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Granting Conscientious Objector (CO) Status to Soldiers Currently Serving in the Military
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by Polly Mann, W A M M
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Conscientious objectors are those who on the basis of religious or moral principles refuse to bear arms or participate in military service. Generally, such a declaration is made when an individual is required to enlist in the service. However, it is possible for individuals serving in the military to have had experiences which have so affected them that they can no longer comply with orders requiring them to kill another human being; history is dotted with examples of such people. This drastic change in thinking and belief can be used as the basis for a claim of conscientious objection.
Since the claim of conscientious objection is generally not the result of personal experiences and is made prior to enlistment, detailed information about securing this status is not as commonly known today as it was during wars when a military draft made enlistment compulsory. The enlistee often volunteers to serve with little, if any, thought of how killing others might affect the psyche. But it can and does. The soldier who has killed another human being can be tremendously affected. Desertions and suicides are testimony to this. What can soldiers, awaiting reassignment to a combat zone, do when they find themselves seriously disturbed if not desperate? It is possible that they have become conscientious objectors to war and may be given legal immunity.
The granting of conscientious objector status relieves the individual of military obligation. The process is long, arduous, and difficult to attain, but it is a legal alternative to military service—first recognized in 1661 by the colony of Massachusetts exempting men from military service on religious grounds. The Selective Service Act of 1917 recognized conscientious objectors and did not require them to bear arms. Men who belonged to historically pacifist religious groups had guaranteed access to conscientious objector status. (Today the Unitarian Universalist Association maintains a Registry of Conscientious Objectors where individuals may submit statements to the registry for themselves and in support of draft-age members of their families.)
In 1948 draft legislation specifically allowed for conscientious objectors, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors was founded. It is estimated that there were 3,500 COs in World War I; 37,000 COs in World War II; 4,300 in the Korean War; and 200,000 in the Vietnam War. Estimates are unavailable for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Suicides of U.S. war veterans in 2005 has been estimated by ABC News to be more than 6,000 (approximately 120 per week), a rate so high that veteran advocates call it a suicide epidemic. How many of these suicides might have been averted had CO education been readily available? We’ll never know.
The traditional peace churches such as the Brethren, Mennonites, and the Society of Friends offer counseling services, as do national and local chapters of veterans peace organizations, plus a few nonprofit organizations such as the National Lawyers Guild, which may offer legal services. Many websites provide information about conscientious objection. Following are a few: www.objectors.org; www.nisbco.org; www.paxchristiusa.org/; www.afsc.org/youthmil/conscientious-objection. |
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© 2007/2008 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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