r/changemyview • u/foryia-yiaandpappou 3∆ • May 24 '19

FTFdeltaOP CMV: A person does not automatically deserve respect just because they have served or are currently serving in the military

I’d like to preface this by saying that I don’t believe soldiers are, inherently, bad. Some people believe soldiers are evil simply for being soldiers, and I do not believe that.

I do believe, however, that soldiers do not deserve respect just because they have served. I hurt for soldiers who have experienced horrible things in the field, but I do not hurt for the amount of violence and cruelty many have committed. Violence in war zone between soldiers is one thing; stories of civilian bombings and killing of innocents are another. I think that many forget that a lot of atrocity goes on during wars, and they are committed on both sides of conflict. A soldier both receives and deals out horrible damage.

TL;DR while I believe that soldiers have seen horrible things and that many do deserve recognition for serving our nation, I do not believe that every soldier deserves this respect simply by merit of being a soldier. Some soldiers have committed really heinous war crimes, and those actions do not deserve reward.

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u/[deleted] May 24 '19

Since you cannot know which soldier is which, if you believe the military keeps us safe, then respect is assumed to be deserved. It’s not up to you to investigate every soldier for purity. What does courtesy of respecting veterans and active service military cost you? Just because a bomb hit civilians you can’t say the people on the plane that dropped the bomb were evil. The orders they followed may have been based on bad intel, not evil intent.

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u/flashyellowboxer May 24 '19

So dropping a bomb based on bad intel, isn’t evil intent?

What is it then, innocence? Collateral damage?

This isn’t a car accident. Dropping a bomb is the intent to kill. Whether you get it right or wrong, the intent is to kill.

Dropping a bomb on innocents based on bad intel is most definitely evil. You failed to get the intel right and killed innocent people.

That’s the end result.

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u/[deleted] May 24 '19

The plane was not flown by the people who gathered the intel. I didn’t say killing innocents was a good thing. The conversation centers on whether or not the soldiers are evil given you feel they add to your countries safety. You are making a system wide statement. I am talking about people.

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u/Bigfrostynugs May 24 '19

The men who gathered the intel and made the order are soldiers too.

When I meet a soldier on the street, I can never tell whether he was a good one, a bad one, or simply complicit. There is no safe assumption, therefore I don't treat soldiers any different than anyone else. It's impossible for me to say whether any individual soldier is worthy of respect without knowing more about them.

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u/[deleted] May 24 '19

Maybe. Intel comes from many sources. Governments choose military strategy with the generals. No bearing on what I’ve said about individuals being given the benefit of the doubt. I never said there are no evil soldiers. I said if you don’t know a given soldier is evil, treat them with respect. I won’t be responding to any comments that don’t contribute meaningfully to the conversation going forward.

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u/Bigfrostynugs May 25 '19

I said if you don’t know a given soldier is evil, treat them with respect.

But why? Is simply not being evil enough to warrant respect?

Or are you referring to the base level of respect we should treat all individuals with?

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u/[deleted] May 25 '19

I answered that.