Worship of the soldier

[ApostateLois]

I have noticed this trend lately, which is for a lot of folks to put soldiers on some kind of pedestal, as if they are sacred and therefore beyond criticism. I see this on Facebook all the time, from people who are constantly posting "support our troops" type memes. Now, I understand where it comes from. After the Vietnam War, soldiers were vilified as baby-killers and treated like shit. I get that this was wrong, they were only doing what their keepers in the government were telling them to do, and it's really the politicians who should bear the fire of our rage. But now we've gone completely in the opposite direction, so that the soldier is, for all practical purposes, worshiped almost on the same level as a god. You can't say ANYTHING bad about a soldier. They can do no wrong. They are precious flowers in the garden of life. The ground upon which they trod is holy ground, so take off your shoes and bow down, mere mortals. Well, that's the impression I'm getting, anyway.

I keep hearing things like "They're fighting for our freedoms." I see it more as they are fighting to advance the goals and desires of the mega-wealthy politicians who are the only ones really to benefit from most of the wars. If they were fighting for freedom and democracy, they'd be hell-bent for North Korea right now, where people are oppressed beyond imagining and their Dear Leader has repeatedly made threats against the United States. Same thing goes for any of the Muslim groups threatening to bring fire and destruction to Americans. Why aren't we bombing the hell out them? Where are the brave soldiers volunteering to do these jobs? They're exactly where they have been put, by those whose interests they are serving. In that sense, they're no different than anyone else with a job, who does what the boss tells them to do.

Just to be clear: I don't believe soldiers should be treated like crap. I am appalled that they arrive back here with missing limbs and broken minds, only to be cast aside like used Kleenex by the same government who required their service in the first place. The suicide rate among veterans is extremely high, something like 20 per day. They are often denied health care and Food Stamps. Many are homeless--you can see them begging on the streets. This isn't right, but neither is treating them like demi-gods who are beyond criticism. Anyone else feel this way, or is it just me overreacting?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Never noticed that myself.

[Baruch]

Soldiers etc are an ultimate expression of citizenship, which is the ultimate expression of the civic religion.  Except in the US, with "separation", the civic religion is secular and separate from our many proper religions.  So technically the civic religion should be called an ideology, not a theology ... and for many people can act as a substitute or augmentation of proper religions.  As an ideology, it is godless (in a neutral sense).  Though the act of war is one of the most godless (in a pejorative sense) that we can do.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Never saw any god on any battlefield, that's for certain.

[Munch]

Never saw any god on any battlefield, that's for certain.

Cep for Kratos :p

[dtq123]

I'm more concerned about the police force than much else, but I do agree that some soldiers are put on a pedestal, but like you said they have many troubles of PTSD and such. However, not all soldiers are treated like god, and should be given more respect by the government. So as the government takes responsibility, we should not feel the need to worship them because they are being taken care of.

[ApostateLois]

I just see loads of "Support our troops," "God bless our soldiers," etc. on FB, complete with flags, eagles, crosses, and guns, I guess because it's a political forum for a lot of people. But why should I support the soldiers if I don't support the wars they are fighting? I support their being brought back here and being ready to fight when we are actually threatened, and not just because some dictator is rumored to have "weapons of mass destruction" (which were never found, and of which WE have plenty). I support their being treated like human beings in need of mental therapy and medicine when they get home. I support their not ending up homeless on the streets because of a government who wants them to sacrifice everything, but refuses to sacrifice anything in return. I do not support their reasons for being overseas, stirring up even more trouble than already exists in the Middle East. For this, I am sure to be called unpatriotic, stupid, unrealistic, anti-American, and any number of other things.

[aitm]

I find it mildly amusing those who rejected the "tallyho" battle cry of the soldier in their early lives, now as parents (and grandparents) champion the whole "god bless amurica and our solders and if you don't "like" you are a filthy communist-atheist pig fucker"…..makes me giggle. My sister is one of those now, and my older brother who is a Nam vet has gone full on battle cry.

[GSOgymrat]

But why should I support the soldiers if I don't support the wars they are fighting?

The same reason I'm courteous to the greeter at Walmart even though I don't like the company's business practices.

I agree with Baruch that patriotism is very similar to religion. Being grateful to soldiers for freedom is akin to being grateful to Jesus for salvation. To some people they both are sacred and represent association with something bigger than oneself and with ideals that are pure and good. As someone who is not religious or patriotic, that is how it appears to me.

[peacewithoutgod]

I agree soldiers should not be spit on - if we supported none of them at all, this country would hardly be secure enough to defend us all against the global mobs such as ISIS. When they return home broken after doing what they were lawfully told, no matter how immoral it was in reality, they deserve to be cared for. However, I don't feel the same on handing them privileged status for life in employment, tax exemptions, nor anything else. The lines which divide heroism from arrogance, and arrogance from "courage" can be so fat that it's mostly useful for nothing, and there are surely as many who entered the service with the gambler's arrogance (that they would survive anything) as those who did so "heroically" or "courageously".

