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Post by CAPT Issac R. Madden on Dec 7, 2012 7:16:41 GMT 1
Well I did some digging in my downtime at work. Turns out he wasn't getting a commission due to being diagnosed with severe clinical depression before he tendered his "resignation".
So instead of him bringing awareness to an issue that may or may not exist (from what I've been told by multiple Academy graduates it doesn't unless it's a one prick being an asshole kind of thing), but rather him finding a scapegoat for his not getting commissioned and to get some kind of petty vengeance against the army.
Also, despite not getting commissioned, he could have finished his schooling, graduated with his degree, and "fought the fight" for equality as an enlisted man (something that's more than doable). It's his quitting, crying, running away, and making a full-blown spectacle of himself that makes me brand him a coward, not his belief (and faith, to use the dictionary definition of the term) that no God exists.
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Post by jklinders on Dec 7, 2012 13:04:46 GMT 1
Maybe his depression aggravated whatever other issues he was facing in school. So now you are taking a serious mental disorder and marginalizing it by saying he is running away and crying.
I really think you and I are done in here as I have known a few folks with severe depression and it does not deserve to be shunted into a box and marginalized in this way.
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Post by Mister Buch on Dec 7, 2012 13:06:52 GMT 1
*raises hand* Currently suffering severe depression. Just before this one starts, there is an elephant in the room.
I don't know if that's what Iron is doing though, Linders - not sure.
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Post by jklinders on Dec 7, 2012 13:12:36 GMT 1
Maybe right, but using those words about someone who is likely not thinking in quite the same way as a non depressed person suggests a certain amount of ignorance on the issue. It's typical of the kind of chest thumping my very military father might have said in his ignorance of the issue (he approved of Patton slapping the shit out of a PTSD soldier in Italy).
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Post by Mister Buch on Dec 7, 2012 13:14:56 GMT 1
Don't get me wrong. Using my standard 'take my own views and reverse them to get Iron's views' method, I'm assuming that we won't see eye to eye on mental illness.
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Post by jklinders on Dec 7, 2012 14:51:58 GMT 1
Update. usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/04/15676692-west-point-cadet-quits-cites-criminal-behavior-of-officers?litelooks like he will not be required to pay back for the education he received prior to dropping out. For the record I feel this was wrong. While he is entitled to protest the atmosphere in which he in for 3 1/2 years he should have to pay the price one way or another. As I have debated recently with Buch, there is a highly vocal minority of atheists who basically come across as a pack of crybabies. I really don't know in which category this fellow falls in but he put in enough time as a student to use their resources. He should have to pay it back to fulfill his oath. If he won't pay in blood he should pay out of pocket. The mental illness he was subject to and must have been somewhat aware of does not excuse his conduct here that far. Now I'm done.
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Post by Clint Johnston on Dec 7, 2012 15:26:04 GMT 1
Agreed. W/o a sacrifice, his courage (or lack thereof) means nothing. "I know i'm going to be paying for this the rest of my life, but I think it's too important to let lie" is way more impactful than "I quit, and in order to get out of paying for it, I'm making it political"
It may be beyond his control, and the army is just putting out fires. Only God can know for sure. Oh, the irony.
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Post by Lily Ariel Linders on Dec 8, 2012 2:26:13 GMT 1
On the topic of depression - Clinical Depression and Bipolar Disorder both - I know a few people who are currently suffering it; one of my cousins has severe Bipolar Disorder, and even with medication (lots of medication) it is a bitch for her to have to go through, the poor thing...
Also, I have been in and out of depression (clinical for me, not Bipolar) and it is very very difficult to come out of - I was lucky, I was able to recover through counselling, and I never had to take any medication for it... but I consider myself very lucky on that issue - I was going through borderline depression but was not officially diagnosed.
That kind of mental illness is not something to be taken lightly, and I wish the best of luck to anyone going through it.
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