Hazing: acceptable ritual or outdated practice?

I have never been involved in hazing either as a victim or perpetrator.  There were a few time though it was a close call.  The first time was in college when our school was known as the braves.  The football players would roam from room to room seeking out freshmen to give "Mohawk's" too.  A Mohawk is a haircut where the two sides are shaved leaving only a streak of hair down the center of ones head from front to back.  Needless to say, I didn't want a Mohawk but neither did I want to tussle with a bunch of football players.   I don't remember how or why I didn't get one but I did manage to escape.  I suppose it is because I'm the type of person people ignore. 

I'm normally quiet and shy but not to the point of being obvious.  I'm not a looker but not ugly either.  I kind of blend in never disliked but not one that people are drawn to either.  Unless you physically see me I'm the one that no one remembers.  You forget I'm actually there. 

Sometimes that is a good thing.

The other incident occurred while I was aboard the USS Midway during the Vietnam War.  I was still technically a pollywog and I was quite content to stay that way.  While the fat guy sat in the middle of the flight day in his towel underwear with axle grease smeared all over his big belly, more seasoned travelers were seeking out pollywogs to initiate  by rubbing their faces in the greased belly.  I suppose by that time I may have escaped the ritual because I was a few years older than most of my peers and this was my last tour of duty and second in a war zone. People believed me when I said I had kissed King Neptune's navel many years before. 

I think hazing is okay if the hazed is a willing participate wanting to have some fun, be accepted, and have some stories to tell about his right of passage into some special bond with his predecessors.  But there should be no shame in wanting to retain ones dignity and beg off from being involved in the ritual.  People who think you are a baby or a whiner or a sissy or whatever silly moniker they can think of to shame you for not being made a fool of should not be allowed to participate in the ritual as a hazer. 

The NFL football player who left camp after his teammates got up and left the table in the dinning hall just as he sat down should not be condemned as a whiner or a baby or seek help with his sensitivity issues.  He should be commended  for exercising his right not to participate and also for calling to attention this practice that humiliates people against their will. I'm willing to bet that many of the guys that hurl taunts at this player for being so sensitive would probably get angry and want to hurt someone if the incident had happened to them.  maybe not, but I've seen it happen many times before. 

It's okay to have a little fun with the new guy but it is never okay to harm a person, either physically or emotionally.  yea, that's a period at the end of the sentence.  It needs no clarification or explanation.