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| Resources for Conscientious Objectors "Conscientious objection" (CO) means you refuse to go to war on the grounds that it is immoral to kill another human being. The Bible says "thou shalt not kill" and homicide is illegal most places (except for when the government kills). The government, which can compel people to go to war against their will, has defined CO in such a way that one cannot merely obect on personal moral grounds; the issue needs to be larger. I have assembled a quick-and-dirty list of sites that deal with the issue both for civilians who might be drafted, and for people already in the armed services who don't want to kill people. If you are a boy or man 16-30 years old and do not want to go to war on moral grounds, I would propose that you need to start thinking about this. I suggest you read these links thoroughly. Start getting your ideas together: you need to have a philosophy about why war is bad. Write a few drafts of an essay, learn about Vietnam, and read a couple of books by a man named Noam Chomsky. Then, contact people in your community who have known you for years -- your minister, teachers, scout leaders, school administrators, sports coaches and family friends -- and begin collecting letters from them (addressed "to whom it may concern") explaining that as far as they know, you have always been against violence and have objected to war on religious or spiritual grounds. Three or four letters should suffice. Then, I suggest you look up your local meeting of the Quaker religion, also called the Religious Society of Friends (listed in the phone book under "Friends meeting" or "Religious Society of Friends." Most communities have a meeting nearby. Quakers are not the people who ride around in buggies, and they don't look like the folks on the oatmeal box. They are normal folks like you, and well, since I am Quaker, me. Our religion is based on nonviolence, and Quakers are always happy to help people get out of military service. Show up at meeting one Sunday morning (we don't call it church, and the worship is silent, without a preacher, and a very cool way to do religion) and speak to some people afterwards. If you are truly opposed to war, you will likely make some lifetime friends on your first visit to a Quaker meeting house. These people will help you; they are among the few people in the world who can. (By the way, Quakers don't give a rat's ass about whether you join their religion, and it is in fact against the religion to ask people to join. But anyway, it's a pretty good religion which believes that war is bad, God/Goddess is inside you, and that the congregation should be run by committee rather than by a minister or priest. Besides that, you can get laid, listen to rap, or smoke a doobie and you're not offending anyone.) However, if you are worried about going to war, they will help. Also, I am aware that another faith called the Unitarian Universalists is involved in the conscientious objector movement. This is a free-thinking religious organization with values much akin to the Quakers. There are lots of these churches around. Please pass this link along to boys near draft age, and write to me with any questions; I will do my best to get you good information. I have not read all the materials below, but they looked okay. Please tell me if anything seems strange. Making love, not war, Eric Francis |
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