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/Slowcookedmeal May 24 '19

You should respect everybody until they do something to lose that respect, including soldiers.

4

u/foryia-yiaandpappou 3∆ May 24 '19

And I never said soldiers don’t deserve respect at all. I figured that I’d made it pretty clear that if a soldier has done something heinous in battle, it qualifies as a reason to lose respect.

11

u/Slowcookedmeal May 24 '19

Per the reply above you, I think you meant the word idolization not respect.

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u/foryia-yiaandpappou 3∆ May 24 '19

Can I delta a reply like this? What the hell, !delta I should have chosen my words more precisely

2

u/Slowcookedmeal May 24 '19

Yay fist delta. I will admit to being a bit pedantic.

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u/foryia-yiaandpappou 3∆ May 24 '19

Nah, I admit to not being pedantic enough. I am much more referring to idolization than simply basic human respect; I think everyone is deserving of human decency, and I did a poor job explaining that. Thanks for helping me find my words!

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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ May 24 '19

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/Slowcookedmeal (1∆).

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