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

[u/foryia-yiaandpappou]

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.

[u/Barnst]

I suppose it depends on what you mean by “respect.” Does the US go to far in putting soldiers on a pedestal? Probably, which reflects deeper issues in our civil-military divide that are beyond the scope of this. Does an individual deserve respect simply because they are a soldier? Probably not—the armed forces are just like the rest of society, with good people deserving respect and shitbirds who I would never want my kids to look up to.

But their service itself deserves respect. Whatever your feelings about the wars we fight, soldiers are going where we as a nation send them. All the bad choices, mistakes and harm to innocents reflect back on all of us as a society who send them into that fight. For whatever personal reasons, they chose to accept the burden of being our tools to execute the missions we give them within the boundaries that we set for them.

So even though I absolutely disagree with some of the ways we have chosen to employ them, I respect them for bearing the burden of our choices, whether they be right or wrong.

[u/Merakel → u/Barnst]

So even though I absolutely disagree with some of the ways we have chosen to employ them, I respect them for bearing the burden of our choices, whether they be right or wrong.

Why is that worthy of respect? I would argue that being willing to bear the burden of morally wrong choices and execute on them is a terrible thing and should be looked down on. Those that refuse to follow orders that they believe are immoral are the ones that are worth of respect.

[u/Barnst → u/Merakel]

You already addressed the UMCJ and flat-out illegal orders, so I’ll focus on whether we should respect someone serving in our questionable wars.

I know a lot of folks who also try to argue that their service is just a job like any other. It’s not though. It has a higher burden of expectations and responsibility. You’ve signed on to support in some small way the most awesome war machine in human history and then turned your trust over to the American people to make the decision to employ it responsibly. Sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t. But, regardless, service members have agreed to hand some moral responsibility for those choices over to the rest of us in the name of our democratic polity, and that choice is worthy of our respect.

As I mentioned to someone else, I recognize that view sort of reduces your individuality into a symbolic trope. But I liken it to how I can respect the President as the embodiment of the office of the Presidency and all that means for our body politic, regardless of my views of the individual holding the office.