GI jane.

January 24, 2013 in move. with 5 Comments

GI jane
yesterday, secretary of defense leon panetta was reported by the associated press as

‘removing the military’s ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war.

The groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule banning women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. Panetta’s decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women.’

SBC blogger dennis burke suggested this egalitarian move was evidence of the ‘Undoing of Civilization.’

my response?

it is interesting that the ‘undoing of civilization’ has to do with gender roles and not the fact that we’re in a constant state of war.

what do you think?

  • http://www.kellyjyoungblood.com/ Kelly J Youngblood

    Love that last sentence.

  • http://twitter.com/LetTheWookieWin Whitney Lawson

    Honestly, I’ve never quite understood why that was the case. Being on a military base I can tell you that the views on this from the inside are generally positive. Honestly, women are already in ‘combat’ roles. So, in effect, all this is doing is making more jobs available to them. More power to the ladies who feel the call to serve their country.

    I too agree with your statement. Even being in a military family, we don’t like war, and we don’t want war. For us war means living in fear that your family member or friend is going to be away from you for long periods of time in a dangerous place where they could possibly be killed at any time. If it all would end, life would be easier. Can any of us even imagine a world without war though?? I am pretty darn positive none of us will ever see that day. Our society is broken as a whole, and the sex of the person fighting our fights is most certainly not what is causing it to crumble.

    • http://www.mjkimpan.com/ michael j. kimpan

      absolutely. thanks for sharing, whitney. always enjoy your perspective.

  • Eric Masters

    This drives me crazy, our country has been at war for most of our history yet people still claim we are a christian nation? Why are we willing to be so constantly aggressive?

    • http://www.mjkimpan.com/ michael j. kimpan

      it’s truly insane…absolutely incompatible with jesus’ teachings (particularly matthew 5-7, the sermon on the mount).
      it amazes me how few of us who self-identify as ‘christ followers’ are willing to grapple with some of his uncomfortable teachings.