by Brian McLaren
Originally published 4/20/10 at BrianMcLaren.net

Quoting a report from Eda Uca-Dorn of Christian Peace Witness:

Selective conscientious objection; the cost of moral injury; the lie of “recovery” from combat; the myths of military recruitment; the cooperation of state, church, academia, and media in breaking (with impunity) the hearts, minds, souls, and bodies of those in the military: all we heard seemed to rotate around the nexus of one question posed by testifier Dr. Jonathan Shay, Boston VA Clinical Psychiatrist. He asked, “Are the members of the military slaves?” If a thousand hearts cried out “No!” many of the most powerful institutions in the United States whispered, “Yes”.

Full article: http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/a-report-on-the-truth-commission.html

by Catherine Ryan
Originally published 4/9/10 at POV Blog

March 20, 2010 marked the seventh year of the U.S. war in Iraq. This is a stunning reality. The “mission” that was supposed to be completed in 6 months has outlasted the president who launched it and has forever changed the lives of the hundreds of thousands of service members who have fought there.

Few of us know first hand what is happening in our current wars. But those who have gone to war know a great deal, and, as a country, we would do well to listen to their stories. What have they seen, done, and sacrificed on our behalf?

The Truth Commission on Conscience in War is seeking answers to this question — and receiving powerful responses.

Full article: http://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/2010/04/soldiers_of_conscience_featured_at.php

by Zachary Moon
Originally published 4/7/10 at Chicago Theological Seminary

I recently had the opportunity, along with President Alice Hunt, to represent Chicago Theological Seminary at the Truth Commission on Conscience in War, held in New York City March 21st and 22nd. The two day event included a number of engaging sessions, including a public hearing that featured the testimony of five military servicemen speaking about the crystallization of conscience in the midst of participation in war, an awakening that changed the trajectory of their respective military service. Their respective backgrounds were quite diverse, as was their treatment in the aftermath of declaring for conscientious objector status.

Full article: http://www.ctschicago.edu/index.php/mnusocialmedia/challenge-and-response/177-truth-commission-reflections

by John Helmiere
Originally published 4/1/10 at Notes from the Quad

I spent most of the afternoon of March 21 on the verge of tears, sitting in the sanctuary of the historic Riverside Church in NYC.  A large crowd had assembled to witness the “Truth Commission on Conscience in War” in which Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans, as well as legal, theological, psychological, and media experts, spoke about the horror of these wars.  YDS co-sponsored the event, allowing the Divinity School to appoint two commissioners, whose job it was to listen deeply to testimonies and craft actionable responses.  In the interest of creating a diverse Commission in terms of age, YDS appointed me to serve alongside Professor Kristen Leslie and many other well-known leaders in the academy, the military, religion, politics, the media, and the arts.

Full article: http://www.yale.edu/divinity/notes/100401/riverside.shtml

by Rich Meyer
Originally published 4/1/10 at MennoniteUSA.org

The Truth Commission on Conscience in War (TCCW:www.conscienceinwar.org) convened March 21 at Riverside Church in New York City to hear the testimony of several soldiers and one bereaved mother, regarding the difficult and often lonely struggle to get the US military to release soldiers who have developed conscientious objections to continued participation in war. For most of these soldiers, “conscientious objector” was not in their vocabulary at the point when they saw that something was morally wrong in their actions and the conduct of the war.

Full article: http://www.mennoniteusa.org/Home/ExecutiveLeadership/InterchurchRelations/TruthCommission/tabid/1433/Default.aspx

by Valerie Elverton Dixon
Originally published 3/26/10 at Tikkun Daily Blog

Conscientious objection is as old as the first human being who faced another human being who was intent upon doing h/er harm and refused to respond with violence.  It is as old as the first human being who looked upon a battlefield littered with the dead and dying and concluded: “this is madness” and refused to participate in organized slaughter.  Conscientious objection is as old as the human awareness of right and wrong.  Selective conscientious objection is as old as the first warrior who refused an order on the battlefield, who refused to shoot the enemy, or who walked away from a war s/he deemed unjust.

