Army’s deputy chief of staff in charge of personnel, said military members who dissent from Obama’s homosexual agenda should “get out.” General Bostick, speaking before several hundred troops at the European Command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, stated:
Unfortunately, we have a minority of service members who are still . . . bigoted and you will never be able to get rid of all of them. But these people opposing this new [homosexual] policy will need to get with the program, and if they can’t, they need to get out. No matter how much training and education of those in opposition, you’re always going to have those that [sic] oppose this on moral and religious grounds.” (Emphasis added.)
So, I guess that would apply to Christian/Orthodox Jews/Moslem soldiers in our new military.
But there is more. It is also a dangerous place for women. The February 2013 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology (available here: http://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Fulltext/2013/02000/Unintended_Pregnancy_Among_Active_Duty_Women_in.5.aspx ) reports that ten percent of women in the military said they had an “unintended pregnancy” in 2008, a figure significantly higher than rates in the general population. Dr. Daniel Grossman from the University of California, San Francisco, and his fellow researchers who worked on the study noted that sexual assault in the military could be a contributor to high rates of unintended pregnancy. Dr. Grossman, quoted by Reuters, said, “There are studies showing anywhere between 20 and 40 percent of servicewomen (experience) rape or attempted rape during their military career, and the vast majority don’t report it.” Dr. Vinita Goyal, who has studied unintended pregnancy in female veterans at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, observed, “It does definitely have implications for troop readiness, ability to deploy (and) troops in combat missions if they are potentially at high risk for unintended pregnancy and pregnant women can’t be deployed.” Soldiers and sailors who become pregnant while overseas or on ships must be evacuated back to the United States. Sexual harassment has also been a major problem in the military, and hearings were held on Capitol Hill just weeks ago in relation to a rash of sexual assaults at Lackland Air Force Base. Even the prestigious Air Force Academy has struggled with its own scandals surrounding inappropriate treatment of female cadets that went well beyond harassment.
And it is also dangerous for men as well. A review of “case synopses” of all 1,643 reports of sexual assault reported by the four branches of the military for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, found that 8.2 percent of all military sexual assault cases were homosexual. Based upon the review of case synopses, the most common type of homosexual assault is one in which the offender fondles or performs oral sex upon a sleeping victim. Assaults upon victims who are intoxicated are also common. Although thousands of homosexuals have been discharged from the military since the implementation of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 1993, many of those discharged have been found guilty of same-sex sexual assault. (I bet you never heard that from Katie Couric or read that in The New York Times.)
Finally, Ashley Broadway, an Army wife, was voted the 2013 Spouse of the Year for Fort Bragg, North Carolina. As the representative for Fort Bragg, she is now eligible for “Military Spouse” magazine’s overall Army Spouse of the Year. Ms. Broadway, who is married to Lt. Col. Heather Mack of Fort Bragg’s 1st Theater Sustainment Command, was denied membership in the Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses. This was because Ms. Broadway does not have a spouse identification badge issued by the military as she is not recognized as a spouse under federal law. However, after Fort Bragg received national attention for its “discriminatory” conduct, Ms. Broadway has now been invited to join the Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses. Ms. Broadway also recently announced that Colonel Mack gave birth to the couple’s second child, a baby girl, earlier this month.
You see, Dorothy, this is not your mother’s army anymore. War is always dangerous, of course, but now American military personnel, both men and women, increasingly should fear those on our side as well. So would you encourage any young Christian join our nation’s military now? I am afraid that I can no longer do so in good conscience.
I think it is worth noting that one of the ways in which some early martyrs met their faith was when Roman soldiers who had been Christians for an extended period of time during their military service were killed for their faith. This would happen as a result of increased persecution after a period of greater tolerance towards Christians. So some early Christians refused to serve in the military because of their faith. But some continued to serve even though the rise of a new emperor or the decision to actually enforce existing laws against Christianity could mean their death. These Christians were willing to serve an empire that might decide in the midst of that service to take their lives. They thought a greater good could be achieved by being part of the military even under those conditions. It certainly does not seem that the challenges facing Christians in today’s American military have risen to that level.
There were more than enough martyrs at the Ft Hood massacre, on 5 November 2009.
Although retired from the active-duty service, I believe the SEALS Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were martyrs, as were the commo, Sean Smith, and Ambassador, Christopher Stevens. They were martyred 11 September 2012.
While I agree that the United States military is increasingly becoming a more dangerous place for Christians, are Christians supposed to expect to find a military that is ‘perfect’ on this earth? Further, what about other places of service in this world? Please don’t mistake my honesty for antagonization. I really am trying to understand your point, Mr. Avromovich. If all Christians refused to serve in the U. S. Military on the basis of religious convictions, will we be able to incarnate the gospel to the unbelieving soldiers? I want to see the clear boundary that you are telling us not to cross. Do you have other articles that I could read for further insight?
Dear Mr. Cody,
I think that a good starting point might be to read Tertullian’s On Idolatry, and particularly Chapter 17, which deals with the Christian and military service. Of course, the United States is not pagan Rome. Our nation, as a republican democracy with a strong tradition of constitutionally protected rights, that acknowledges that we were one nation under God, then it was completely appropriate for Christian, God-fearing people to serve in our nation’s military. Such is not as clear today and increasingly becomes less so, it seems to me. Tertullian reminds us that there are strong contrasts between Caesar’s kingdom and Christ’s kingdom as the two are truly opposites, as Jesus reminds us that His kingdom is not of this world. I hope that this helps.
Thank you, sir. Always much to learn–Thank God for the eternity to continue learning!
We need to be very careful when it comes to what use we make of Tertullian’s writings. His later drift towards Montanism and his acceptance of that group’s sectarian rejection of legitimate interactions with general society does not reflect a proper Christian understanding of the believer’s role in public life.
[...] It’s comforting to know that I am not the only Catholic who has misgivings about military service in our time. Clearly the armed forces have need of good and virtuous men – the more, the better. Soldiering is inherently a noble vocation. I have the privilege of knowing a few enlisted men today, all exemplary Christian patriots. But my misgivings grew after a brief attempt to join the Navy reserves twenty years ago and exposure to its morally depraved culture. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that Abu Ghraib was not a surprise to me. Things were going bad then; they are much worse today. Michael Avramovich summarizes my own thoughts quite well. [...]