Comments for Muhammad Ali - The Controversy continues | Eastern North Carolina Now

At the risk of appearing to argue with myself, I offer this alternative view of Muhammad Ali. A converted Muslim woman posts it and you may need to pay close attention to understand. I suggest you turn on Close Captioned (CC) on the screen or click on the more button and click transcript.

Her explanation of Islam adds some depth and perspective to current events outside of the Ali conversion and subsequent actions. Humans have always demonstrated that religion can be subverted to secular purposes.

"I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but this is what I think. I never liked Muhammad Ali because he converted to a religion of slavery and he took a slave masters name."


beaufortcountynow.com

Commented: Wednesday, June 8th, 2016 @ 8:12 am By: Bobby Tony

BT: Another article but not Ali-03. About those who avoided the draft. WW2 was the last war we won. Soldiers are not inspired by political conflicts.

Commented: Monday, June 6th, 2016 @ 10:20 am By: Ted McDonald

Stan, I revised and extended my comment below with what would have been Ali-03. Perhaps I should work up one final post on that for the record. I don't consider anyone who did not serve with any disdain nor do I elevate those who did. It was just a matter of choices when confronted with fork in the road.

Commented: Monday, June 6th, 2016 @ 10:09 am By: Bobby Tony

All legally as best as I know, except Bush who served in the National Guard, which is just as honorable as any other service.

Our discussion continued for quite some time and I left out many of our mutual points, but I might as well let it fly in the comment section.

My not too subtle point was that anyone who had a student deferment or chose to join a different service to avoid being drafted used the established legal system to their advantage. I see no difference with any of that. Standing on your principals requires you to understand the consequences and be prepared to live with them. I may be in a small minority who does not feel that doing our duty when called is not necessarily a heroic choice but just a matter of principal. I have often thought how I would feel today, if I had not flunked out of college and was never drafted due to some fluke of luck or timing. It is not important what I think I "WOULD" do, it is only important on what I "DID" do. The rest is just talk.

My friend Clay joined the National Guard and he had no political connections but happen to hit it lucky when he applied because of an open slot. Two other friends joined the Army and one went to Panama in the infantry and never made it to Nam. The other went to Germany and had a ball traveling all over Europe. I hold their choices in high esteem.

Going to Canada or going underground is a different matter. To my knowledge, no one was forcibly drafted and sent to Vietnam under shackles. There was always a choice to be made. At some point in the process regardless of which service or which method chosen, you had to personally affirm by stepping forward that you were submitting to the legal requirement. Failure to do so like Ali, had it's consequences which he was prepared to take. Yogi said when you come to a fork in the road, take it.

My problem is with those who chose to exercise a non-legal method to avoid or refused to stand up and pay the price for their stance. There is a whole generation of baby boomers who did not serve but also never took any proactive action to avoid. I think I would call that the luck of the "'DRAFT."

Having made a choice however there is a sweetness in surviving:

“You've never lived until you've almost died. For those who have fought for it, life has a flavor the protected shall never know.”
― Guy de Maupassant

A quote from John McCain and Mark Slater’s book “Hard Calls”, sums up the soldiers duty better than any I have ever read. It expresses what I suspect help sustain him during his stay at the Hanoi Hilton.
“In the immediacy, chaos, destruction, and shock of war, soldiers are bound by duty and military discipline to endure and overcome. Their strongest loyalty, the bond that cannot break, is to the cause that is theirs alone, the cause for which they all fight: one another. It is through their loyalty to comrades in arms, their exclusive privilege, that they serve the national ideal that begat their personal transformation. When war is over, they might have the largest but not exclusive claim on the success of their nation's cause. But their claim is shorn of all romance, all nostalgia for the crucible in which it was won. From that crucible they have but one prize, one honor, one glory: that they had withstood the savagery and losses of war and were found worthy by the men who stood with them.”

Being found worth by your comrades is enough thanks.

Commented: Monday, June 6th, 2016 @ 9:36 am By: Bobby Tony