Why I am not in favor of Female Rangers

            I graduated from West Point in 2007. Shortly thereafter I graduated from Ranger School and entered into a six-year active duty career. I served as an Infantry Officer in the 25^th Infantry Division and in the 75^th Ranger Regiment and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. On my last assignment, I served as a Ranger Instructor at Fort Benning, GA.

Two female soldiers have completed Ranger School and most Americans view this as a positive milestone for the nation’s military. But I do not look favorably upon the graduation of females from Ranger School. Why?

I am not a sexist. I do not look down upon women as inferior. I dearly love my wife, daughter, my mother and my sisters and view them as of equal worth to men. I am not angry at Ranger School or at these two strong women who are about to graduate. I accept the testimony of the leadership at Ranger School that the standards have not been lowered and I acknowledge that there are certain females who are physically capable of completing the course.

But as a Christian who accepts the Bible as the rule of life, I assess this new milestone differently than most Americans. God has so ordered the world that he has given the man the natural ability and the duty to provide (1 Timothy 5:8), protect (Joel 3:9) and lead (Ephesians 5:23). Sadly, many men in America are not obeying this God appointed role.

But on the other hand, many women have rejected their God appointed role. Though God views a woman of equal value to a man (1 Peter 3:7), a woman is not normally to serve the function of a leader, but the function of a follower. In the same way that Christ submits to the will of the Father and yet is equally God, so a woman submits to her husband or father as the leader (Ephesians 5:25) and yet is equally human.

Furthermore, God applauds a woman who is gentle (1 Peter 3:4), submissive (Ephesians 5:22), trustworthy (Proverbs 31:11), God-fearer (Proverbs 31:30) and a homemaker (Titus 2:5). This list is not exhaustive, but shows the contrast from what most Americans are now inclined to value in a woman. Unlike the biblical norms, most Americans applaud a woman who is sexy, strong, and independent. But this is counter to God’s way.

If I met these two female Rangers, I would shake their hands and congratulate them. I am not angry with them or at the many other women who have served in the military. But in light of these events, I feel compelled to call upon my nation to think again about what they esteem in a woman and the rule by which they come to their conclusions. The closer America can be to God’s word, the safer and happier it will be.