60 Minutes / Gays in the Military

I was flipping through the channels and watched a minute or so of 60 Minutes. They were doing a story on gays in the military. Two things:

1) I guess many gays refer to the younger generation as the Will & Grace generation. As in, they grew up watching gays in the media, as on Will & Grace, and so gays aren't frightening or foriegn to them. I can live with that.

2) One of the arguements Lesly Stahl tried to use was that the British military began allowing gays to serve openly in the 90's, and it hadn't affected their military effectiveness. Excuse me? The current British military couldn't even fight the Falklands Islands War today if it had to. It certainly couldn't defend their sea lanes or the British Isles from attack. Not too long ago we had the sad spectacle of British sailors wetting their pants instead of resisting the Iranians in the Gulf. Now I'm not trying to blame this on gays in the military, (the blame lies squarely with the Labor Party and it's neglect and even abuse of military budgets) but to argue that the British military is as effective today as it was in the 1980's is patently absurd.

That being said, I really have no beef with homosexuals. I do thing homosexuality is deviant, and should not be promoted as a healthy lifestyle, but as the Christians would say: hate the sin, love the sinner. I have friends, colleagues and family who are gay, and it honestly has no effect on my relationships with them. In fact some of them were apprehensive, given my personal politics, and how open I am about them. They expected me to get all Rev. Phelps with them. I've had to actually explain to them that I don't have to liker everything about a person to like them as a person, and that I'm sure there are things about me that other people don't like.

I don't think it is a good thing to have gays serve openly in the military, but I am open to the idea, as they young men on 60 Minutes suggested tonight, that times and mores are changing and that it won't cause problems with the current generation.

Slippery Slope to Hell

I am strongly opposed to gay marriage. I think it greatly damages the institution of marriage. I consider marriage to be one of the foundations of civilization. I think the rapid rise in the number of divorces (at about 50% presently) is one of the symptoms of the decline of our civilization. I have always argued that one of the reasons to oppose gay marriage is the precedent it will set for other prohibited marriages. ( I should note that I do support a system of civil union for both heterosexual and homosexual committed relationships) The supporters of gay marriage have always denied that it would set a precedent. Well, I am sad to say I have been proven right. As this article shows, there is already a case, Muth v. Frank, that is attempting to argue that incestuous marriages between consenting adults should be legal. They are using the exact same language that the arguments in the gay marriage cases use. How long do you think it's going to be before a polygamist uses the language to argue that polygamy should be legal and protected? I predict the very next time a polygamist is arrested.

We started down this slippery slope forty years ago with the two Connecticut
birth control cases that first created a "right" to privacy. Along the way we have coarsened society, killed millions of babies and begun the destruction of the institution of marriage. It's not too late to go back. I hope.

Law and Order

One of the things I like about Law and Order is the regular turnover of the actors on it. It accentuates the writing and characterization as the true stars.

Tonight the Asst. D.A. called Serena had her last episode. Everything was fine until the last minute. Fred Thompson's character had just fired her, and then they drop a bombshell, and have her ask if it is because she is a lesbian.

AFAIK her sexuality had never been a part of the show for the entirety of her run, so why did they feel the need to interject it that way in literally the last moments her character was on the show? It was jarring and unnecessary. Man I hate when shows I enjoy do stupid things like that.