Be All That She Can Be…
Chris asked me last night what my thoughts were about women serving in the military. Probably because Jessica Lynch’s story is all over the place these days. Not a subject I think often about, but what I realized is that I have mixed feelings and emotions about it all.
I am a pacifist. I dislike war and all it represents. I believe people who serve our country in the military are brave folks, don’t get me wrong, but I wish there were no need for it. Doesn’t everyone, though? (Actually, I’m pretty certain the current administration would not answer yes to that question.)
What the issue boils down to is that human life is sacred and precious and valuable. And the fact that we think it’s OK to send anyone off to kill or be killed is horrific to me, let alone sending a woman. I am all for women’s rights, women having the same options as men. But should they in this case? Women produce life from within them. They bear children. Men do not. We are all for sending women into the ugliness of war, training them up the in the same way as a man, but the fact is that if they are captured, they will most likely not face the same punishment as a man. In many countries where our military fights, women are seen as inferior to men, at best, and at worst, slaves or property.
For me, what it all boils down to is that I am just anti-war and anti- building up a military that is so big and powerful that so many of our programs and services in this country have been neglected for far too long because there’s no money left for them.
