Our defective definition of heroism

[Wub]

So I’m watching the news this morning (I don’t get to watch the news very often). There were two headlines back to back. One was about the ‘hero’ who called in that car bomb in New York last night. The other was about a SEAL being court-martialed for roughing up a terrorist. Is it just me or is this really screwed up?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful to that New Yorker for calling in that suspicious vehicle, but hero??? Come on. I don’t think he would even consider himself a hero. Meanwhile we reward true heroism with court-martial.

[bigbulls]

Welcome to the U.A.S.R.

[LBR]

Good citizen, definately. Hero? No. It is plain sad that our soldiers get treated like they do. I said it before and will say it again--I expect a mass exodus from the military during bho's regime--especially if "don't ask, don't tell" gets repealled.

[bergall]

It is the tendency of the spineless and gutless left to label 'hero' anybody who does socially ACCEPTABLE things. IF this guy SAW the perpetrators who were setting up tht Times Square auto to explode and shot them, he'd be labelled a scurvy vigilante. A crime or disaster which is averted in 'socially acceptable' ways makes a person, again, in the eyes of the left, a hero.

Likewise, when a soldier who is a GENUINE hero does something good, like pound the living sand out of a terrorist, he's labeled a criminal. This is because NO MATTER WHAT QUALIFYING STATEMENTS MAY BE ISSUED AS A PRECURSOR, the left fears and detests the military and NEVER passes up an attempt to gut them of morale and self-esteem.

A guy calling the cops is a 'good citizen'.
A member of the United States Military who defeats our enemies, either en-masse or
individually, is a hero and should be afforded all the respect and accolades commensurate with being a hero.

[etothepii]

We are in a society where being a good Samaritan gets you stabbed only to bleed to death while onlookers do nothing. I'm OK calling the good citizen a hero, if it send a message to the sheeple out there that it is still OK to do the right thing. Juxtaposed against the SEAL story, you are right. There is no comparison.

[bergall]

Originally Posted by etothepii

We are in a society where being a good Samaritan gets you stabbed only to bleed to death while onlookers do nothing. I'm OK calling the good citizen a hero, if it send a message to the sheeple out there that it is still OK to do the right thing. Juxtaposed against the SEAL story, you are right. There is no comparison.

I differ. People should be doing what they're SUPPOSED to be doing as GOOD CITIZENS. Assisting the cops is a civic duty which is frowned upon now, as is being a 'good samaritan'. Heroism denotes an individual taking action in the face of danger, overcoming fear, personal peril and beating the odds to achieve a goal. Dialing 911 does not a hero make...

[etothepii]

People should be doing what they're SUPPOSED to be doing as GOOD CITIZENS

Except that they aren't doing it like they should. So when someone does the right thing, and it reaches the media, why not use it as a little propagamda for something positive?

Boy, I'm feeling uncharacteristically optimistic today

[bergall]

Originally Posted by etothepii

Except that they aren't doing it like they should. So when someone does the right thing, and it reaches the media, why not use it as a little propagamda for something positive?

Boy, I'm feeling uncharacteristically optimistic today

Congratulations on the optimism. I, on the other hand, am somewhat like the ill-fated Joe Byfstdyk from "Li'l Abner Fame".....

I agree that a person should be applauded for doing something they did not have to do, other than to 'be a good citizen'. A positive response to such works is definitely called for, but dialing a phone does not rise to the level of heroism.

The cop who goes to the darkened house in respose to a home burglar alarm, not knowing what will jump out at him, but who goes anyway...that's a hero.

A fireman who runs into a burning building to pull out some poor person overcome with the smoke and heat...yes, another hero.

A U.S.Marine who saves his buddies in a firefight, that's a hero.

Some schmuck with a cell-phone....not a hero. A good citizen maybe, a good Samaritan possibly, not a hero. I'd consider him/her a
hero/heroine if they went to the aid of robbery victim while the crime is in progress...that's a hero. Without personal risk, where's the heroism ?