British apologist G. K. Chesterton is renowned for the premise that "The first effect of not believing in God is to believe in anything". He never used those exact words, but several times in his writings that principle is clearly stated.
We've just been shown another example of what happens when human beings decide there's nothing Divine in which to believe, and that therefore anything goes. This time it's in our intelligence services.
The “intelligence community” is one of the most powerful parts of the American national security apparatus. In theory, it works tirelessly to keep the nation safe. But according to internal documents that we obtained, some intelligence agency employees have another on-the-job priority: sex chats.
We have cultivated sources within the National Security Agency—one current employee and one former employee—who have provided chat logs from the NSA’s Intelink messaging program. According to an NSA press official, “All NSA employees sign agreements stating that publishing non-mission related material on Intelink is a usage violation and will result in disciplinary action.” Nonetheless, these logs, dating back two years, are lurid, featuring wide-ranging discussions of sex, kink, polyamory, and castration.
. . .
These revelations come at a moment of heightened scrutiny for the intelligence community. President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard have each made the case that the intelligence agencies have gone “woke,” prioritizing left-wing activism over national security. These chat logs confirm their suspicions and raise fundamental questions about competence and professionalism.
According to our sources, the sex chats were legitimized as part of the NSA’s commitment to “diversity, equity and inclusion.” Activists within the agency used LGBTQ+ “employee resource groups” to turn their kinks and pathologies into official work duties. According to the current NSA employee, these groups “spent all day" recruiting activists and holding meetings with titles such as “Privilege,” “Ally Awareness,” “Pride,” and “Transgender Community Inclusion.” And they did so with the full support of NSA leadership, which declared that DEI was “not only mission critical, but mission imperative.”
In this case, “diversity” was not a byword for racialism, but rather a euphemism for sex talk.
There's more at the link, much of it a lot more explicit than the excerpts I published above. Read at your own risk.
As the article points out, this is a violation of policy and a disciplinary offense; but that didn't stop those involved from discarding every rule and regulation and indulging their, shall we say, baser natures. I doubt very much whether any of them adhere to any major religious belief (except perhaps Satanism), because their attitude and conduct transgresses the moral teaching of every such religion of which I'm aware. I think this is a very clear example of believing in themselves and what feels good, rather than a higher power and what is morally or philosophically good.
There are those who say that doesn't matter; that such individuals can't be blackmailed or shamed into providing intelligence to foreign powers and enemies of our country, because nowadays society accepts their ways and nobody cares any more. Allow me to assure you, that's not the case. Firstly, society isn't nearly as open across the country as it is in a few selected areas where people with such tendencies have chosen to congregate. Secondly, even those who cast discretion to the winds and throw themselves wholeheartedly into such a lifestyle still don't want to lose people in their lives who are important to them - parents, siblings, close friends - but who may not accept or tolerate their lifestyle. They can be embarrassed or shamed into cooperating with such enemies. I know it. As chaplain in a high-security penitentiary, one comes across . . . I won't say "is exposed to" for fear of misunderstandings . . . one comes across such people from time to time, serving years, even decades behind bars because their misdeeds and "secret lives" finally caught up with them. They're pretty miserable critters, let me assure you. I doubt very much that they'd tell you it was all worth it.
I hope and trust that everyone involved in this perversion will be identified, tracked down, and disciplined to the fullest possible extent, and will also lose their security clearances and associated career prospects. I don't say that out of a spirit of vengefulness, but because I want to minimize any further damage they might do to our country, and end any they may already have done. For those of us who are people of faith - any faith - I also suggest that we pray for those involved, because if anyone needs repentance and conversion, they do!
Peter
EDITED TO ADD: Jeff Childers has some trenchant thoughts on the matter.
The response was swift, not to say coordinated. Within hours, Director Gabbard roundly condemned the spooks’ sexy chatting:
It used to be that harboring bizarre sexual kinks and revolting fetishes was an automatic disqualifier for top-secret clearance. Standards have obviously fallen faster than Senator McConnell navigating a steep marble stairway. I would go farther than most and suggest these concupiscient chatterers probably suffer from diagnosable mental illnesses, which apparently was a pathway to advancement in the Biden Administration’s intelligence agencies.
. . .
It was a devastating, carefully calculated takedown. Frankly, it explains a lot. But in the battlefield of public perception, this grotesque disclosure of what the NSA’s disobedient employees have been doing in secret will justify nearly any change that Tulsi Gabbard needs to make to reorganize the intelligence agencies.
This might be remembered as the moment when the public finally glimpsed the rot festering behind the glass and concrete walls of the intelligence fortress. A glimpse raising an even bigger, more uncomfortable question: If this is what we’re allowed to see—what’s still hidden?
There's more at the link.
That's a very good question, isn't it?
