The Intelligencer Journal New Era reports “Muhammad Ali named Liberty Medal recipient.”
Former president Bill Clinton says “Ali embodies the spirit of the Liberty Medal by embracing the ideals of the Constitution – freedom, self-governance, equality and empowerment – and helping to spread them across the globe.”
We respect Ali’s conscientious objector stance of not accepting a cushy army assignment during the Viet Nam War and instead refusing to serve, saying he had nothing against any Vietnamese. But if we honor him for refusing to serve in an unpopular and …yes… unjust war, what does this say to our soldiers who have been fighting in Afghanistan long, long after we had any right to be there and who fought in Iraq, what history is likely to describe as a criminal war?
Furthermore, we do not see how refusing to serve – no matter how justified it may seem looking back – has to do with “embodies the spirit of the Liberty Medal by embracing the ideals of the Constitution – freedom, self-governance, equality and empowerment – and helping to spread them across the globe.”
The message is too mixed for us to understand.
