I have been reading the letters to the editor as concerns “don’t ask, don’t tell.” I want to address two points.

Our fears about sharing close space with someone of a different sexual preference drip with irony. We do not want someone with whom we share showers, quarters and fighting positions to look at us as potential partners in an act in which we have no desire to take part. How quickly we forget what many women endured, and often continue to endure, on the path from being auxiliary forces to full integration into the military. Perhaps our discomfort in this case will help us remember their discomfort at the thought of being considered (unwilling!) sexual objects.

The letters [of recent weeks] concerning the religious values do not yet include a letter from a chaplain. Please note: No one is calling for the dining facilities to cease serving pork (Deuteronomy 14). We do not punish adulterers by stoning (Leviticus 20). Our exchanges and commissaries open on Sunday mornings well before church services conclude (Exodus 20). If the entire Bible is holy, we should not hold up certain commandments as a basis for policy while ignoring other commandments out of convenience. We should also remember that those commandments exist in a greater context than our ability to cite chapter and verse.

Not that it matters. We do not undertake to protect the Bible. Our oaths are clear in that we promise to “support and defend the Constitution.” As with all policies, Congress legislates. The courts determine legal implications. The president directs. As members of the military, we are instruments of that legal process, and not interpreters of the constitutional basis. It goes beyond the scope of our oaths to demand that the Constitution withstand the scrutiny of biblical correctness.

This is not about religion or sexual preference. This is about discipline and effective command. To allow a bigoted policy to stand because we cannot control ourselves or because our commanders cannot control their units is a lazy, unmilitary solution to what should be a simple issue.