It would be eye opening to see the level of residual prejudice against all who are “not me.” And yet the military has found a way to function very effectively in the face of that prejudice. It would provide a useful context.

But in many ways the work I do at BTB is rewarding. I believe (and hope that I’m right) that what we do contributes to changing the world for the better and, at least over the past year, perhaps saving lives.

but if I had more time yesterday I probably would have gone a little further in.

So…even with your salary and performance bonuses you don’t feel obliged to give the readers here a complete picture, eh? I guess I’ll just have to follow the link and do the work myself.
[oh, and btw, thanks to all at BTB for the unselfish work you really do. ;-)]

By “American exceptionalism” I am referring to the notion that America is unique among all nations, and that the same rules do not necessarily apply to the US because of its special status. As noted by Jason above, for some Americans, this exceptionalism is rooted in a religious belief that America is chosen by god.

As an outside observer of US culture, I think your country is exceptional in many ways (good and bad).

Hmm. Are you saying Americans are exceptional, or that we have a lot of exceptions to our principles.

That is good to know…however…I also have it on good authority that both the CIA and the FBI permit “dang gays” to serve.

I don’t entirely understand American exceptionalism. I guess I am just a dumb foreigner. :-)

Jesus loves America best of all! That’s why we can’t have no dang gays in our military!! God’ll smite us big and bad!
God don’t care about Canada, or Israel, or even Britain. God’s chosen people are Americans.

/end sarcasm.

Or at least that’s what some folks think.

I see no reason why the US military would be any different in this regard.

It would be interesting to see a more detailed breakdown that included rank, years in service and age.

The full database is available. We could go further into rank and age and ethnicity and many other things. And I agree that it could be interesting to spend some time trying to get a better picture of opposition and support.

Of course, with each dividing the data becomes less telling, but if I had more time yesterday I probably would have gone a little further in.

I think it’s incredible that people are now willing to let openly gay men and women die on their behalf in a war.

Where do I sign up?

*Australia: a nation that allows openly gay soldiers to serve*