Full article: http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2010/03/26/selective-conscientious-objection-and-just-peacetheory/

by Judy Seicho Fleischman
Originally posted 3/26/10 at Sensing Wonder

I’m thinking of a book by Vietnamese Zen teacher and peace activist Thich Nhat Hahn, entitled, “Keeping the Peace – Mindfulness and Public Service, and of what he says in an interview titled, This is What War Looks Like,

“When we hold retreats for war veterans I tell them they are the flame at the tip of the candle. They are the ones who feel the heat, but the whole candle is burning, not only the flame. All of us are responsible.”

Full article: http://sensingwonder.blogspot.com/2010/03/crystallization-of-conscience.html

by Ken Sehested
Originally published 3/25/10 at WashingtonPost.com

The Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, now synonymous both with the torture of bodies and of language (“enhanced interrogation techniques”) seems an odd venue for the outbreak of what military courts refer to as the “crystallization of conscience” in assessing conscientious objector (CO) applicants. On the other hand, what better place for epiphanies?

It was in such an interrogation cell that U.S. Army interrogator and Arabic linguist Joshua Casteel underwent a different kind of conversion.

Full article: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/03/the_problem_with_just_war_and_pacifism.html

by Camillo “Mac” Bica
Originally published 3/25/10 at Truthout.org

Transparency in government, that is, providing the information necessary to create an informed citizenry, is a requirement in a democracy if government by and for the people is to work successfully. Political leaders, then, must, before waging war, offer a coherent, rational and valid argument that just war criteria have been satisfied, that is, despite the awfulness of war, killing and destruction is a necessary, just and moral recourse in this particular situation.

Full article: http://www.truth-out.org/on-duty-conscientiously-object57967

by Shane Claiborne
Originally published 3/23/10 at God’s Politics

I can’t imagine a better way to lament the 7^th anniversary of the war in Iraq than by spending it with Iraq veterans who are horrified by the war and courageously speaking out against it. Not only did this past week mark the war’s anniversary, but it also marked the first Truth Commission on Conscience in War — which could likely become a historic date as other Truth Commissions are launched around the country over the next year.  It was an honor for me to be one of the inaugural “commissioners” (basically, a good listener and witness) and a sponsor of the event, which was held at the legendary Riverside Church in New York.  It was there some 40 years ago that Dr. King confessed that America had become “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” Last night we heard the echoes of Dr. King’s prophetic voice… and from that same pulpit.

Full article: http://blog.sojo.net/2010/03/23/war-is-ugly-god-is-good-what-i-learned-from-the-truth-commission-on-conscience-in-war/

by Valerie Elverton Dixon
Originally published 3/19/10 at WashingtonPost.com

Killing another human being is not an automatic or easy thing. Warriors are nor mindless, heartless, soulless, cogs in a military machines. While they are trained to kill, many encounter a moment that causes them to question the righteousness of their involvement in war and the morality of war itself.

Full article: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/03/faithful_objection_to_military_action.html

by Megan Dowdell
Originally published 3/19/10 at Tikkun Daily Blog

Founder of Faith Voices for the Common Good and long-time anti-war activist, Rev. Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock has dedicated much of her scholarship and activism to inter-religious education. As chair of the planning team for the Truth Commission on Conscience in War, to be launched this Sunday, March 21 in New York City, she has turned her attention to Conscientious Objection regulations and the realities of military service during times of war.

In her piece, “Moral Conscience in War: Small Acts of Repair,” Brock tells the stories of her father’s US Army service, including two tours in Vietnam. She explains how her father’s stories and the influence of veterans she has grown to respect have shown her how opportunities for repair and healing during war can come in many sizes.

Full article: http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2010/03/19/fathers-stories-of-vietnam-focus-scholar-activist-on-moral-conscience-in-war/

by Megan Dowdell
Originally published 3/19/10 at Tikkun Daily Blog

As a student of ethics (I’m currently working on a doctorate in ethics and social theory at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA), something has often scared me away from addressing issues related to war. What has kept me from examining the moral terrain of war in a time of war, especially when staying relevant to current community struggles has been such a priority for me?

Full article: http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2010/03/19/opportunity-for-lament-interfaith-dialogue-at-truth-commission-on-conscience-in-war/

by Logan Laituri
Originally published 3/19/10 at God’s Politics

In October 2004, I was in Sammarah, Iraq, in Operation Baton Rouge. A day or so into the engagement, we occupied a small hospital, not too unlike the one I visited with Shane in Rutbah. Late at night, I walked through the corridors with my platoon sergeant and a doctor from the hospital, showing us places we could sleep overnight.  In each room, coagulated, pooled, and dried blood was all over the tile floor.  All I kept thinking to myself was “Is this the doctor’s way of inviting us to sleep in the proverbial bed we’ve made?”

