Specifically, Article 125 states: “(a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense. (b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told CNSNews.com that the vote to repeal this common sense law re-enforcing moral law in the military is a natural progression of the successful efforts by President Obama and congressional Democrats to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban of homosexuals in military service.
“It’s all about using the military to advance this administration’s radical social agenda,” said Perkins. “Not only did they overturn ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,’ but they had another problem, and that is, under military law sodomy is illegal, just as adultery is illegal, so they had to remove that prohibition against sodomy.”
Whether or not it was intentional by the Senate majority, in addition to removing the ban on sodomy, a repeal of Article 125 would also de-criminalize sex with animals. Commented Perkins: “Whether it was inadvertent or not, they have also taken out the provision against bestiality. So now, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice there’s nothing there to prosecute bestiality.”
In an editorial published on OpposingViews.com, Perkins wrote that the latest vote points to a pattern by the Obama-led Democrats “of undermining the environment that the military Code was intended to create.” Unlike its civilian counterparts “the military operates under stringent moral guidelines so that it can perform its job efficiently,” noted Perkins. It even maintains a criminal ban on adultery, something most civilians might find surprising. “After all,” wrote Perkins, “these aren’t your typical office romances. These are highly trained men and women on the front lines of national security. In the best of circumstances, sexual relationships are not without risk. But in the military, that risk is not to one or two people, but to an entire unit.”
Wondered Perkins of the Senate bill: “If Congress insists on relaxing the rules on sodomy and bestiality, will the prohibition on adultery be next?”
Fortunately, the Senate bill must be reconciled with a version passed by the House of Representatives, where the Republican majority appears to be taking greater care to block the Obama Administration’s attempts at social engineering. Perkins noted that the House version of the Defense Authorization bill reinforces the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), “saying that there is a military DOMA as well, prohibiting same-sex marriage on military bases.”
With a Republican majority on guard in the House, it appears unlikely that a repeal of Article 125 will make it into the final version of the bill. Nonetheless, noted Perkins, the Senate version represents the “slippery slope” that groups like FRC has warned of in Obama’s out-of-control social agenda. “Obviously, the administration understands that once it breaks down the values and inhibitions of our Defense Department, society will be easier to wear down,” wrote Perkins. “Here, the unintended consequence of that push opens the door to an act so vile it’s embarrassing to mention — let alone tolerate.”
