General Pace Gets it Right...Almost

There has been quite a firestorm over the last couple of days regarding remarks made by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace. He was apparently asked to clarify remarks he made earlier regarding homosexuality and the military.

The following was reported regarding General Pace's remarks:

Are there wonderful Americans who happen to be homosexual serving in the military? Yes," he told the Senate Appropriations Committee during a hearing focused on the Pentagon's 2008 war spending request.

"We need to be very precise then, about what I said wearing my stars and being very conscious of it," he added. "And that is, very simply, that we should respect those who want to serve the nation but not through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God's law.

I'm thankful for a man willing to stand up in the halls of power in this land and tell the truth about this issue. Heaven knows there are no others of General Pace's stature willing to do so. However, I wish he'd not qualified his statement with the phrase "in my upbringing". This really has nothing to do with the General's upbringing. The law of God is the law of God. Homosexuality is a sin whether the general was brought up to believe so or not.

His attempt to soften his remarks only panders to the belief that the issue is really one of personal opinion. "I believe this is a violation of God's law because of how I was raised" is a different statement from "this is a violation of God's law."

Again, I applaud General Pace for even saying what he did say. He is going to be ridiculed and vilified to the maximum over this. I'm sure he knows that and counted the cost before he spoke. He's obviously a man of courage. However, I don't believe the trouble he will face over this would have been any worse had he just made an unqualified statement that homosexuality violates God's law and should not be encouraged or condoned by the laws of our land in any way at all.

I pray that General Pace will be given the strength to remain firm in the face of the persecution he's likely to receive especially since I'm fairly certain he'll receive no support for his position from his boss, the "conservative Christian" current occupant of the White House.