Thursday, October 28, 2010

Gays in the military and "don't ask don't tell"

Does the difference lie in the presence of a compulsory draft?

Amplify’d from www.religionnews.com


JERUSALEM (RNS) Israel, like the United States, is a largely secular society with deep religious roots. And Israel, like the United States, is home to vocal religious conservatives who frown on homosexuality.


But Israel, unlike the United States, has allowed gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military for 17 years. In fact, they are required to.


So, if Israel has found a way to allow gays in the military, can it provide lessons to the U.S. as it struggles with whether—and how—to dismantle Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell?


Perhaps. But like everything in Israel, it’s a bit more complicated. And the comparison between the U.S. and Israel is inexact.


By most accounts, Israel’s integration of gays in the military has succeeded, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has reportedly begun to share its experiences with the U.S. military.

Read more at www.religionnews.com
 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Apparently also in the UK people thought everyone's eyeballs would explode out of their faces and the world would end in a miasma of nuclear explosions, but they're doing fine.