A new film about Don't Ask, Don't Tell airs this evening on PBS. ASK NOT is described as "a rare and compelling exploration of the U.S. military’s 'don’t ask, don’t tell' policy. This award-winning film exposes the tangled political battles that led to the discriminatory law, and profiles courageous young activists determined to abolish it."
I look forward to watching it (on Saturday at 11 pm on Ch. 6 in Colorado), because on the basis of the trailers, it has been my impression that it presents a VERY lopsided view on the merits of using NONVIOLENT civil disobedience to advocate for participation in an institution whose raison d'être is the use of violence to advance the aims of the state.
In 2007, I belatedly wrote a letter to the architects of "Right To Serve"... and since it is apparent that RTS is STILL not receiving balanced treatment in the media, I am reprinting it here. Since I wrote this letter, my views about the use of NVCD to advocate for equal protection in regards to military service have changed little.
I would add, however, that it is a problem in my view that there has been very little genuine dialogue about this question. Although I'm not sure there could be. As strongly as I feel about my views on the subject, I don't think it's right to tell another person that theirs are wrong...
The best I can do is promise (as I have in the past) to demonstrate the depth of my convictions on the issue and fast in protest should nonviolence ever be misused again to advocate for the right to serve...
My original letter...
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I’ve really struggled with both writing and deciding whether to send this e-mail. I have great respect for and am inspired by you both. Please know that I care deeply for this movement and the incredible work that you both do on behalf of LGBT people. But I have deep concerns about the “Right to Serve” campaign… concerns that I realize I can no longer refrain from sharing. I must apologize if this letter is poorly organized and seems to ramble a bit… I have found it difficult to organize my thoughts and feelings.
First, please let me share with you a bit of my personal history. When I was much younger, I served as a logistics officer in the Marine Corps. I was raised in a military family and the prospect of attending college on a NROTC scholarship coupled with the commitment to serve a four year term in the Marines seemed (when I was 18) like a reasonable exchange. I graduated from college in 1989 and served in the Marines from June 1989 to January 1992.
While at my first duty station on Okinawa, I participated in mobilizing our forces for the first Persian Gulf War. I still vividly remember my own moment of moral crisis during the late summer of 1991 (which coincided with the "bottom" of my drinking), contemplating both the nonexistence of God as well as whether I really could kill another human being for any reason. In that moment, I experienced my own Hell on Earth... and very quickly realized that I could not abandon my belief in God AND that, consistent with my faith in a God of Love, I could never kill another human being. [I must say that these memories have been profoundly triggered recently as I have learned about the growing numbers of U.S. servicemen who are engaging in courageous acts of civil resistance against our illegal war in Iraq by claiming conscientious objector status.]
When I remembered in 1991 that my personal faith demands that I can never take a life, my dilemma then was that, as an officer, I could not claim "conscientious objector" status. So I had to endure this moral crisis for several more months until I left the military. But in that moment of spiritual realization, I began a new relationship with my Creator as well as my journey to sobriety and sanity. In January of 1992, I was discharged from the Marines after disclosing my same-sex attractions to a counselor during outpatient treatment for my alcoholism (another long story).
I was fortunate to have been honorably discharged, but it was a very traumatic experience that took me several years to recover from because, for my entire early adult experience, my identity had been built around military service (I come from a military family). So I certainly identify with and share the sense of victimization that so many service-members experience.
As I contemplate the “Right to Serve” campaign, however, it seems to me that there are two important principles in apparent conflict. The first is that of equal opportunity... equal protection before the law... i.e. *Liberty*, *Justice*, etc. etc. In other words, this action engages in nonviolent resistance of "political oppression". I agree that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is informed by the same belief-system about sexual and gender minorities as the policies of Focus on the Family. I understand that when Soulforce's mission statement was rewritten, actions such as this were foreshadowed.
However...
The idea of applying the principles of nonviolence to, in my view, advocate for the right to kill another human being (regardless of whether the war is deemed *just* or *unjust*--I am not one who buys into "just war" theory) is inconsistent with the most basic values of nonviolent philosophy, principally the credo to refrain from violence of the "fist, tongue, or heart"… our central value of “ahimsa”. It is true that Gandhi supported Indian involvement in the First World War but regarding WWII, "declared that India could not be party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom, while that freedom was denied in India herself."
Further, Dr. King was quite outspoken in his opposition to the Vietnam War. He recognized that, although the movement had succeeded in delegitimizing racism, it was necessary to delegitimize the use of violence itself as a means for achieving any end.
As a veteran who experienced his own moral crisis while contemplating any human’s right to take another’s life, I can't help but wonder if those participating in "Right to Serve" have really thought through or seriously reflected upon what they envision and are advocating with this action. I wonder if the participants are genuinely interested in participating in military service. It feels somehow disingenuous to protest this policy through civil disobedience by requesting to enlist when not REALLY being interested in serving. And if they are indeed sincerely interested in military service, whether they have contemplated the absolute immorality of taking a human life as a means to obtain a state-sanctioned policy objective.
In my view, there is little compatibility between the nonviolent value of “ahimsa” and military service… this seems to me an intractable contradiction. Please don’t conclude that I don’t believe LGBTs ought to be permitted to serve in the military openly…we deserve full equality. It does mean, however, that I believe there is an inherent contradiction involved with using NONVIOLENCE to achieve this particular end... especially when prominent nonviolent antiwar activists like Cindy Sheehan and others are engaged in ongoing civil disobedience and even hunger strikes in an effort to end the war... and when service-members in growing numbers are claiming conscientious objector status in order to protest the war in Iraq. If anything, the proper application of nonviolence, in my view, can only be to oppose war in general and this war (especially) in particular.
The juxtaposition of antiwar activists engaging in civil disobedience at recruiting stations to oppose the war with Soulforce activists engaging in civil disobedience at recruiting stations to advocate for the right to participate in this war seems strikingly ironic... even surreal.
Please know that I fully support Soulforce and your efforts. I only ask that you, along with the many young people engaging in this campaign, seriously contemplate whether they truly have the capacity to take another life. When all other rhetorical trappings are removed, the systematic and deliberate application of violence to achieve political ends is the core value of military service.
Thanks for taking the time to read this e-mail. I hope you receive it in a spirit of Love.
