This Transgender Man Is Trying To Enlist In The Military On Jan. 1. Trump Is Trying To Stop Him

PO1 John Y. - anyone who uses the term "Darwinism" is usually a fundamentalist Christian. It clearly indicates that they do not understand science, or for that matter, evolution. Darwin presented evidence that led to the theory of evolution being developed, but he had no idea about a number of issues that were developed later.

Next, you do believe in the Bible, which includes talking snakes and asses, 900 year old men, that slavery and genocide are OK, and believe that a human sacrifice saved all of human-kind. If this were discussed in any area but religion, it would be considered delusional thinking. You made a comment about intelligence - if all the atheists in the United States were forced to leave, you would lose 93% of the members of the National Academy of Science, but less than 1% of the prison population. What makes me different is that I use critical thinking and skepticism to guide my beliefs, and I base those beliefs on empirical evidence, not faith.

Finally, by protesting your attempts to impose your religion and morality on me, that is not imposing anything on you. The Founding Fathers made it very clear that they did not want religion to be entangled with government, to the point that most leading Christian pastors opposed the ratification of the Constitution. It's why the only time that religion is mentioned in the original Constitution is to bar the use of religion as a test for office.

PO1 John Y. - Actually Johns Hopkins started offering gender reassignment in 1965 until 1979 and then started up again this year. So yes more than 30 years ago gender reassignment was a "thing."

Why does god have to be brought into anything? No one knows if there is a god...and IF there is some deity we don't know what it wants. We could be some giant experiment by some advanced life forms. No one knows for a fact. Whatever deity is out there, it does make mistakes. Daily.

My brother is homosexual - he didn't choose it. He was born that way and there are more and more studies to show that it is something people are born with. He said he's known since he was five years old. The only choice he made was hiding it until he was about 19 years old. If he had come out in high school he likely would have been beaten and strung on a fence post like Matthew Sheppard.

so bottom line is some believe it's ok for transgender people to serve in the military and some don't, some believe homosexuality is ok and some don't, and some believe there's a God and some don't. Because both sides require faith, regardless which side you're on you have to stand strong on your position, meaning there's not much someone from the other side can do to change your mind. In the end, we'll see who was right.

SGT John Meredith - John, there's no point. You believe that homosexuals are not "normal" and that science is not reliable. There is a evidence indicating that those most opposed to male homosexuality are often fighting their own feelings, see Henry E. Adams et al., "Is Homophobia Associated with Homosexual Arousal?", 105 J. of Abnormal Psych. 440 (1996). This is often the case with fundamentalists, such as Jim Bakker, Ted Haggard, Eddie Long, Larry Craig, and so on.

Why are you concerned about what they do in private? It does not affect you, it's not unnatural (8% of rams are attracted to other rams, rather than ewes, see Charles E. Roselli et al., "The Neurobiology of Sexual Partner Preferences in Rams", 55 Hormones and Behavior J. 611 (2009)), it's not inherently harmful, and it's likely to be genetic, based on multiple studies (on the Xq28, 8p12, and 10q26 chromosome bands).

Finally, until you understand how science actually works, there's no point to the dialogue, other than to inform others who are reading this.

PO1 John Y. - sorry, but your earlier comment indicates you do not understand what a "fact" is. Unless there is a need to counter your statement for the readers, I don't see a purpose in this conversation.

PO1 John Y. - What medical and psych professionals argue that? I can only guess which ones.

so bottom line is some believe it's ok for transgender people to serve in the military and some don't, some believe homosexuality is ok and some don't, and some believe there's a God and some don't. Because both sides require faith, regardless which side you're on you have to stand strong on your position, meaning there's not much someone from the other side can do to change your mind. In the end, we'll see who was right.

Or to quote a old long gone Republican " you do not have to be straight to shoot straight"