military

Women in Combat, Selective Service System, and the Draft

Judge rules unconstitutional a US military draft (and registration for it) as presently configured

Draft women for the military?

image of injuctioning by federal judge rules against all-male military draft

Federal Judge Gary Miller in Texas ruled on Friday that a military draft as the US has used it in the past is unconstitutional.

Before you start cheering, be aware that the focus isn’t on the draft but on its male-only nature. In other words, this is about making the military draft constitutional by drafting women as well. Judge Miller proclaimed that “the time has passed” to be debating whether or not women belong in the US military.

Though the US has no military draft at the present (and hasn’t had any since the last millennium), it does require young men to register for the draft with the Selective Service System. (Young men, it is your duty under God to comply. If you’re 18 or older, get yourself to a Post Office and do it.) Read it all

Wanted: Young Women Ages 18-26

Conscripts for the US military, that is.

Possible draftees, you know.

The House Armed Services Committee took a big and unexpected step toward making women register for the draft Wednesday night…

photo of American women soldiers

This amendment to the House’s annual defense authorization bill requires 18-to-26-year-old women to register with the Selective Service System. Read it all

May a Christian Do That?

What if you weren’t a Christian?

I asked that question in my most recent devotional (Thoughts for the Week) which I posted on July 14, 2009. (I first asked it some 17 years ago when I wrote it for publication as part of the March 31, 1993, lesson in Christian Light Publication‘s youth Sunday School quarterly.)

Last week, though, I got the following responses via email: Read it all

Military Dead Yet Speak

A few years ago, not so long after the Iraq War (re)started, I wrote and printed a piece for local consumption in our congregation.

In it I give due honor to six American war dead…and issue a call to service and sacrifice…for the kingdom of heaven.

The US military personnel featured in that article: William Wiscowiche, Mark Taylor, Kimberly Voelz, Keicia Hines, John Amos II, and Holly McGeogh.

A few minutes ago I finally got it online: Lessons in Sacrificial Service from the Fallen. Check it out for a conservative Anabaptist’s perspective.

Above all, love God!