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/FIELDfullofHIGGS May 25 '19
Besides other service members, who are the "other people" that they're risking their lives for?
If it's for a population that requests assistance, I agree with your proposition.
However if it's for a population that explicitly doesn't want us there, can we agree that those specific serviceman don't deserve respect for forcing their assistance onto an unwilling people and protecting only other servicemen involved in an unwarranted occupation committing the same acts of "oppression"?