Memorial Day

[dballin4]

Originally Posted by ShAiOnEi

I was rejected from defending my country 8(

The Marines wouldn't take me cuz I dislocated my hip 2 years before enlisting. What's your story?

[OrganisM]

Hmm, another reason why I don't post actively anymore. Either I agree with whoever is most popular in the forum, or I get shot down by those who choose to play power games in a forum. How childish.

I don't like to harp on about my views of the military when it's a day of respect, though at the same time I can't be brought to give praise when the judgment and intention of many of those involved can certainly be called into question. Aside from that, simply because one feels they are fighting for freedom does not mean they are in the right. If a German man felt pride in his country during WWII and wanted to see his country rise from poverty after being raped in the treaty of Versailles and honestly felt he was fighting for his country's honor and freedom, do we praise him for helping exterminate millions of Jews (and those 6 million other people we fail to mention who were killed but were not Jewish) and fighting for what we believe was a terrible cause? Intent does not count as justification for one's actions, and it is hardly easy to set aside one's actions and celebrate their service when there are so many questions lingering.

I have friends in the military, in case anyone questions my personal attachment, and I also have family (innocent family) that's suffered the consequences of the Iraqi invasion. Don't mistake my words for what they're not; I came to set you guys straight.

Any time the mods here or those who are popular try to lay a claim to being reasonable or in good judgment (aside from maybe devonin) I can't help but laugh. Because it really is laughable. And kind of sad, so the laughter stops quickly. The fact that dealing with almost every one of you is like dealing with a bad relationship involving a stupid twat of a girl is probably what repelled me from this place. Even worse is that I was patted on the head and told how I was almost to be considered one of your popular little club. This thread is a perfect example of how ****ed in the head almost all of you are.

Oh, and by the way, Happy Memorial Day.

[Dimitri13]

Originally Posted by GG_Guru

No offense but this holiday isn't as exciting as Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and other holidays.

Frankly, no one gives a fudge cake about Memorial Day.


The only good part about it is that theres no school on that holiday. Thats about it?

You obviously don't have anyone close that has served.

Anyway, I had planned to get together with some of my military buddies for a barbecue, but I didn't make it.

[Tokzic]

Originally Posted by OrganisM

Hmm, another reason why I don't post actively anymore. Either I agree with whoever is most popular in the forum, or I get shot down by those who choose to play power games in a forum. How childish.

i'm going to read the bolded phrases as "ffya" because that seems to be who you're referring to

And that's not how it works at all. It's more like, "Either I express my opinion in an intelligent manner, or I get shot down by anyone intelligent for being dumb." Just because you disagree doesn't mean everyone is going to pounce on you... only if you disagree in a stupid way (see: gg_guru).

Originally Posted by OrganisM

I don't like to harp on about my views of the military when it's a day of respect, though at the same time I can't be brought to give praise when the judgment and intention of many of those involved can certainly be called into question. Aside from that, simply because one feels they are fighting for freedom does not mean they are in the right. If a German man felt pride in his country during WWII and wanted to see his country rise from poverty after being raped in the treaty of Versailles and honestly felt he was fighting for his country's honor and freedom, do we praise him for helping exterminate millions of Jews (and those 6 million other people we fail to mention who were killed but were not Jewish) and fighting for what we believe was a terrible cause? Intent does not count as justification for one's actions, and it is hardly easy to set aside one's actions and celebrate their service when there are so many questions lingering.

These are intelligent points in spite of the fact that I don't completely agree with them. I'm not going to shoot you down over them, but:

I think that Memorial Day doesn't celebrate the actions done in a war very much, I find it's more abstract than that. Every faction that joins in warfare will almost inevitably do terrible things that they do not want to remember, but they will never think of them as such because they are always "right" in their own mind. Nobody can agree universally on what's right and what's wrong, so there isn't a point in worrying about the cause.

What Memorial Day is celebrating in particular is the attitude of the people who risk their lives for a cause that is not theirs. It is admirable, even if it isn't always smart considering the cause.

Originally Posted by OrganisM

This thread is a perfect example of how ****ed in the head almost all of you are.

How?

[OrganisM]

Originally Posted by Tokzic

i'm going to read the bolded phrases as "ffya" because that seems to be who you're referring to

And that's not how it works at all. It's more like, "Either I express my opinion in an intelligent manner, or I get shot down by anyone intelligent for being dumb." Just because you disagree doesn't mean everyone is going to pounce on you... only if you disagree in a stupid way (see: gg_guru).

That's certainly not my experience. In my experience on these forums, if you post an unpopular view (I'm not speaking to GG_Guru's view here) you get shot down, banned, and ostracized in short order. Rarely has it seemed to me that discussions here are balanced and based on the merit of one's opinion, because every time I try to disprove an invalid opinion or disagree with a popular method of thinking, I'm shut down, yelled at, and told that I just don't like that other people have opinions of their own (?!).

As for who I'm referring to, FFya is only a part of it. The entire site carries itself that way with the exception of just a few users, and it's absolutely maddening to anybody who doesn't fit into the clique, FFya or not.

Originally Posted by Tokzic

These are intelligent points in spite of the fact that I don't completely agree with them. I'm not going to shoot you down over them, but:

I think that Memorial Day doesn't celebrate the actions done in a war very much, I find it's more abstract than that. Every faction that joins in warfare will almost inevitably do terrible things that they do not want to remember, but they will never think of them as such because they are always "right" in their own mind. Nobody can agree universally on what's right and what's wrong, so there isn't a point in worrying about the cause.

What Memorial Day is celebrating in particular is the attitude of the people who risk their lives for a cause that is not theirs. It is admirable, even if it isn't always smart considering the cause.

I agree that it has more to do with celebrating the spirit of giving one's life. This is why I choose to respect the idea instead of speaking out against it, though I do it with a heavy heart even so. All I really ask is that on the other days of the year, the other side of history that's not been written is not forgotten, and that ideals as black and white as "the right cause" or "the wrong cause" not be taken for granted as they often are. I hate blind nationalism, but I certainly understand celebrating the spirit of sacrifice in the name of something good.

As for how this thread is proof of what I was talking about, it's very easy to come down on somebody with hellfire in the name of righteousness (how dare you disrespect my.. etc.) and it's also easy to attack somebody who's not very well liked by many people on the site. And the horde feasts. All I did a couple months ago is make an analogy about viral spreads and I got trashed, flamed, and my posts were deleted. GG_Guru hasn't had it to that extent. How about you find a happy medium and just delete a fruitless post without starting a feeding frenzy?

[lord_carbo]

Originally Posted by OrganisM

I don't like to harp on about my views of the military when it's a day of respect, though at the same time I can't be brought to give praise when the judgment and intention of many of those involved can certainly be called into question. Aside from that, simply because one feels they are fighting for freedom does not mean they are in the right.

Your diatribe misses the point.

Nobody here is justifying military actions, and that's not what the point of the holiday was. The point is, people put their lives on the line for whatever, and we're respecting them for that because they have ridiculous balls. So, stop ranting, and respect the soldiers, darn it.

Edit: also, i should read other posts because tokzic beat me to it.

and we're ragging on gg_guru because his views just suck. He gets more heat for trying to defend himself. If I were saying what he said and then trying to defend myself I doubt people would respond differently. Trust me. Nobody here is playing favorites.