Ouch...rather have a toothache? No way--toothaches are right there in your head and can't be ignored. They can make a strong man cry.
Having been marched off to church as a kid, I long ago learned to keep them out of my head altogether. I used to make up different, seditious words to the hymns and wait to see how long it took for the folks next to me to notice and slide down the pew...
I'd rather take the free out-of-jail card and seduce a church lady with my bad boy self.
As a card-carrying atheist and left-of-most general anarchist, of course, I deplore the program.
"If you can keep your head while those around you are losing theirs, you can collect a lot of heads."
I used to make up different, seditious words to the hymns and wait to see how long it took for the folks next to me to notice and slide down the pew...
Sitting in church in high school next to one of your fellow miscreants... everytime the congregation was supposed to say "Amen", he would say "Gay men"
Sometimes I still can't get that hilarity out of my head.
Or when it it was point out to me that the Pray Together book could be read to say "pray to get her"
However, as someone of NO belief, I find it repulsive that someone of that belief set could just go about their sunday ritual for "punishment".
I find it equally repulsive that you see it automatically as punishment for a crime, rather than rehabilitation. The jails and prisons are packed, I think rehabilitation, and reconciliation is a good idea, and there is no need to punish every non-violent offender.
How is going to church rehabilitation for someone of a different faith? Would you be rehabilitated by going to a mosque, synagogue or whatever scientology has?
"Why don't you call upon your God to strike me? Oh, I forgot it's because he's fake like Thor, so bite me" -Greydon Square
I can't say for certain, but I have always felt the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy was religiously motivated. Most people I have discussed anti-gay law/policies seem to fall back on religion as the reason it, homosexuality, is wrong and shouldn't be tolerated.
I think you are wrong here. Prior to DADT, the policy was that being gay got you kicked out of the military probably with something other than an honorable discharge. The military did ask you if you were gay when you signed up.
As odious as DADT was, it did allow some people to serve that would have been summarily booted or not even allowed to enter the service under prior policy.
I wasn't aware of any policy prior to DADT, stupid on my part, I guess I always thought it was the only policy the military had. I never knew they used to ask people if they were homosexual.
Thanks for the info. My guess of it being religiously motivated was way off.
"No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it off to forced conscious expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten." — Hunter S. Thompson
Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group.
"Why don't you call upon your God to strike me? Oh, I forgot it's because he's fake like Thor, so bite me" -Greydon Square
quote:There was no unified homosexuality policy across the various branches of the military until 1949. Before then, the various branches tended to court-martial personnel caught engaging in homosexual conduct for sodomy and issue them a dishonorable discharge. In 1940, psychiatrists Harry Stack Sullivan and Winfred Overholser formulated guidelines for psychiatric screening for military inductees. While both believed homosexuals should not be inducted, their proposal did not explicitly exclude them.[5] The United States Army Surgeon General's office issued a circular in 1941 that for the first time classified "homosexual proclivities" as disqualifying inductees for military service. The United States Navy and the Selective Service adopted similar exclusionary policies.[6] The Women's Army Corps adopted a similar policy in 1944.[7]
With the massive mobilization and deployment of troops for operations relating to World War II, it became impractical to convene court-martial boards for homosexual conduct offenses. Commanders instead issued blue discharges – a form of administrative military discharge – to gay personnel instead. The blue discharge, which was also issued disproportionately to African Americans, was neither honorable nor dishonorable. However, blue discharge holders faced difficulties in civilian life because the blue discharge carried with it a negative association. The Veterans Administration, denied blue-discharge veterans the benefits of the G.I. Bill as a general policy.[8] In 1944, a policy directive ordered that homosexuals were to be committed to military hospitals, examined by psychiatrists and discharged under Regulation 615-360, section 8.[9]
Blue discharges were discontinued in May 1947, with discharges that would formerly have been blue now falling under one of two new headings, "general" and "undesirable".[10] A general discharge was considered to be under honorable conditions – which is distinct from an "honorable discharge" – and an undesirable discharge was under conditions other than honorable – which, again, is distinct from a "dishonorable discharge".[11] At the same time, however, the Army changed its regulations to ensure that homosexuals would not qualify for general discharges.[12] Under this system, a servicemember found to be homosexual but who has not committed any homosexual acts while in service would receive an undesirable discharge. Those who were found guilty of engaging in homosexual conduct were dishonorably discharged.[13]
In October 1949, the newly-consolidated Department of Defense standardized anti-homosexual regulations across all branches of the military: "Homosexual personnel, irrespective of sex, should not be permitted to serve in any branch of the Armed Forces in any capacity, and prompt separation of known homosexuals from the Armed Forces is mandatory." Read more...
It seems this was how it worked before DADT.
Funny they never asked me when I signed up. Must only apply to Navy and Air Force lol.
quote:Don't ask, don't tell (DADT) is the common term for the policy restricting the United States military from efforts to discover or reveal closeted gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members or applicants, while barring those that are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual from military service. LGBT people are allowed to serve but must do so without coming out or speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States military. The policy was enacted in 1993 under the presidency of Bill Clinton.
I am guessing you joined after 1993?
Thanks NoNukes for making me learn a little history.
"No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it off to forced conscious expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten." — Hunter S. Thompson
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