After barely serving his country for a year Pfc. Abdo decides that his faith conflicts with his military duty and that he cannot continue to serve both country and god. Abdo and his lawyer have filled a conscientious objector status which takes six months to review, thus putting off his deployment. If his status is “okayed” he will be discharged from the military with no consequence.
After reading this article it does not seem to me that his faith is what is getting in his way, its his fear of dying. He even states in his quote that he is not ready to die. That has nothing to do with his faith and everything to do with his character. As an active military personal I can attest that this is something that all solders must reconcile within themselves before they enlist. Now it is true I don’t know much about the Islamic faith but they allow them to practice openly and freely. They even have a quote from Muzammil Siddiqi who is the chairman of Islamic Law Counsel of North America stating that there are many faithful Muslims who serve both their god and their country with no problem.
I just don’t get how young Americans are being raised today. I was taught to think before I acted. Don’t rush into things without thinking over the consequences. Joining the Air Force was a major decision for me. I took it very seriously and sought the council of family members and friends who have served their country. Any problem that arouse during this time I reconciled before making the commitment to join. Now that I have made this commitment I will honor it. Life has not always turned out the way I thought it would and making some excuses to allow me not to be put on a tour of duty would have been much more convenient. This young man made a commitment and he needs to honor it, not make excuses to get out of his obligations. He needs to man up.
