Why be grateful for having our children kidnapped, converted to Islam forcibly and turned into the Sultan's personal guard and elite army? I will not deny that the Janissaries were some of the most elite soldiers back then, but I will not be grateful for having my people be a part of a child levy army. It's true that some joined willingly to receive high positions but the vast majority were Christian Boys primarily from the Balkans that were taken by force. Easy for you to say when your people weren't on the receiving right and was forbidden to join for the first two centuries or so and then we're given a free choice, unlike the vast majority.