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"HONOR BOUND" (JOSEPH STEFFAN).   Term Paper ID:23369 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Critical analysis of logical & ethical flaws in author's argument for right of gays to serve in military.... More...

5 Pages / 1125 Words 1 sources, 5 Citations, TURABIAN Format $20.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Critical analysis of logical & ethical flaws in author's argument for right of gays to serve in military. Paper Introduction: Joseph Steffan, in Honor Bound: A Gay Naval Midshipman Fights to Serve His Country, argues convincingly that he and every gay man or woman has the right to serve his country in the military. There is no question that legally Steffan is correct in his argument. This reader wholeheartedly supports Steffan in his moral and legal fight to exercise that right. Any law---civilian or military---which discriminates against gays should be abolished, period. Steffan's personal commitment to that struggle wins this reader's total support. However, this piece will question the overall philosophy of the author on two counts. First, that philosophy is weak with contradictions between his plea for moral and humane treatment of gays by individuals and institutions, and the utterly immoral and inhumane nature of the profession he sought to pursue as a member of the military. That Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. To be fair, Steffan does acknowledge some of his negative experiencesat the Academy and in the Navy---aside from those institutions' ultimatelytreating him like a thing undeserving of respect or humane treatment.However, he generally acknowledges those experiences perfunctorily,especially in comparison to his glowing praise overall for the militarylife. We must have the best people . Nowhere in the book does Steffan show any awareness of thisfundamental contradiction between what he wants for himself and what he iswilling to do in order to achieve it. and I had to be willing to be one of those people (16). However, the military academy and the Navy are based ondriving out of the individual his or her own sense of separate identity,and Steffan's book is full of evidence making that aim clear: Back in Annapolis, it took me a while to get used to my new freedom as a youngster. Another problem with Steffan's book and philosophy is his failure toacknowledge the contradiction between his desire for his own individualidentity and the conformity-based military of which he would be a part. Anylaw---civilian or military---which discriminates against gays should beabolished, period. Steffan's personal commitment to that struggle wins thisreader's total support. He is willing to die to ensure thathis and other Americans' freedom to be themselves remains intact. Joseph Steffan, in Honor Bound: A Gay Naval Midshipman Fights toServe His Country, argues convincingly that he and every gay man or womanhas the right to serve his country in the military. This problem is particularly acute whenwe consider that Steffan sought to be a Navy officer, a leader in a branchof the service which drops bombs of massive destruction on people who mayor may not be innocent, or civilians, or young and gay like Steffanhimself, young men and women who like Steffan are merely following ordersfrom superiors who see themselves as protectors of that same freedom forthe people in their own countries. . However,when Steffan admits to his homosexuality and incurs the wrath of themilitary establishment, he discovers that he is seen as anything but anindividual with dignity, deserving of respect. In these statements of high ideals, however, lie the problems ofcontradiction between what he professes and the nature of the military ofwhich he seeks to be an integral part. But no matter what anyone tries to tell you, the bottom line is that at Annapolis, midshipman really have no rights. Like our computer simulations at the academy, the battle has become painless and abstract, and death is merely an afterthought (95). There is no questionthat legally Steffan is correct in his argument. Thereader who is aware of this contradiction can be both supportive ofSteffan's rights as a gay man to serve his country in the military, andtroubled at the author's failure to even acknowledge the contradiction. The academy and the military can pretty much do whatever they want to you (14 ). . . . . Thatmeans, however, that he is also willing to kill human beings who hispolitical and military superiors tell him must be killed in order toprotect such freedom for Americans. If we are to assure the survival of these ideals in a world where war exists, then we must be best at war. . That is,the military exists to kill, to maim, to destroy human beings and property.The author, who longs to be a part of that murderous profession, ignoresits destructive essence and focuses instead on the "honor" of Annapolis andservice in the military. Hewrites that "I had come to the academy to achieve my potential as anindividual" (145). He has been raised and liveshis life according to the most humane ideals and principles: These concerns were tempered by my strong belief in the ideals of the United States, especially the understanding that all people deserve freedom---the freedom to simply be themselves, and to live their lives without fear or oppression. This fact isoverwhelmingly significant to Steffan's case due to the fact that his bookwas written to awaken people to legal and personal homophobia in themilitary and anywhere it exists. During the first few days, I walked the hall cautiously, almost expecting to be yelled at for not chopping. Steffan is obviously a young man who is dedicated to his countryand to the Navy, and who offers no threat to the sexuality or the morale ofother men, or women, serving in the military. The issue of gays in the military is highly emotional, based onthe hatred and fear of human beings based on their sexual identity andpractices. Death, particularly the death of innocent human beings from bombs andmissiles, is certainly treated as an afterthought by Steffan in this book,a troubling contradiction from a man who would stand as symbol to allmembers of a group victimized every day by bigotry and even murder. Second, he argues that he sought at Annapolis andin the military to develop his own individual talents, when in fact themilitary is designed to first and foremost strip individuals of theirindividuality and create killing machines who obey orders without question. when you entered the military, you didn't forfeit any of your constitutional rights as an American citizen. First, that philosophy is weak withcontradictions between his plea for moral and humane treatment of gays byindividuals and institutions, and the utterly immoral and inhumane natureof the profession he sought to pursue as a member of the military. Honor Bound. I felt like Pavlov's dog. This reader wholeheartedlysupports Steffan in his moral and legal fight to exercise that right. Steffan's autobiographical presentation blasts holes in thehomophobic position because any open-minded and open-hearted reader willconclude that he is clearly neither seducer nor monster, neither destroyernor evil. When he does briefly mention themassive, anonymous murder of which he seeks to be a part, he does so with ashocking off-handedness: There was a time in war when you had to look someone in the eye as you killed him. He sought to be a partof an institution dedicated to death and destruction in the name offreedom, while seeking for himself the right to be a gay naval officer, andsought to establish his individuality and dignity in a world based oncontrol and conformity. Today, we see charts, displays, and numbers; we push buttons and pull triggers, and I wonder if it hasn't become too easy. Steffan's ignorance is especially greatin this regard when we consider that he sought to serve on submarines whichwere capable of delivering nuclear weapons designed to destroy entirecities. If Steffan is not aware atthat point of the reality of his situation, his legal adviser informs himof the fact: Legally, . The suggestion in that passage is that at some point the academy andthe Navy begin to let up on the drive for conformity and treat theindividual officer with respect, as an individual with dignity. Steffan is conveniently naive in minimizing the essence of the careerhe seeks in the military. In fact, he scarcely deals with the murder, ifnot mass murder, upon which the military is built. I had learned to associate these hallways with plebe year, and even after a summer away I couldn't quite shake that conditioning (96). BibliographySteffan, Joseph. Steffan's book is profoundly effectiveprecisely because he is shown to be such a good man, such a capable andcaring man. New York: Avon, 1992.----------------------- 3 Steffan shows little inclination to recognize the essentialcontradictions at work in his military experiences. . . . . The homophobes who would deny Steffan and other gays their legaland moral rights try to demonize gays as perverted monsters who wouldseduce the nation's children and corrupt the entire society with their evilways. However, this piece will question the overallphilosophy of the author on two counts. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.