Huh? He wasn't drafted until 1967. His draft registration was when he was 18, before the war and his conversion. Nothing happened on this front from the time until he converted until he was drafted.
Ali lived his life his way and gave nary a shit what anybody thought about it. Thats a pretty good way to live. He paid a price for it, but not many folks can truthfully say they lived life on their own terms. Not the way Ali did.
So you are telling me that the fact he actively tried to get out of the army BEFORE the war and before his religious conversion doesn't diminish his later CO status?
What are you talking about? He didn't try and get out of the army before the war. He registered and was classified under the army requirements because of a low IQ test score.
My father was an officer and had access to the enlisted men's personnel files and he tells me they all had iqs like that. There is a difference between seeking and being granted a deferral and being unfit to serve.
So, what are you arguing? The army screwed up by classifying Ali so low that he wouldn't be drafted in 1962?
How much of what he said and did was due to being a puppet to the Nation of Islam and how much was actually his personal opinion? Hard to imagine he had any grand ideas of his own with an 89 iq.
No I'm saying that he could have served if he wanted to. As i said there is a difference between being deemed unfit to serve and getting a deferment
I think you're grasping at straws on this one. Elvis wasn't joining the military until he got drafted, either, nor most anyone else.
Elvis isn't being lauded as the hero of the century. You can't tell me he didn't want to serve for religious reasons and then admit he also didn't want to serve before he found religion. Edit: and btw I don't agree about Elvis. Everything written about him suggests he wanted to serve before he got famous and it was very important to him and he was upset he only served in an entertainment capacity.
There wasn't a war in 1962. He registered for the draft, as did everyone, and then went on with his (very promising) career. Him not joining the military at 18 isn't anything unusual. You join the military at 18? Why not, religious or moral opposition to war?
Because I had no desire to potentially get shot at. I freely admit cowardice is the reason I didn't serve. No one is calling me a hero, nor should they.
So, the only reason people don't join the military is because they are cowards? Plus, I'm sure you faced zero consequences for not enlisting.
No, but the reason certainly is never heroic. Should he not have suffered consequences? You aren't seriously arguing the consequences were greater than him serving? Btw someone want to explain to me how it's against Islam to go to war?
It sure is commendable that he was willing to suffer the consequences for making an unpopular stand that could cost him everything in his life. Otherwise, no, I don't think he should have suffered consequences, mostly because I find the idea of a draft immoral.
There is no way that man had an 89 IQ. Either he tested low on purpose or the tests were so biased that it caused him to have a low score.
I don't find that all that commendable if you get something rather significant in return which he did. just like I don't consider the guys who went to Canada and thought they'd never come back to America as heroes either.
Why? He was an actor being fed lines. If he tested low on purpose before the war and religious conversion then the idea that he's some sort of hero should be thrown completely out the window. You can convince me cultural bias could hurt his score, but it doesn't hurt it to THAT level.
