Recently, at a dinner event for a human rights organization, Obama criticized the Republican candidates who said nothing when a gay soldier was booed at a separate event. Attention had been called to the gay soldier, and in response, many people in the crowd booed him, and the Republican candidates did not show support for the soldier, the way that all Americans should support a soldier. I usually don’t say this, but I actually agree with what Obama said here. He also stated that we need to support all military men and women, even if it is not politically convenient. That is a little hypocritical of Obama, though, considering his situation with a military officer who did not blindly follow the commander in chief.
As I stated, I agree with what Mr. Obama said here, but I would just like to point out the difference between what he has said, versus what he has done. Last year, an officer in the military was discharged because he did not obey orders. Before he was supposed to report for deployment, he made a video, stating that he would not report for deployment because he cannot honor his commitment to defend the Constitution by following Obama’s orders. He said that due to the questions surrounding Obama’s legitimacy as commander in chief, he would be committing a war crime, and not doing his best to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, if he were to follow the illegitimate orders of a non-President. If Obama were to provide the necessary proof, which is required of all Presidents, then he would happily follow the orders. However, Obama did not provide any proof in time, even though the video went viral, and the man was discharged for not following orders. So Obama, as usual, decided it was too politically inconvenient to address the issue properly and provide some honesty, and make sure that the man who has chosen to risk his life to protect the Constitution was not punished for doing his job correctly. Unfortunately, although Obama’s words were correct about the support of soldiers, he has been unable to follow through with action.
Now that I have addressed that issue, I would like to now show my support for Barack Obama’s statement, and disappointment in no Republican candidates showing the well-deserved respect and support of the gay soldier. Obviously, the crowd was showing their disdain for the fact that we now have openly gay soldiers in the military, which is completely understandable. This social experiment within the military does nothing to help our country or our soldiers throughout the world. However, a soldier does not deserve that type of disrespect as a way of showing disapproval for the policy. The soldier has surrendered his life to do whatever he is called to do for the safety of this country. His romantic lifestyle should not be overshadowing that. As Republican candidates, representing the party that has shown respect and support for military at all times, they should have noticed the need to say “I may not agree with your lifestyle, but I want to show appreciation for the sacrifices you have made for our country.” Something like that is all they would need to say. Don’t defend the military in all situations, and then not defend a soldier simply for not approving of his lifestyle.
Also, many of the candidates claim to be Christians. As such, they should be more willing to be examples of love that is commanded to be shown towards all people, even those that are clearly not living according to the Bible. It is those boos along with the lack of correction for that treatment, that gives people the wrong impression of Christianity and how the Bible instructs us to treat those who do not follow it. It is quite reasonable for someone to think that the Bible is okay with non-Christians being disrespected like that. It does not show that God welcomes all people into a relationship with Him. It suggests that God is not willing to let a gay man turn to Him and devote his life to Jesus. It gives people more reason to believe that God requires people to follow His laws before the relationship starts, rather than having the relationship help people follow His laws. It gives a completely inaccurate message that misrepresents God, the Bible, Christianity, and those that have committed their life to Jesus. I normally don’t agree with what Obama says, but in this case, he was completely correct in two ways.
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