Women in Combat

In an unprecedented move, the Pentegon stated today that it is reversing its ban on women fighting in combat roles. Outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said, "If they can meet the standards, there is no reason why they shouldn't have the chance." This is a terrible reversal of the long-standing position of the Pentegon that only males should serve in combat roles, and one more attack on both women and the family.

This decision has far-reaching ramifications. One is the issue of the draft. If men and women are to be considered absolutely equal with regard to combat roles, this opens the question of whether women should be included in the event of the need to reinstitute the draft. According to present policy, all young men between the ages of 18-25 have to register for the draft. This decision by the Pentegon opens the way for women to be included in this registration. Our 18 year old young ladies could be drafted and sent to combat. It is now not beyond imagination to see stay-at-home moms with several children being sent off to fight our wars.

The Bible stresses that women are the "weaker vessel" (1 Peter 3:7) and should be cherished and protected by men. In the history of our nation, this has always been our operating principle. Even today, maritime practice is for women and children to have priority when occupying lifeboats. Women have always had the role of caring for the family. In all of our previous major military conflicts (pre-Vietnam), men went to battle while families were maintained and protected by the women.

Of course, such statements are hailed as chauvinistic and ignorant by modern feminists, who have labored hard to remove all distinctions between men an women. To refuse a woman any role occupied by a man is considered discriminatory and degrading. These charges do nothing to change the reality of the Biblical distinction between men and women. Men are given the duty of protection and provision as husbands and fathers while women have been assigned the duty of being nurturers as wives and mothers. Biblical texts make it clear that "wives" and "little ones" are to remain at home, while the men go to war (Joshua 1:14). Men have been given the physical strength to carry out their responsiblity as protectors and defenders. Women have been given the unique emotional qualities that equip them as loving nurturers.

A nation's morality is clearly revealed in the way it fights its wars. Today, we have pronounced that as a nation we no longer feel a responsiblity to protect our women and children. We have declared that a man should no longer see himself in the role of protector. We have decided to cast aside these high principles of virtue, laying them on the altar of political correctness.

The truth is, you cannot remove these God-given distinctions between men and women. Woman are natural nurturers and men are natural protectors. Transfer this to the battlefield and you put our armed forces in danger.