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.
Sarah is absolutely correct joining the military is a major commitment and before joining it really takes tremendous thought to think why one should join the military. Religion if that was truly the reason why Pfc. Abdo wants to quit should have been one of those things he should have thought about before joining the service. We live in a society now that believes commitment is a thing of the past, where it’s all about ones self-glorification. I know when I joined the Navy I remember praying that I made the right decisions. Faith was one of the things I had thought about before signing my name on the dotted line. He does need to Man up and fulfill his obligation.
ReplyDeleteSarah, it can be frustrating to see people take a commitment so lightly. After all, I am sure the recruiter informed him that he would have to deploy and how could he not be familiar to our situation in the Middle East. Even the media informs everyone that they will eventually have to deploy.
ReplyDeleteIt would send a terrible message if he was able to be discharged honorably. We are fortunate to live in this country and be able to serve god in any religious capacity. I know of a few who have converted to Islam, and I believe they will step up to the plate and be counted on. I know when I joined up, I wanted to see other parts of the world. Others, for the educational benefits, health care, etc. People now, more than often want to take the easy way out. This way of thinking needs to be turned around. It's a commitment that needs to be kept.
You make and excellent point stressing his need to “honor his commitment”. Serving is the military is a commitment that shouldn’t be made arbitrarily. It is something that needs to be considered very carefully. At some point, he felt the need to make that commitment. He should have considered all aspects of being in the military and how it could possible affect his ability to practice his religion. It appears to me that the reality of what soldiers are subjected to and the difficulties they face during military duty has scared him and he is hiding behind his religion to try to get out.
ReplyDeleteHowever, contrary to your point that you make about him “honoring his commitment”, you compared his desire to be discharged for his “religious beliefs” to yourself being a soldier and honoring your commitment. I think it’s a very honorable thing for you to have stayed the course and served/serving your country as you have, but to criticize him for wanting to be discharged because his reasoning (despite how shallow they may seem to you and I), I don’t necessarily agree with. I would assume that a lot soldiers at one point may question their initial decision to enlist. He may not be as strong a soldier as you are and he may not see the importance that comes with being a soldier as you and many more soldiers have. Initially, when he enlisted, it apparently seemed like the right thing for him to do; at some point his opinion changed. I do, however feel like his reason for wanting to be discharged is bogus and that his ultimate fear is dying in the line of duty. The article clearly states that there are “thousands of Muslims” who serve their country and practice their religion at the same time.
You are exactly right, Sarah. The potential for sacrificing life is something to come to terms with "before" making the commitment to serve in the military. You just never know how things will turn out. I served in the Air Force for 21 years. I never served in a war zone but still did work that potentially involved life or death situations. Two of my three sons have been in Iraq - one temporarily for medical evacuations and one serving in an infantry unit. Neither wanted to go and lord knows I sure didn't want them to be there. But, it was about the commitments we made - I was raised to honor my commitments and raised my sons the same way.
ReplyDeleteIt seems clear that this young man is looking for a way out of his deployment and, you're right - he needs to grow up. But, here is where our opinions diverge: He needs to do his growing up outside of the military.
I don't want someone like that anywhere near my family because I fear that someone like that would either put my family in harm's way or would not have any of my family's backs if they were in harm's way. Fortunately, he is a minority when it comes to people willing to live up to their commitments and our chances of survival are actually better without him around.
At the same time, walking away is walking away and it should be done without any benefit to the individual if that is the choice they make.