I just looked outside. The sky is not falling. And if you don't subscribe to the notion that the Mayans predicted the end of the world on Dec. 21, things appear to be chugging right along as they always have.

But if you asked outgoing U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), the recent repeal of the military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy, in addition to recent marriage victories achieved in the last election, prove the world is surely in its last days.

You remember Akin. He's the guy that tried to justify his position on abortion by saying that women who are legitimately raped have a way of shutting down their body to prevent pregnancy. That statement caused him to lose any credibility in his race for U.S. Senate against incumbent Claire McCaskill.

In one of his final acts as a U.S. representative, Akin is now trying to strip away new-found rights afforded to gay and lesbian members of the military by introducing a “conscience clause” into the House version of the Defense Authorization Act.

Mother Jones examined the clause today and points out that it can be used as justification to discriminate against gay and lesbian soldiers, despite the DADT repeal.

Under Akin's proposal, a service member could cite his or her religious beliefs on homosexuality for refusing to serve alongside gay and lesbian colleagues, or for treating them differently from everyone else. For example, a service member could object to being housed in the same facility as someone who is gay or lesbian. Akin says this provision is necessary to prevent service members from "being persecuted for their views," but the language could allow the persecution of service members on the basis of their sexual orientation.

Akin's current attempt at interjecting his conservative social philosophy into the military is a prime example of why Republicans continue to suffer at the hands of Democrats during national elections.

The Senate passed the same bill earlier this year, minus Akin's amendment. But the final version of the bill is now being negotiated between the Senate and House. Mother Jones reports that the Republicans’ two chief negotiators want to include the “conscience clause.”

The Senate passed a version of the 2013 defense spending bill without the Akin proposal in early December. But with both houses of Congress negotiating the final version of the bill, the two main Republican negotiators, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.), want Akin's so-called "conscience clause" to remain in the bill.

The negotiations could be resolved as early as today, Mother Jones reports. The White House has publicly stated it disagrees with Akin's amendment and Senate Democrats are not likely inclined to embrace such a clause. Still, with an ineffective Congress, anything is possible.

Top photo: Outgoing U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) (via http://akin.house.gov)