Christian Action League
On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as “a date which will live in infamy.” Sixty years later, December 18, 2010, President Barack Obama would hail the repeal of a military policy by the United States Congress that prohibited homosexual conduct in the armed forces since the nation began.
“Today our armed forces were attacked again, but sadly from within. I’m convinced that in heaven this is “a date which will live in infamy,” said the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League.
An effort to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) failed earlier in the month (December 9) when Republicans blocked consideration of a Defense Authorization bill, which contained the controversial provision. Homosexual activists and liberal lawmakers then changed their strategy by introducing a stand-alone bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, with the help of eight GOP Senators, pushed through to passage.
Unfortunately, both of North Carolina’s U.S. Senators, Sen. Richard Burr (R) and Sen. Kay Hagan (D) voted for repeal. According to Politico, “Burr’s vote came as a surprise even to the sponsors of the legislation.”
Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona led the opposition to the repeal of DADT. However, McCain didn’t have the votes to kill the measure supporting repeal and blamed elite liberals with no military experience for pushing through a radical social agenda during a time of war.
McCain said the troops would do what was asked of them. “But don’t think there won’t be a great cost,” he said.
Three of the four of the military Joint Chiefs warned against the change in policy. In Senate testimony on the issue last March, General John Sheehan (USMC – Ret.), Supreme Allied Commander for NATO, told a shocking story of how a practicing homosexual in the military posed a threat to the lives of an entire patrol: “Homosexual marines create problems on the battlefield,” said Sheehan. “[In the] early years of Vietnam, 9th Marines, West of Da Nang, rifle company on a ridgeline combat outpost, the intelligence was that the North Vietnamese were going to attack, that night. The unit was put on 50-percent alert, which meant one slept, one stood on watch. About 1 o’clock in the morning, a fight broke out in a foxhole because the young marine was being molested by his squad leader. To the right of that foxhole, there was a machine gun section that opened [fire] and almost killed a combat patrol that was out in the front [because they thought the unit was under attack].”
In a letter, Southern Baptist ethicist, Dr. Richard Land had asked President Obama to reconsider his position on DADT and urged the commander-in-chief to be guided by his Christian faith on the issue. Land said that Southern Baptists applaud “efforts to lovingly and redemptively minister to homosexuals so they may find spiritual, sexual, and emotional wholeness in Christ.” But Land added, “We believe it to be contrary to Scripture to commend open homosexual relationships in general, including within the military ranks…Our nation has moved from God in so many ways and we are deeply concerned that an increasingly affirming policy toward homosexual behavior will provide further impetus for God’s judgment on our nation.”
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said, “It is clear why this was done: not to enhance the military’s ability to accomplish its mission or to enhance national security. Rather, it is a political payoff to a tiny, but loud and wealthy, part of the Democratic base. They knew that the Congress elected last month would never adopt such legislation – certainly not without a more thoughtful and deliberative process.”
“General George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army not only forbade homosexual behavior, but punished offenders by having them ‘drummed out’ of the camp” said Rev. Creech. “Today, a godly and righteous principle was ‘drummed out’ of the military. And it’s a sad, sad, sad, day for our nation.”
President Obama signed the legislation into law on Wednesday. How the military will implement the change in policy, and how long that will take remains unclear. Senior Pentagon officials have said the new policy could be rolled out incrementally, service by service or unit by unit.