Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Ilow
This is absurd. When people join the military, they are not supposed to think for themselves, if they did the whole system would be thrown into disarray. Soldiers, for better or worse, are the laborers, not the decision makers.
|
this is only partly true. while it's true that the soldiers themselves aren't the decision makers, they are completely free-thinking and autonomous individuals. in fact, i would say more so because while war is an abstraction to the protester in the street... it means sweat and blood and tears to the soldier. trust me, we think about these things... a lot. the various moral implications are always in our minds. we do not relish taking human life and are keenly aware of the circumstances that have been arranged to make this unavoidable to the soldier on the front lines.
the difference is the sense of duty and discipline soldiers possess. the discipline they MUST possess. they realize that the common good isn't always going to be in line with their own personal good. because of a faith and commitment to the common good (and to the institutions who direct the efforts to safeguard the common good), they make sacrifices to promote that ideal. don't mistake a sense of duty for a lack of critical thinking or understanding.