Are people that are unsympathetic towards a soldier's death (who say things like "It's a volunteer military, they knew the risks.") brave enough to say the same thing to the grieving parents?
by 
machinerat
ANSWERS: 8
-
I can't speak for them (whoever these hypothetical people you speak of might be), but I can say that loaded discussions (like those that bring up derisive topics like dying soldiers) are a volunteer affair as well and anyone entering into them should be willing to deal with the consequences of someone not agreeing with their point of view without trying to villify them.
-
though people may hold that opinion, they can also have respect for their service, therefore it would be stupid to say something like that. If someone tried to save your child from a house fire and died trying to do it, would they be stupid because they knew the risks going in? I'm sure nobody on earth would say that to the parent(s)
-
As a veteran I want to puke when I hear that. Yet people do say such ignorant unfeeling things. I have heard people say it....... No they would not say it to those parents or even to a soldier because to think that way they themselves would have to be cowards.
-
Probably not. They say the same thing when one brings up the "pro-life" position..I ask "if you are so concerned about an embryo, why do you support sending our kids to their possible death in an unnecessary war?" That is their position..so it isn't really life they support after all. It is "innocent" versus "they knew the risks", which seems illogical to me. Happy Thursday! :)
-
They are the cowards who couldn't be a soldier. I'll put money on they wouldn't have the guts to say it to a grieving parent.
-
I do believe that soldiers who sign up know the risks, that risk is a part of their job. I wouldn't want to say it to the soldier's grieving parents however, because I wouldn't want to add more pain to their situation... it's not a matter of being brave. Of course I'm sympathetic when people (inc. soldiers) die, I'm also sympathetic when a civilian family dies because a soldier wrongly bombed their house.
-
Back when Cindy Sheehan was in the news with her war-protesting, I remember hearing this conservative talk show mocking her actions. A republican-wife called in and spoke with an incredibly self-riteous tone "She has no right to protest her son's death, he knew the risks involved with signing up." I'd like to see if that caller would say the same thing when her friend, relative, coworker, or neighbor loses someone in the war.
-
Well, those are the facts, but there are times when the truth doesn't need to be said. Some friends with soldier relatives have said, "It's a volunteer military, and we accepted that he might not come back." But I would never say it to them, because they came to this realization on their own.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC