The Line
In my recent surfing of the net I found a site on Facebook that does not support the troops. Supporting the troops is a right that we have to do or not to do. Many people will argue as to why you should and vice versa. Most of the supporters will explain that it is because of the troops that we have our freedom of speech and so many other freedoms. The troops in my opinion don’t care if you support them or not. What they care is that they get to come home at the end of the day. People join the military for different reasons but they join now because they want to. There is no one standing there saying you have to join. There is no longer a draft saying it’s your number they just called now get up there and sign. They join on their own free will knowing that they may or may not go off to war. That they may have to defend their freedom and freedom of others, and it’s what they have chosen to do. They are not asking to be heroes or to be labeled. They are given this by others. If you don’t feel they are then that is your right. Just as it is the right of the rest of this great nation to choose to call them heroes. There is no law saying that you have to support them and no law should be made. There is no law saying what you wear or put on your car, lawn, or body has to support them. There is a law against hate groups. Putting up a page on the internet saying that you hate a certain group of people is illegal. Putting up a page saying that you hate what a group of people have been labeled is questionable at best. This group clearly states that they don’t hate soldiers, just the fact they we as a nation have made them all out to be heroes. They want to have t-shirts made to walk down the streets in protest. Um, excuse me but I believe the KKK in my home town still walk the streets in their robes. Does it make it right? No, but that is a right they have. The problem I have is the saying on the t-shirts. Here are a few from their site.
“Peterborough 2008: I was there”
“Soldiers are not heroes, footballers are”
“Proud not to murder civilians for a living”
“Everyone knows soldiers are best covered in egg”
“War is wrong… But don’t tell soldiers”
“I won’t stand behind the troops, neither will I stand in front of them”
“I was raped by soldiers and all I got was this lousy t-shirt”
“Soldiers don’t die for my freedom to wear this”
The second slogan is stupid if you ask me because, if you want to pick and chose like this than maybe they should find someone without a few criminals in them. Like I don’t know maybe Michael Vic comes to mind with his dog fighting ring. Then the third one portrays the possibility that they slay civilians for a living. People are killed all over the world for different reasons but a soldier is not trained to kill civilians. I am sure it happens and it’s not right but soldiers don’t just walk out into a street and start killing people at will. It is unfortunate that innocent people are killed but what do you say to the victims of terrorist attacks. How do you think we should fix it? Maybe instead of making silly t-shirts and calling people names you should work on finding a solution where innocent people aren’t harmed. The fourth is just silliness and disrespectful. Didn’t your mother teach you better? The fifth makes soldiers out to be stupid. I am sure they don’t like being at war either but that is their job. Someone has to try to keep the peace and that’s what they are doing. The sixth makes you out to be the coward. Here is where you are strong enough to bash them but yet you can only do that because they stood up for you. The seventh is where I think I lose my mind. That is like adding fuel to the fire. I think they should have a right to sue you and your group for defamation of character. The last slogan says that they don’t die for the right to wear that shirt but maybe they should think about it for a second and realize they already did. We all know that every group has its bad seeds and no one is saying that soldiers are perfect. We are all human and make mistakes. They are just in the spotlight because we are at war. The more I read the website and the information put out by this select group of people I want to scream. I can understand the point they want to make. I can actually see what they are trying to communicate. Somewhere in there thought process they messed up and became a hate group. This is something that is not accepted in today’s world. A hate group is something that we all work to destroy because of the chaos and hurt they cause to innocent civilians. Facebook says:
Facebook Group Policy:
“Note: groups that attack a specific person or group of people (e.g. racist, sexist, or other hate groups) will not be tolerated. Creating such a group will result in the immediate termination of your Facebook account.”
So, my question is why is it still up? Where do we draw the line on the content of a website? Do we even want a line to be drawn? If so then who gets to decide what is right and what is wrong? Who gets to say what is acceptable and by who’s standards? There are laws for almost everything now. While I do not support this group I understand what they are trying to say. I do think there are better ways to say this. I think it is something that is not widely accepted and will get harsh criticism for. I think that if they reworded it and had different slogans then it may not be such a big deal. Our right to free speech and thinking is something we pride our country on and if we start to take that away what does that make us but hypocrites? I think Facebook is a site that has more rights to remove content then just the basic website that can be started on the internet. I think Facebook has a higher standard set by its users and they have every right to remove content of any kind. It is something that you have to agree to adhere to when you become a member. However anyone can pay a small fee and open up a website. There you can post what you want as long as it’s not against the law. Anything that is would be the site owner’s problem and then would be punishable by the federal government. I think then it is up to the few select people that want to join the group to seek them out. I personally don’t see them far behind the KKK or Hitler. I think they are targeting a group of people because of nothing better to do than complain. I almost feel they are jealous in a way. Why else would it be such a big deal to call a Soldier a hero? I think this is how a lot of groups start that claim to be peaceful and then along the way turn into something else. I remember when the KKK marched down the streets and thought how can they do this? It’s their right to protest and it’s this groups right to protest, but there is a correct way and a wrong way to do it. I hope they find the right way before it becomes too late.
