"Today, I am not sure what I am subscribing to when I am asked to honor veterans."

[kpete]

Today, I am not sure what I am subscribing to when I am asked to honor veterans. I weep for their suffering, for the suffering they endured, the suffering they witnessed and the suffering they caused. But if honoring means that I have to buy into the acceptance that we don’t have a choice, I cannot participate. If there was ever a task for Christians, it is now to point out that we always have a choice, must make a choice. That sometimes you cannot do what you were ordered to do. Sometimes you cannot do what you were trained to do. Sometimes you cannot hide behind simplistic slogans about freedom.

from: Reflections of a Pacifist on Veterans Day
November 12, 2010 by Niels:
http://nielsteunis.com/reflections-of-a-pacifist-on-veterans-day/

[Iwasthere]

1. I agree regarding recent wars

I always ask kids that are considering military if they could look someone in the eye and take their life away if they were ordered to. All the recent wars have nothing to do with "our freedoms", imo

[earthside]

2. We cannot separate the warrior from the war.

Yet even in 'liberal' circles we are asked to do just that -- think as if the soldier/sailor/airman is just some kind of mindless automaton, a thoughtless killing machine who has no conscience and is not responsible for her or his actions.

Because of their blind duty we are supposed to honor them without question.

Especially since 9/11, but still in the grip of regret over Vietnam, the popular culture in the United States has been propagandized with the notions that war is necessary, that being a 'warrior' in the military is honorable, that it is our duty as civilians is to display obeisance towards active duty members, veterans and the military establishment in general.

Increasingly we see, too, a separation of citizenship along military lines -- active duty personnel and veterans get discounts on purchases, get hiring preferences, get free entry into events, etc. But non-military Americans are just as financially stressed as veterans, do jobs just as important as veterans; we should beware of creating different classes of citizenship ... that really was a danger that the republic's founders wanted to avoid.

So, for the most part I do not participate in the glorification of war through the 'support the troops' and 'thank you for your service' rhetoric that pervades almost all of our holidays now. Sadly, it only conditions us to accept more war, more violence, more redistribution of wealth from working people to the elites of the 'military industrial complex'.

Poetically, it was all summed-up nearly 50 years ago in this song composed by Buffy Sainte-Marie ... this version sung by Donovan: