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Dec. 13th, 2006 07:19 pmThanks to Tepintzin for the tip to this: http://www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com/artman/publish/article_410.shtml
I'm not cutting it, since it's relatively short, and I have commentary interspersed in BOLD Also, while I was writing this, the links stopped working, and you get a 404 error. Hopefully only temporary.
Why Christian Women Should not Join the Military: A Plea from a Woman Veteran
By Mrs. Richard Downin
Jun 25, 2003, 14:58
In the New Testament there are many direct commands that speak to women about how they are to live. There are also many examples of godly women who served the Lord. These commands and examples prove, I believe, that the military is no place for a Christian woman.
The first direct command is found in Titus 2:5, "To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." Women are to be keepers at home. Not just "housekeepers," but keepers at home. How can they keep (protect) the occupants of their homes if they are off fighting in a war? If they are not keepers at home they are blaspheming the word of God.
The next direct command I would like to examine is found in 1 Peter 3:4, "But it let be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." To God the meek and quiet spirit is worth a great price. He values the gentleness of a woman higher than any other adorning that she can put on the outside. If a woman is to serve in the military, she can not be gentle and quiet. The military is an occupation that requires its members to continually prepare for war. War by nature is anything but a gentle and quiet procedure. War is about fighting, killing and destroying.
War is also about having the safety for these meek and gentle people to be meek and gentle. Also, I wasn't aware women only have one default setting. I'm the same person whether I'm practicing marksmanship, doing PT, and being in the field as I am when I'm feeding my daughter at two am, cleaning my house or cooking dinner.
When a woman is in the military she needs to be agressive and dominant. It is unsafe if she is not. Her comrades depend on her to be that way. When I was a flight engineer, I worked with a woman pilot a few times who had a gentle voice. She was asked to speak louder, and many felt uncomfortable around her because she seemed to lack command. In her proper sphere, this gentleness is perfectly in its place; in the military it can be life-threatening. Men are better suited to command forcefully.
I'm surprised she wrote 'forcefully' when she could have just left it at "men are better suited to command" - since obviously, mothers never command, or discipline, or raise their voices. Right.
The next verse I would like to examine is 1 Timothy 2:9" "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold or pearls of costly array." The first phrase that stands out to me in this verse is "modest apparel." When a woman is in the military, she must wear men's apparel. The clothing that I had to wear was anything but modest. I wore a dark-colored T-shirt, battle dress pants, a battle dress jacket over the T-shirt and black combat boots everyday. When working inside, airmen are allowed to remove their jackets. And I can tell you from eight years experience that the men enjoy seeing the young female soldiers in their T-shirts.
Part of me wants to ask just what they mean by "modest", but they have links to some of the modesty clothing sites, so I won't. To me, the notion that BDUs/ACUs could be consider immodest just floors me - I guess it's the pants. It's not like we're out there wearing Daisy Dukes and bikini tops in formation, hello.
Speaking as a female soldier, we on occasion enjoy seeing the male soldiers in their t-shirts. Not necessarily just the young ones, either. But of course, we ALL know the only sexually desirable women are the young ones. /sarcasm
There is another word that is in direct opposition to what is expected of a strong military airman. That word is "shamefacedness." Shamefacedness is not talked about much anymore, nor is it practiced, even among Christian women. Nevertheless, it is in the Bible. To be shamefaced is to not stare at men or hold their gaze for a long time. When a woman is in the military, she works very closely with other men and must look at them. She may at times be tempted to hold their gazes while working alongside them.
Where I come from, it's considered respectful to look at people when they talk to you. But that could just be me.
In the same chapter of Timothy in verse 12 there is another command" "But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." Women in the military are almost always placed in authority over a male. There is a rank structure in the military that allows one to outrank someone else very quickly. This is clearly not God's design for Christian women to order men around. This does not mean that a women are not intelligent or strong; it simply means that women are not to rule over men.
And I think here we're coming to the important part. Women can't have power over the men. We might actually want to change the way things work if we did. Don't worry, there's still plenty of men in command of men, and men in command of women. I love how she has to point out that the military has a rank structure. Just in case there was someone out there who didn't know.
The last and possibly most important direct command is in 1 Thesselonians 5:22: "Abstain from all appearance of evil." When I was in the military I had to work very closely with men. Some men were married, some were divorced and some were single. There were several times when I had to work nighshift for a few months. Each time I was on this shift with only one other male. We worked all night together, just he and I. I truly believe that I gave the appearance of evil when I spent entire nights alone with men who were not my husband. I have also had to literally sleep next to men who were not my husband. Nights in the woods were spent close to these men in a tent or in sleeping bags. I also spent many nights sleeping next to other men in other areas. No godly Christian woman would dare sleep next to a man other than her husband night after night, but that is what the military requires. The military requires that you become like a man. You must do what the men do. This is not the place of any woman, but it is especially important that women who profess the name of Christ avoid all such situations.
© Copyright 2002-2006 by LAF/BeautifulWomanhood.org
I'd like to quote Edward III and the motto of the Order of the Garter, and say "shame upon him who thinks evil of it". I'm just not buying this line of reasoning out here in Reality. She leaves a few things out, like how everyone sleeps in DIFFERENT sleeping bags, not piled together like puppies. It's a field exercise or a nightshift, not a damned orgy.
The military does not require us to become men. Did I miss the station at MEPS where they turned off my female biology? Menstruation, check. Breasts (lactating type, two each), check. Baby, check.
It requires us to be professionals. A rifle doesn't care what gender you are. There are some military tasks that some women can't handle, but there are some men who can't handle those same tasks.
****
I'm going to go out on a limb here and presume that this person started to "profess the name of Christ" after they got out - yet they still identify as a veteran.
