Quote Originally Posted by motorfirebox View Post
I don't think it's edge, no. That opinion is based on my definition of the term "edge", though, so I won't bother trying to defend it.

But it doesn't matter, frankly. There is an inherent reason to try to keep soldiers fit, and both the fitness tests and the BMI standards are attempts to reach that goal. If there are edge cases where the fitness tests and BMI standards conspire against a particular soldier, well, there are ways to deal with that and one of those ways is to remove the soldier from service. But being an 'edge case' is not enough reason to boot somebody from the military. I doubt there are many, say, six-foot Filipinos who speak fluent German and were born and raised in Wisconsin. I certainly don't know any, much less any who want to serve in the military. Should we keep such soldiers out, just because there aren't many of them? I don't see any reason to do so, and this logic applies to gay soldiers as well. There is not an inherent reason to keep gay soldiers out of the military, which means there's no reason to keep gay soldiers out regardless of how many of them there are.

The military's standards for body shape occasionally screw up and exclude people who are fit for combat. The fact that the military screws up in one area is not carte blanche to screw up anywhere else. (This is probably what I should have said to your first post about BMI/fitness.)
Motorfirebox - let me restate my contention. I think there is reason to believe that common homosexual behaviors pose at least as great a health risk as overeating. I think the CDC report points to the dangers of homosexual behavior. Yet soldiers are discharged for overeating but homosexuality has become more or less a protected behavior in the military. The mainstream media does not cover the health problems associated with homosexual behavior because it deosn't fit with the cause celeb that affirmation of homosexuality has become for the media/Hollywood.