Women in Combat Part 2

Last week we discussed whether allowing women in the military is the same as shoving your daughter between yourself and a home invader. This unhelpful metaphor, however, is not the only argument used. There are a few questionable Old Testament references I will have to address in yet another post, but besides that, there is much vague philosophizing over my mental, emotional, and spiritual unsuitability for my position. For instance,  Al Mohler, the president of Southern Seminary, has claimed that

“The presence of women in combat forces degrades humanity, putting women in the line of fire while sending all the wrong messages about family, gender, and moral honor… women do not raise the moral level of men in warfare. To the contrary, it looks as if the men lower the moral status of the women.”

First off, to clarify again, no one “put me” in the line of fire; I stepped into it of my own free will, because I make my own decisions. Women are not in combat because all the men chickened out and there was no other choice. We are here because we also have a stake in this world and its defense.

What messages, exactly, does the presence of women in combat send about family, gender, and moral honor that are so wrong? That women are willing and able to fight for their families? That defense and security are everyone’s concern and, thus, everyone’s responsibility, regardless of gender? That courage, moral honor, and duty are open to everyone, not only the men? What is wrong with these messages?

What does he mean when he speaks about the moral level of our warriors? This quote is taken from a 2004 article that discusses the Abu Ghraib scandal. I read the Taguba report on Abu Ghraib and wrote a response paper for my Leadership and Ethics ROTC class at MIT before commissioning. My textbook discussion of the incident identified several types of people: the ringleaders, the active followers, the passive followers, the neutrals, and finally, the whistle-blower. Funnily enough, no division was made between male and female.

Perhaps this comes as a surprise, but both men and women have moral problems with cruelty, hate, apathy, and powerlust. Neither gender has a monopoly on sin. Both men and women may fall if their character is weak and they are far from support. And yes, sometimes this happens in the military, but this is an organizational issue and a human heart issue, not a gender relations issue. Besides which, Abu Ghraib was a prison and, thus, doesn’t even serve as an example of women in combat. So what, exactly, is this supposed to prove?

In Return of the King, Eowyn is a young, brave princess who wants to fight in the War of the Ring. She tells her brother that she, “has as much cause to go to war as you” and ought to be able to “fight for those [she] loves.” Her brother replies that she couldn’t handle war; it would be too brutal and bloody, and she would turn and flee. “War is the province of men.”

And indeed, this forms the heart of a great many arguments today about women in war. It is too bloody, too harsh, too gruesome. We like our women sweet and quiet and gentle; they can’t get mixed up in all that. It would be too hard for them; it takes away part of your soul, wears on your spirit, takes a physical and emotional toll.

It is not my intention to discount these facts. I have never been in combat, but I know many who have been, and the aftermath is not pretty. But it is not pretty for men any more than for women. It is true that women were not made to fight in wars. But neither were men. We were designed to live in peace, without death or pain or killing. Bloodshed is not natural for any of us, male or female. War takes a toll, but it takes that toll on everyone.

The divide between those who should go to war and those who should not is not a male-female divide. It is, to borrow a metaphor, a sheepdog-sheep divide. Some people cannot take the strain of warfare, or cannot be trusted with life-and-death judgement, as we saw in Abu Ghraib. Others have the mental fortitude and moral courage to bear the burden – and those people should be the ones to bear it.

War, I would argue, is not the province of men. It is the province of warriors, strong and courageous people willing and able to serve and sacrifice. It is these people, male or female, to whom we must look to raise our moral standards in warfare and to keep our country safe today and for years to come.

“side by side” by redfoxinict is licensed under CC BY 2.0