[aitm]

Actually I believe that combat vets should have tax exemption status. I also believe they should have first class health care, front of the line, get the fuck out of the way real shit! But, I don't buy into the patriotism bullshit propaganda.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I just see loads of "Support our troops," "God bless our soldiers," etc. on FB, complete with flags, eagles, crosses, and guns, I guess because it's a political forum for a lot of people. But why should I support the soldiers if I don't support the wars they are fighting? 

First off, you don't have to support anybody. But supporting the troops regardless of what you think of the government's plans for them shows that you care about people.

[ApostateLois]

Actually I believe that combat vets should have tax exemption status. I also believe they should have first class health care, front of the line, get the fuck out of the way real shit! But, I don't buy into the patriotism bullshit propaganda.

See, that's how I feel. They are people doing an important job, and they should be treated well for it, but I abhor the in-your-face patriotism of people who think soldiers are above criticism. I regard patriotism as just another religion, where the idols are gilded eagles and waving flags, and the mantra is "My country, right or wrong." I'd rather live here than in most other places, but I don't believe this is "the greatest nation in the world." I don't even know what that means, to be honest. We are great in some ways, not so much in others, like most other countries.

The same reason I'm courteous to the greeter at Walmart even though I don't like the company's business practices.

Well, yeah, I agree there. But I get the feeling that a lot of Americans love war, and they love glorifying those who fight in it just because they are fighting in it. This goes well beyond simply being courteous to an employee. It's like praising the employee as superhuman just because they got a job with the richest corporation in the world. Pretty disturbing, actually. These types of people always seem to be trigger-happy Christians.

[TomFoolery]

I guess I owe a bit of disclosure in that I'm a veteran of Afghanistan myself, but it's a trend I noticed very early in my career in the Army. Troops like to imagine they are some special lot, like their cause is noble and they serve for love of country and civilians "just don't get it."

It's true that most civilians really don't get it, but that doesn't mean they're stupid and can't draw some conclusions. A large reason civilians "just don't get it" is because the military likes to keep to themselves. What isn't true is that troops serve as some higher calling. Not a single damn one. When I think of all the reasons I joined, about 90% of it came down to I was really fucking broke and needed college and rent money. I like to think the other 10% was adventure/seeing the world, job training/experience, and maybe just a tiny bit of patriotism. Five years later, including 12 months of that spent in Afghanistan, and my eyes were opened pretty wide.

I think a small minority leaves the military the way I did: jaded and kind of sad. But most pretend like it was the best thing they ever did and expect a huge pat on the back for volunteering. That's right: volun-fucking-teering. America's military has been an all volunteer force since the 1970s, so why is it that so many troops want kudos for picking a career? Statistically truck drivers have a more deadly profession and do far more to uphold the American way of life than troops, (thanks to shipping all the cheap Chinese crap we "need" all over the country) but no one gives them ticker tape parades.

I think many troops are helped along in this facade by an ignorant public eager to make right the wrongs of the Vietnam generation. The good intentions of civilians are rarely in question, but detached admiration has always been a stand-in for the impulse to do “something” for veterans. Most seem to just view veterans as those people that stand on the sidelines of football games while the camera lingers on flags flapping in the wind. The word hero is tossed around and abused to the point of irrelevance. Most service members aren't heroes: they're just regular people doing a regular job (most military MOSs can be found in the civilian world: I myself was a journalist) at one of the last places in America that has health insurance and a retirement pension. And I ran across quite a few people in uniform who were such utter pieces of garbage that I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire, so simply volunteering to be in the military doesn't make a person a hero.

It's correct to say I never fought for anyone's freedom. At best I may have helped a few Afghan farmers send their kids to schools and live free of Taliban oppression. At worst I was just helping advance American interests in a war on terror that is largely trumped up and akin to hunting a black dog in the night while countering everything this country is ideally supposed to stand for. But let's be honest: most Afghans were actually happier under the Taliban. It sounds ludicrous to say, but I heard it from them, when we'd go to shuras and talk to the elders. Sure, justice was swift and severe under Taliban rule and girls couldn't go to school and it's all the things that run counter to Western ideals, but rarely did kids get blown up on their way to milk the family goat or get accidentally shot by some trigger happy American teenager.

There's so much more I could say, because it's an issue I've long-chewed over. I've been attempting to reanalyze my position for years and come up with some kind of answer to what it's all for. I saw good people die. Afghans, Americans, Brits, Canadians, Australians. Some were kids, and some had kids of their own. I don't know what it was all for, but it certainly wasn't for intangible ideals like "freedom" or "peace."

I've often heard many soldiers spout the trite old line about "No one prays for peace more than the soldier." Horseshit, because if that was true they'd be out of a job, and if that was so true, why did we go bringing war into countries that were at peace, even if they are poorly run by American standards? Soldiers need war, and so does America, but that doesn't make it right.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I've often heard many soldiers spout the trite old line about "No one prays for peace more than the soldier." Horseshit, because if that was true they'd be out of a job, and if that was so true, why did we go bringing war into countries that were at peace, even if they are poorly run by American standards? Soldiers need war, and so does America, but that doesn't make it right.

Because, at least in the US, the common soldiers don't start those wars. I was quite happy when nobody was trying to kill me.