Rod Dreher: Would you encourage faithful orthodox Christians to serve in the US military?

Dreher's post on the military and the mess it has become.

My answer...

No. There is a difference between tolerance and compulsion. It is one thing to say we might tolerate homosexuals in the ranks provided they keep their personal affairs to themselves. Some might well argue against even that. (And for the record I never cared for the barracks room talk/boasting by my heterosexual shipmates either.) But it is altogether another thing to demand not just tolerance of someone's private life, but actual affirmation of it. The last straw for me was the decision to permit, and demand affirmation of transgenderism in the military. The armed forces are not the place for people with personality disorders to sort out their issues. And the demand that people affirm lifestyle choices that are flatly incompatible with Christian morality and faith is unacceptable. If I were still in and only one more hitch from retirement I'm not sure what I'd do. But I can't in good conscience encourage anyone to enlist under the current conditions.

I suggest that they do their recruiting in the Castro district of San Francisco.