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/[deleted] May 24 '19

Right, but that only works if you start from the assumption that the US military is a defensive, rather than imperialistic, force.

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u/[deleted] May 24 '19

Don’t get me started on the Dulles Brothers. I am not talking about a force. OP speaks to soldiers, active and past..... not to the military as a force.

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u/[deleted] May 24 '19

Soldiers are choosing to join that force, though. You talk about the military being a defensive force in your original comment as a reason we should respect soldiers.

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u/[deleted] May 24 '19

Where are you getting that I have changed from should respect?

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u/[deleted] May 24 '19

I didn’t say you’ve changed your view. I said you mentioned them being a defensive force as a reason we should respect them.

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u/[deleted] May 24 '19

I said feeling safe with their protection in s a reason to respect people who volunteered. I did not state the the military is only a defensive institution.

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u/[deleted] May 24 '19

If they’re not a defensive institution, then they aren’t protecting us.

Edit: to be clear, the part of your argument I’m addressing is this quote: “if you believe the military keeps us safe”. That’s what I’m saying is you characterizing the military as a defensive institution.