Several years ago, I wrote that the problem with repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is the religious make-up of the military itself.

For about 6 months 1987, I attended a Pentecostal church while stationed at the Marine Corps air base in Cherry Point, NC. It wasn’t just church. There were mid-week bible study meetings… weekend bowling and pizza fellowships… chow hours spent with other Christians… In short, we were Christians before we were anything else. And we were taught that our priorities were God, Country, and Family, in that order.

But even as I left the church, evangelicalism in the military has continued to grow. Hardly a week goes without a new data point adding to the body of evidence. Whether it’s the hazing of Jews at the Air Force Academy, scripture code being engraved on rifle sights or Blackwater mercenaries wearing their religion on their sleeve, we are faced with one story after another with a common subtext: the religious right has made incredible organizational gains within our military.

When Lane Hudson asked President Bill Clinton if he was ready to call for the repeal of DADT, Clinton thought for a moment and then gave an incredibly clear answer. According to the former President, when the policy was set he had secured promises from General Powell: gays would be allowed to go to gay bars. They could march in gay parades. They could do as they wished, so long as they did not announce their sexual preference while in uniform or in an official capacity. Then, according to Clinton, the mid-level officers all but revolted and the Democratic base didn’t rally. The current approach eventually cemented itself into place.

That was the early 90’s. Since then, the country and its military, if anything, have become more evangelical (even as we’ve, broadly speaking, grown more tolerant of gays).

It’s important to recognize what this means, or, more specifically, what DADT means to a fundamentalist. For these folks, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah isn’t a parable or allegory; it’s fact. It’s what God does to nations that tend toward “perversion”.

It may very well be an impossible ask for the country to expect a fundamentalist Army Officer to dispassionately rate the performance of a gay service-member. If one’s loyalties are to God before Country, favorably rating (and promoting) a gay subordinate may be too much to ask. Moreover, if a Christian genuinely believes that endorsing the “homosexual lifestyle” will bring the wrath of God upon the nation, I’m not sure what law could be passed to overcome such a soul-felt prejudice.

Don’t get me wrong. The fundamentalist objection is replete with contradiction and inconsistency. The same Officer that would refuse promotion to a gay might not think twice about promoting the fornicator… but hypocrisy is not the point. The point is that DADT will be hell to implement.

Nor is the point that we should think twice about, or even take our time with, repealing DADT. The policy is odious and it should go. Immediately. Yesterday.

The point is simply that we should walk into this with our eyes open.

I spoke with Senators Sessions, Lieberman and Wicker about this.

Senator Wicker only had a few minutes to spare, but it’s clear he doesn’t want to see the current policy changed:

Senator Lieberman favors repealing the policy and has a lot of faith in the professional military to dispassionately follow orders:

Unfortunately, I was only able to capture the audio of the interview with Senator Sessions. The topic clearly discomfited him in a way that would have been strikingly apparent if caught on video.

After speaking with the Senators, I spent a few minutes with Lt. Choi, one of today’s witnesses. I asked him about the exchange Lane Hudson had with Bill Clinton at the 2009 Netroots Nation:

Choi’s answer alluded to Admiral Mullen’s testimony about integrity. Asking gays to serve without acknowledging their sexuality amounts to suborning perjury. They are forced to swear they are something they are not. The West Point Honor Code prohibits as much: “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”

Senator Gillibrand exchanged a few words with the Lt.: