Military Archbishop Timothy Broglio explains:
…Archbishop Broglio explained to CNA what he sees as the basic flaw in Judge Phillips’ ruling, which declared that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” denied homosexual soldiers their rights to freedom of speech and due process. The archbishop explained that while individuals may have a legal right to declare their sexual preferences, they have no comparable “right” to serve in the military at the same time.
Rather, he said, the military reserves to itself the right to deny individuals that privilege– just as soldiers may forfeit the privilege of military service in many other ways, through their speech and behavior…
This points out a large problem we have in our modern world – too many things are cast in terms of “rights” when they are nothing of the kind. If a person has an inherent – ie, endowed-by-God – right to serve in the military, then the military may not reject anyone for service…no matter what condition they are in, and regardless of the manpower needs of the military. Military service is a privilege, highly revocable, which not everyone is granted.
This doesn’t mean that gays cannot serve openly in the military – it just means that whether or not gays shall so serve is something to be decided upon the merits of the case, not based on a supposed right to military service. My personal view is that the thing can be done – provided certain actions are taken to secure good order and discipline within the military. The most important of these would be a strict order against sexual fraternization among active duty military personnel – the military can’t become a dating service. If you want to serve, then serve – but seek your mate outside of the military and if you do find yourself irresistibly drawn to a fellow service member, then one of you is going to have to get out. And be forced out dishonorably, if illicit activity is detected.
It is high time we started to free ourselves from a lot of falsehoods in our debates. We have to start approaching things as they are. Ultimately, given the nature of this case, the decision on whether or not to employ openly gay people in the military must be made by active duty officers. Only they can really determine if full combat efficiency can be maintained with such a change. If they say it can’t be done, then we shouldn’t do it – we must not permit military service to become the means of cheap, political grand standing on the part of liberals currying favor with special interest groups. The safety of the United States rests upon the military, and we dare not weaken it because some pressure group wants this or that change.
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