And why didn't my chaplain tell me that this is no place for a godly woman? He must be corrupted as well.
WTF, over?
I'm not cutting it, since it's relatively short, and I have commentary interspersed in BOLD Also, while I was writing this, the links stopped working, and you get a 404 error. Hopefully only temporary.
Why Christian Women Should not Join the Military: A Plea from a Woman Veteran
By Mrs. Richard Downin
Jun 25, 2003, 14:58
In the New Testament there are many direct commands that speak to women about how they are to live. There are also many examples of godly women who served the Lord. These commands and examples prove, I believe, that the military is no place for a Christian woman.
The first direct command is found in Titus 2:5, "To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." Women are to be keepers at home. Not just "housekeepers," but keepers at home. How can they keep (protect) the occupants of their homes if they are off fighting in a war? If they are not keepers at home they are blaspheming the word of God.
The next direct command I would like to examine is found in 1 Peter 3:4, "But it let be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." To God the meek and quiet spirit is worth a great price. He values the gentleness of a woman higher than any other adorning that she can put on the outside. If a woman is to serve in the military, she can not be gentle and quiet. The military is an occupation that requires its members to continually prepare for war. War by nature is anything but a gentle and quiet procedure. War is about fighting, killing and destroying.
War is also about having the safety for these meek and gentle people to be meek and gentle. Also, I wasn't aware women only have one default setting. I'm the same person whether I'm practicing marksmanship, doing PT, and being in the field as I am when I'm feeding my daughter at two am, cleaning my house or cooking dinner.
When a woman is in the military she needs to be agressive and dominant. It is unsafe if she is not. Her comrades depend on her to be that way. When I was a flight engineer, I worked with a woman pilot a few times who had a gentle voice. She was asked to speak louder, and many felt uncomfortable around her because she seemed to lack command. In her proper sphere, this gentleness is perfectly in its place; in the military it can be life-threatening. Men are better suited to command forcefully.
I'm surprised she wrote 'forcefully' when she could have just left it at "men are better suited to command" - since obviously, mothers never command, or discipline, or raise their voices. Right.
The next verse I would like to examine is 1 Timothy 2:9" "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold or pearls of costly array." The first phrase that stands out to me in this verse is "modest apparel." When a woman is in the military, she must wear men's apparel. The clothing that I had to wear was anything but modest. I wore a dark-colored T-shirt, battle dress pants, a battle dress jacket over the T-shirt and black combat boots everyday. When working inside, airmen are allowed to remove their jackets. And I can tell you from eight years experience that the men enjoy seeing the young female soldiers in their T-shirts.
Part of me wants to ask just what they mean by "modest", but they have links to some of the modesty clothing sites, so I won't. To me, the notion that BDUs/ACUs could be consider immodest just floors me - I guess it's the pants. It's not like we're out there wearing Daisy Dukes and bikini tops in formation, hello.
Speaking as a female soldier, we on occasion enjoy seeing the male soldiers in their t-shirts. Not necessarily just the young ones, either. But of course, we ALL know the only sexually desirable women are the young ones. /sarcasm
There is another word that is in direct opposition to what is expected of a strong military airman. That word is "shamefacedness." Shamefacedness is not talked about much anymore, nor is it practiced, even among Christian women. Nevertheless, it is in the Bible. To be shamefaced is to not stare at men or hold their gaze for a long time. When a woman is in the military, she works very closely with other men and must look at them. She may at times be tempted to hold their gazes while working alongside them.
Where I come from, it's considered respectful to look at people when they talk to you. But that could just be me.
In the same chapter of Timothy in verse 12 there is another command" "But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." Women in the military are almost always placed in authority over a male. There is a rank structure in the military that allows one to outrank someone else very quickly. This is clearly not God's design for Christian women to order men around. This does not mean that a women are not intelligent or strong; it simply means that women are not to rule over men.
And I think here we're coming to the important part. Women can't have power over the men. We might actually want to change the way things work if we did. Don't worry, there's still plenty of men in command of men, and men in command of women. I love how she has to point out that the military has a rank structure. Just in case there was someone out there who didn't know.
The last and possibly most important direct command is in 1 Thesselonians 5:22: "Abstain from all appearance of evil." When I was in the military I had to work very closely with men. Some men were married, some were divorced and some were single. There were several times when I had to work nighshift for a few months. Each time I was on this shift with only one other male. We worked all night together, just he and I. I truly believe that I gave the appearance of evil when I spent entire nights alone with men who were not my husband. I have also had to literally sleep next to men who were not my husband. Nights in the woods were spent close to these men in a tent or in sleeping bags. I also spent many nights sleeping next to other men in other areas. No godly Christian woman would dare sleep next to a man other than her husband night after night, but that is what the military requires. The military requires that you become like a man. You must do what the men do. This is not the place of any woman, but it is especially important that women who profess the name of Christ avoid all such situations.
© Copyright 2002-2006 by LAF/BeautifulWomanhood.org
I'd like to quote Edward III and the motto of the Order of the Garter, and say "shame upon him who thinks evil of it". I'm just not buying this line of reasoning out here in Reality. She leaves a few things out, like how everyone sleeps in DIFFERENT sleeping bags, not piled together like puppies. It's a field exercise or a nightshift, not a damned orgy.
The military does not require us to become men. Did I miss the station at MEPS where they turned off my female biology? Menstruation, check. Breasts (lactating type, two each), check. Baby, check.
It requires us to be professionals. A rifle doesn't care what gender you are. There are some military tasks that some women can't handle, but there are some men who can't handle those same tasks.
****
I'm going to go out on a limb here and presume that this person started to "profess the name of Christ" after they got out - yet they still identify as a veteran.
And why didn't my chaplain tell me that this is no place for a godly woman? He must be corrupted as well.
WTF, over?
