2011-JAN-MAR: Pastor Cindy Jacobs links DADT policy to dead birds, fish in Arkansas, and perhaps to the tsunami in Japan:
One month after President Obama signed the law that began the process of repealing the DADT policy, Pastor Cindy Jacobs linked that law to the death of thousands of blackbirds and fish in Arkansas on 2011-JAN-03. She based her beliefs on Hosea 4 which discusses ancient Hebrews violating God's laws with the result that "cycles of nature" are disrupted. She said at her ministry in Red Oak, TX:
"Well, there's something interesting we have been watching – let's talk about this Arkansas pattern and say, could it be a pattern? We're going to watch and see. But the blackbirds fell to the ground in Beebe, Arkansas. Well the governor of Arkansas' name is Beebe. And also, there was something put out of Arkansas called 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' by a former governor, this was proposed [by] Bill Clinton. As so, could there be a connection between this passage and now that we've had the repeal of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' where people now legally in the United States have broken restrains with the Scripture because the Scripture says in Romans 1 that homosexuality is not allowed."1
However, other Christians have an alternative interpretation of Romans 1. They view the passage as not allowing sexual behavior that violates their fundamental nature. The former Christians described in Romans 1 had a heterosexual orientation and yet engaged in sexual activity with persons of the same gender -- activity which was against their basic heterosexual nature. Romans 1 can be understood as also condemning persons with a homosexual orientation from engaging in opposite-gender sexual behavior which would be against their basic nature.
She apparently received some criticism for this prophecy, as she discusses in this video:
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On Top Magazine commented: "The repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is possibly responsible for the earthquake and tsunami in Japan [on 2011-MAR-11], just as the self-appointed prophet Cindy Jacobs warned." 6
2011-JUL-22: Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy set to end on 2011-SEP-20:
On 2011-JUL-22, the Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with President Barak Obama. All were ready to certify that DADT can be ended without adverse affects on the military. The three signed the following statement:
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President Obama issued a statement on the same day saying:
"I have certified and notified Congress that the requirements for repeal have been met. 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' will end, once and for all, in 60 days – on September 20, 2011."
President Obama joined with Secretary Panetta and Admiral Mullin and said:
"As Commander in Chief, I have always been confident that our dedicated men and women in uniform would transition to a new policy in an orderly manner that preserves unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness. Today’s action follows extensive training of our military personnel and certification by Secretary Panetta and Admiral Mullen that our military is ready for repeal."
"As of September 20th, service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country."
The military was racially desegregated shortly after World War II. More recently, bars against females serving in the military were largely eliminated. And now service members of all sexual orientations will be able to openly serve together. Just as the previous integrations have had a profound effect on the levels of racism and sexism in society as a whole, the integration of persons of all sexual orientations will probably have a major effect both in reducing the level of homophobia and increasing the rate of change towards LGBT equality in the country. 4 The U.S. is currently badly split in its beliefs about LGBT rights and will thus be divided on whether these changes will be positive or negative.
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