A story
surfaced recently concerning comments Senator Barack Obama made in 2007.
From the article: “Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama
may not have drafted a woman to be his running mate, as his rival John McCain
has, but he does believe that America's
young women should be eligible for the military draft and possibly combat duty. ‘I think that if women are registered for
service … I think it will help to send a message to my two daughters that
they've got obligations to this great country as well as boys do.’”
Whether or not women should participate in military combat
is a discussion long overdue in evangelicalism. When the need for more troops
outweighs the desire to keep women out of a combat, not only have we taken a dangerous
turn culturally, but the issue of male/female roles as God has designed them is
on the table. Aside from moral questions concerning the draft in general, while
certain women might serve a limited role in the military, they should not be in
combat units or housed with the men for a number of reasons.
First, to draft women into military service is to destroy
the very essence of who women are as keepers at home. Senator Obama would shake
his fist in the hands of the Creator in yet another way, further decimate the
now thin thread of moral structure left to hold our culture together, and throw
women under the bus, or under the tank in this case, at the same time.
Second, God’s role for men is to be the protectors, not
women. This reality is grounded in the fact that He created male and female and
designed them to complement each other. Men that allow women to fight in combat
are laying aside their role as given by God. It must be added that this reality
is not contingent upon power or ability. There may be women who are more
capable than men, but that is not the issue. For example, if a man and a woman
were walking down the street late at night and a mugger confronted them, and if
the woman was skilled in the marshal arts while the man was not, would we expect
the man to jump out of the way and let the woman defend him? Of course not! She
may indeed have more ability but we would consider him to be a coward. God
forbid that we should become a nation of cowards. The issue is not ability, but
role.
Third, women must not be drafted and must, even as
volunteers, serve in limited ways in the military by virtue of the fact that
they will inevitably become sexual objects to men. The problem springs from the
fact that we are fallen creatures and God’s design is often set aside because
of our sinful desires. Temptation is unavoidable in certain environments.
Moreover, in close quarters where men and women live and work together
constantly day and night, men have a tendency to objectify women. It is ironic
that in a culture seeking equal roles for men and women the opposite effect
would be produced if women were to serve in combat or in close quarters with
men in the military. This setting opens the door to rape, sexual harassment,
compromising situations, and other unwanted consequences which are, sadly, well
known but ignored in large measure. The military is a place where a job has
to be done and these types of distractions are deleterious. Even most military
personnel have serious concerns about women who become prisoners of war and
among other things, the sexual harassment factor in that context.
Fourth, there is also the issue of married men or women
working closely together in certain contexts away from home for long periods of
time. Yet another front on the effort to destroy the American family will be
opened up. Marriages are at extreme risk in such an environment.
Fifth, when women serve in combat, it is another step in the
blurring of gender roles in general. In our postmodern culture men want to be
women and women want to be men. Consider the Kinks’ lyrics from the 1972 song, “Lola:”
“Girls will be boys and boys will be girls, it’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook
up world, except for Lola.” The song is about an encounter with a
cross-dresser. With increased acceptance of women serving in roles that
traditionally belong to men and vice-versa, with the increasing acceptance of
homosexuality as a valid lifestyle, with the constant redefining of marriage
and family, there is a cultural confusion that has gripped the nation. Women
serving in combat is yet another development along these lines.
Sixth, while there are exceptions, it is generally true that
women are not as strong as men. Problems on the battlefield are created in
light of such and physical problems for women manifest later in life. Again,
the destructive consequences of the now thousands of women serving in combat is
well documented.
These issues are directly related to the differences between
men and women and the fact that the genders are distinct. Let men be men and
women be women. Let us celebrate our differences and not celebrate a distortion
of what God designed.
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