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Zonie63 -> RE: Why celebrate dead soldiers? (5/31/2013 8:06:12 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Lucylastic
heh irony is a strange thing...one of my best friends is a vietnam vet + a harley riding biker who does the patriot rides, a gun totin, hard working christian republican american male. We have been friends for 15 years, I love him to pieces and always will. Our politics most certainly dont mesh, but thats ok, we do on so many other things.
Anyway... the other day on his facebook page, he got het up about the lack of respect for fallen heroes, and said something to the affect of "those fallen heroes died for your freedoms, I fought for your freedoms".
Two days later, he put up a meme that said. "If you didnt serve, you dont deserve ...so shut the fuck up"
With regard to Kds wish....If you purposefully walk into a room of people with a totally different outlook on a subject that is liable to get violence visited upon you, you are nuts... standing up for your principles is one thing, having a death wish is another.
Well, yes, I agree that it would be foolish and misguided to do something like that. But honestly speaking, of the vets I know (if they were in the situation described here), they would probably just roll their eyes or might say something back. But they wouldn't get violent over it. To do so would violate the principles they fought for.
As a general rule, I wouldn't go out of my way to be disrespectful, but I also don't think it's disrespectful to ask questions. I think that's the key issue raised by the OP. When a veteran says "I fought for your freedom," it's a pretty loaded statement which probably should be questioned by an aware and vigilant citizenry. With all due respect to our military personnel and veterans, they are NOT the final word on the matter (nor should they be).
For one thing, such a statement implies that we already have freedom, which is a debatable point. It also implies that our freedom (such as it is) has been threatened and needed to be defended and fought for, which is another debatable point. I questioned it when Bush said (just after 9/11) the terrorists "hate us for our freedom." At best, such a statement is an oversimplification and needs much more elaboration. Geopolitics is far more complex than that, so when words like "freedom" are thrown around so casually like that, one might be inclined to question it.
Ultimately, I think it's misguided and distractive to challenge or disrespect the veterans or current military personnel on this issue, since they operate at the behest of the civilian/political authorities. That's why the idea of supporting the troops makes sense, since they're not the ones making the political decisions. In that sense, I respect the military in the same way I respect policemen and firemen. I respect the job, and the hard work, dedication and sacrifice that go with it, but if a fireman said "I put out fires for your freedom," I might still respect and honor him for putting out the fire, but not for my freedom. One doesn't have anything to do with the other.
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