ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 5, 1996 TAG: 9609050037
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LOUIS P. GLENN
WHILE THE origin of the Olympic games is not known exactly, there is a historical record of the ancient games beginning in 775 B.C. Thereafter, they were held at four-year intervals until A.D. 394 when they were abolished by the Roman emperor Theodosius. The games were started again in 1896.
The ancient games were restricted to Greek males. When the games were to be held, a sacred truce was declared and enforced to permit participants to travel unmolested to the games.
Women were not allowed as competitors, or, except for the priestesses of Demeter, as spectators.
What was once an athletic event for men only has become an international spectacle in which women compete against women, and men against men.
In today's feminine atmosphere wherein women are entering all male territories, it would not be surprising if militant feminists decided to voice their anger claiming blatant discrimination over not being allowed to compete against males in the games.
The Supreme Court's decision that Virginia Military Institute must admit females to the all-male school brought joy to the feminists. Entry to VMI will not automatically ensure equal education for both males and females. Educators have long known that students do better in a school that is single gender; that is, females go to schools that are all-female and males to all-male schools.
Why women want to enter a military school and then enter the armed forces and be in a combat role, a role that until now was a truly masculine one, is a mystery. It is a prime example of today's militant feminists' goal of equality between the sexes.
In the armed forces, women should be in only the medical services or behind a desk. If this does not satisfy militant feminists, then I would suggest they be sent to the front lines where our troops are stationed to experience the wonderful world of killing human beings, which men have enjoyed over the centuries. Could it be that the feminists are jealous of all the fun men have had killing other men, as well as being killed?
The action of females to enter all-male institutions and activities has only one goal - to prove women are as good as men. Males have never tried to prove they are equal to females.
Read what Thomas Fleming, editor of the periodical "Chronicles," has to say about women in combat roles:
"No one in or out of the Armed Forces ought to have any illusions over why so many women have been sent to the Gulf. They have been sent there to get us used to the idea that women can die for their country as well as men, and if that is the sort of country we are fighting for - a country willing to sacrifice its sisters and daughters for the New World Order - then there is no place in it for what used to be called a gentleman or for anyone raised in the Christian faith."
Our government has gone too far in trying to appease the militant feminists in their goal of complete equality between the sexes.
Louis P. Glenn of Roanoke County is a retired federal auditor.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB