The Paradox of the Unthinking
I’m regularly puzzled when I hear of people protesting our country’s military. I’m not just talking about an intellectual or moral stance against a war, there are always pros and cons with those situations, I’m referring more to folks who do not want our military to exist, or don’t want them to be able to recruit on a university campus, or don’t even want them present in their communities.
If there is ANY government duty, the supreme one HAS to be the mandate to protect the country itself, along with its citizens and all they rights they enjoy. Without that, any other government function becomes moot as the government itself may cease to exist if it is not protected. If the country or government falls, so do all the other rights and privileges provided by it. Pretty simple, no?
Our armed forces are pledged to protect my rights and yours. They exist to do so. One of those rights is the freedom of speech. And there is the paradox. They exist to protect your right to say they shouldn’t exist. If t he military cannot exist, the government will ultimately fall, and protesters’ rights to free speech will disappear.
Seems to me, most of those who otherwise typically preach about tolerance have very little in this area… and have no solid intellectual way to defend their position. It just makes no sense at all.
