Saturday, June 12, 2010

DADT - The Shame of Political Correctness

As a conservative, I've wrestled with the idea of gays in the military. The mere thought of it makes me uncomfortable, for reasons I'll address later. For the moment, however, I want to focus on political correctness.

I've written about political correctness before, but not in the context of life-and-death consequences. I'm reminded of the phrase "He who hesitates is lost" as an antonym to the concept of political correctness. The phrase is generally attributed to the English poet Joseph Addison from his fictional play titled "Cato, A Tragedy".

After all, what is the consequence of political correctness if not hesitation?

There have been a number of articles done about women in combat. The Israeli army only allowed women to serve in combat units within the last 10 years. Has political correctness played a role in that?

Consider the other factors that appeal to basic human instincts. The Israeli's original position was that woman in combat units would generate an emotional reaction that could preclude men in the unit from acting on the basis of discipline, instead of a protective instinct. Has political correctness now dismissed any notion of that?

Now to the issue of gays in the military. As the Pentagon considers the role of women, so they also debate the role of gays. What is to be made of all this?

My concern goes back to my original thought about the phrase "he who hesitates is lost". Does political correctness preempt that? I doubt it. What goes through a commander's head when they have to make a decision about who to send into harms way? Do they consider the woman, the heterosexual with family or the homosexual? Is there a moment of hesitation that could spell doom?

Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but I feel like I'm being shamed into accepting a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Am I wrong?

1 comment:

  1. You are not incorrect that political correctness shames people into accepting things that they don't want to do or believe in. Its an attack on freedom of thought because if you think putting women in harms way is immoral simply because they are women then PC would inhibit you from holding that belief. I think Freedom of Thought is far more important as a value than women or gays in the military.

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