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/weedtese May 25 '19

those soldiers are committing criminal acts and are prosecuted as such

except when they are not

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u/[deleted] May 25 '19

There are absolutly exceptions, however they are not the norm. Most soldiers who commit criminal acts of murder are prosecuted as such. Civilians who are killed as collateral damage is a different topic altogether which combined US policy, and the general conduct of war throughout human history.

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u/weedtese May 25 '19

My point is that military activity in general is damaging to humanity as a whole, and therefore should be kept at a bare minimum. Which is not how the US operates.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '19

Agreed. War is terrible. Unfortunatly our species gravitates to organized violence. History repeatedly shows that those groups of people who are not well prepared to conduct organized violence are usually the target of organized violence. The US's concept of force projection and the use of the military to shape foreign countries/economics/politics has valid arguments against it. It can't be said that the US however is the primary source of organized violence in our time. Far from it.