How can we encourage our fellow Americans to join the military when what the military stands for is in direct opposition to what the majority of the country feels is in the country’s — and the soldier’s — best interests? Furthermore, how do we justify the recent actions of an organization that is directly responsible for the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of civilians since the invasion of Afghanistan? (These are conservative estimates. The highest tally so far, in a study conducted by Opinion Research Business, is near 1.1 million.)

Critics argue that it’s not the place of a soldier to question their mission, only to follow orders. Hence, the “politics” of a particular conflict, which are usually assumed to be pointless academic discussion, are of no importance to the soldier who would be participating in or supporting violence. There are three fundamental problems with this argument.

Since every branch of the military has a code of conduct that emphasizes moral judgment, the popular support for such an argument is patently false. For example, the Air Force’s core value of integrity states that “a person of integrity possesses moral courage and does what is right even if the personal cost is high.”

Secondly, it only applies to current military enlistees. Civilians not yet in the military, it is hopefully understood, possess a responsibility for making moral judgments, even if their military counterparts are, to some delusional voices, not. Therefore, before joining the military, a citizen must research and think critically – two skills not so encouraged by nationalist doctrine about whether they would, in fact, be serving their country.

Finally, and most importantly, the “following orders” defense simply is not permissible by anyone with a moral compass. As moral agents, we are bound to consider the repercussions of our actions. Our participation and complicity in a system such as the U.S. military is as much an endorsement of its actions as participation in any other organization. “Following orders” didn’t excuse the Nazis at Nuremberg, and I dare say we should hold ourselves to higher standards.

Joining the military is not always a bad decision; it is a brave decision and a post necessarily occupied for our country’s defense. But our blind faith in encouraging military enlistment is a scary nationalist twitch and exonerates all members of the military from their moral responsibility to research the current situation and make independent decisions that favor the well-being of the country and the world, not centralized power and mindless patriotism.

We have always supported our fighting men and women, and we have become increasingly (though it’s still far from adequate) aware of the injustice shadowing U.S. aggression. Unfortunately, we have yet to bridge the gap between the two in order to effectively discourage our youth from joining the military when it is not service, but merely servitude. We have to remember that loyalty to the country is not loyalty to the decisions of our government and authority figures. That conviction is what gave birth to this great nation.

Dismantling our practice of military idolatry will lead to dismantling the appeal for military solutions to diplomatic and social problems. It will be met with intense opposition by the warmongers and propagandists of the far right, but our history should tell us that military solutions are rarely the correct ones and do not protect or liberate anyone. Rather, military action mostly benefits a tiny group at the tip of the military-industrial complex and disenfranchises the populations of both foreign countries and our own. Not to mention the thousands of well-intentioned but ignorant young people who will sacrifice themselves for values they are not actually supporting.

Drew Robert Winter is a State New columnist and an English and journalism senior. He is also president of Students Protecting Animal Rights. Reach him at winterdr@msu.edu.