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Yes

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Hell, yes. And I am not coming from some knuckle-dragging gung-ho ideology that says all Americans should be willing to pick up arms to defend the good ol' USA! My point of view is that no one should be forced to die - or to kill! - in the name of "...God and country"!

But, I feel equally strong that women should have the same opportunities and responsibilities as men, and that men should have the same duties and responsibilities as women. And don't give me any of that crap like "Okay, pal. Go have a baby, then!". That is the reddest of herrings. Just because the genders are by nature different in some ways, does not mean, first, that we are that different in most ways or that, second, we human beings have even the least amount of judgement or intelligence to artificially impose rules or mores that seek to differentiate our duties.

There are some who would say that the child-bearing gender is sacro-sanct and does not ever belong on the front lines of battle. I gotta say that I am in no position to judge the value of that half of humanity whom nature has graced and burdened with that function. However, some women would in fact be much more, ahem, productive, serving in some military capacity - and - for the sake of this article, I'll call it "defending their country" - although that phrase irks the hell out of me.

Likewise, there are some men who really do belong nurturing and teaching and protecting and caring for children and doing those other duties that tradition has somehow thrust open the female gender. Yes, it is natural to see why this is assumed, and for the first 9 or so months of a baby's life (those spent in the womb), nature has made that decision for us. And, some men neither want to be, nor really belong, in the heat of battle making decisions and taking actions that will impact not only their very survival and the winning or losing of some war, but also the welfare and survival of those troops on the battle field *WITH* them! No matter your stance on war or military or patriotism or gender norms - nobody is served by having moral or operational uncertainty in a war zone!

As long as this culture and function called the military must regrettably remain a fact of global society, both genders are more than able to do their duty as they themselves see fit.

Learn more about this author, John Doe.
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