From a Chaplain who had served in Iraq

[DanaC]

I must admit, I wasn't happy with the Pavlov's dog comment. It suggests a mindlessness which I think is unfair to say the least. If you mean they are conditioned to respond in a particular way, well yes and no. I doubt they have an actual policy regarding how to return to an athem if it's been halted, but the army is a culture and those serving within it can be expected to respond in a manner appropriate to that culture. We are all culturally conditioned in many ways.

Why would soldiers in a desert, many miles from home, with their own internal culture and traditions, respond in the same way to an anthem, which for most us has little currency beyond its use in sports and national events?

On the word 'militant': I can see how the dictionary definition might give an unfair bent to Cicero's words, but frankly, I don;t see how it is not immediately apparent what the word's origins are, and how that makes it the appropriate word in this context. They are the military; they are by their choice to serve, and by their inculcation into a military culture, militant. The traditions that the military adhere to are necessarily 'militant', because they of the military.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Why would soldiers in a desert, many miles from home, with their own internal culture and traditions, respond in the same way to an anthem, which for most us has little currency beyond its use in sports and national events?

Because that is their culture. It's basically an insular feeling of camaraderie and superiority, especially when many miles from home.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Because that is their culture. It's basically an insular feeling of camaraderie and superiority, especially when many miles from home.

Exactly, so there's no reason to assume they'll react like one of us when we hear the national anthem. It means something different in that context, and to that internal culture.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Because that is their culture. It's basically an insular feeling of camaraderie and superiority, especially when many miles from home.

Superiority has nothing to do with it.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by classicman

Superiority has nothing to do with it.

It's part of the culture.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

It's part of the culture.

Teamwork and the notion that the the sum is greater than the parts which it consists of - Each knowing they are expendable and willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good as many have already done... oh nevermind.