Not sure how “great” this is, but I figured it wasn’t really a factual question.
This thread reminded me of something I’ve been wondering about off and on for a few years now. I am what would be described as a “social conservative,” though I hate that phrase.* It seems to me that most of my fellow social conservatives, e.g. conservative Christians, take a generally positive view of the military. Nothing wrong with that: with the exception of a few small pacifist sects, most people agree that, however regrettable war is, a national defense force is necessary. And while I’ve never served myself, I’m sure that for many if not most who have, military service had a generally positive effect on their lives (teaching self discipline and so forth.) Nevertheless, some of what I’ve heard about military life would seem quite upsetting to those of a socially conservative mindset: the vulgarities and obscenities used during basic training, hazing rituals, the notorious lasciviousness of soldiers and sailors, etc.
For example: in the thread I linked above, many posters confirmed that, at least for a Marines drill sergeant in the 1960s, R. Lee Ermey’s character in Full Metal Jacket was more or less realistic. For those who don’t remember, going by my memory which admittedly relies on a 9-year-old viewing of the movie, the guy physically assaulted his recruits, called them horrible vulgarities like “motherfuckers” and “cocksuckers,” had them march to obscene cadences like “I don’t know but I’ve been told/Eskimo pussy is mighty cold…”, and generally treated them in a way that, to put it mildly, a conservative Christian would not be happy with. Now, both of my grandfathers served in the Army during WWII. One was a conservative evangelical Christian, the other probably a true fundamentalist (in other words, both would be lumped under the label “fundies” on this board.) As proud as I’m sure they both were to serve their country, I can’t imagine either of them being able to stomach being called “motherfucker” or “cocksucker,” or forced to chant about “Eskimo pussy.” Yet somehow, both of them apparently made it through basic training, and as far as I know, never had any bad things to say about the Army. (I can’t ask them now, as they’re both deceased.)
What gives here? Why do most of my fellow “social conservatives” have a positive view of the military, which apparently is an iniquitous den of obscene language and lewd behavior, at the same time we object to such stuff in popular entertainment or in our kids’ behavior? Anecdotes from actual “social conservatives,” or from ex-military folks who witnessed firsthand how their conservative Christian comrades dealt with such things, would be welcome.
*For one thing, it just sounds to me like it means “conservatives who frequent cocktail parties.” Basically, I think that 99% of the time, what the speaker really means is conservative Christians (and sometimes orthodox Jews.)