Full article: http://blog.sojo.net/2010/03/19/we-all-share-responsibility-for-going-to-war-and-for-stopping-it/

by Logan Laituri
Originally published 3/9/10 at God’s Politics

A hurt locker, if we are to subscribe to the movie’s use of the term, is where one stores the things that nearly kill them. Maybe yours is under your bed, or maybe you left it in the refrigerator by accident. For most service members, theirs is tucked away securely where nobody can get to it, where it is thought that nothing can get in or out. Their locker is an emotional defense against a world that rarely understands them and (if I am to judge based on the storyline of the movie) cheapens their experiences in attempting to market it to a mass audience.

Full article: http://blog.sojo.net/2010/03/09/hurt-locker-cant-contain-the-reality-of-war/

by Rita Nakashima Brock
Originally published 3/8/10 at The Huffington Post

While the military teaches moral discernment, it punishes service members who put it into practice. When a member of the U.S. military is called up to war, she or he has to turn to individual moral conscience and make a decision whether or not to deploy. However, if they try to exercise their moral conscience and refuse to fight a particular war because they deem it unjust, they face sanctions, court martial, imprisonment, and dishonorable discharge. People in military service can only avoid prosecuting a war if they apply for Conscientious Objector status and object to “war in any form.” But that is not a just war moral position. In other words, soldiers are taught to use moral discrimination in war, but they have to serve in all wars they are called on to fight, regardless of their moral evaluation of that war.

Full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rita-nakashima-brock-ph-d/another-hurt-locker_b_489922.html

by Camillo “Mac” Bica
Originally published 3/1/10 at Truthout.org

Upon my return from Vietnam, and my discharge from the Marine Corps, I was told by well-meaning family members, friends, and a bit later, by Veterans Administration clinicians, to put the war behind me and get on with my life. It eventually became clear to me, however, that this advice, though well intentioned, failed to understand and appreciate the extent and severity of the after effects of war. After much soul searching, I realized that the war experience couldn’t be pushed aside, put out of mind. Rather, it must be confronted, head on. I decided, therefore, that if I am to go on with my life, a critical aspect of healing depended upon coming to grips with the moral gravity of the experience and in so doing, and with some luck, to find a place for it, to integrate it into my being. So, since I could not forget about war nor put it behind me, I did the next best thing. I decided to make it my life’s work. I became a philosopher with a focus in ethics and war because I could not live not knowing, not understanding, what I had been part of and what I had done.

Full article: http://www.truth-out.org/law-morality-and-conscience-war57295

by Logan Laituri
Originally published 3/1/10 at God’s Politics

When we talk about “choice” in relation to national service, we need to be careful not to turn it into a conceptual bludgeon that we inadvertently wield against people’s moral character. The whole “they signed a contract” tirade does not often suffice in this regard. In fact, in my own experience it has had precisely the effect of inflicting debilitating moral injury, which is why soldier suicides represent a crisis of conscience like none we have recorded before in our nation’s history.

Full article: http://blog.sojo.net/2010/03/01/the-contentious-issue-of-selective-conscientious-objection/

by John Helmiere
Originally published 2/15/10 at The Beatitudes Society

What is a U.S. soldier fighting in Iraq supposed to do when Jesus’ call to be a peacemaker drives him or her into a crisis of conscience?

As you might imagine, when soldiers’ commitments to follow their consciences begin to seriously conflict with their commitments to serve their country in arms, they have a very difficult road ahead of them.

Full article: http://www.beatitudessociety.org/beatitudes-posts/150-the-religious-right-supports-the-troops-%E2%80%A6-as-long-as-soldiers-keep-quiet

by Rita Nakashima Brock
Originally published 2/10/10 at ReligionDispatches.org

What is the Institute for Religion and Democracy (IRD) so afraid of? On Monday, the president of the conservative Christian think tank, Mark Tooley, blogged on FrontPage Magazine about the upcoming Truth Commission on Conscience in War (scheduled for March 21 at the Riverside Church in New York City), full of distortions, misinformation, and wildly unwarranted speculation.

Tooley attempts to smear the religious, academic, and community leaders serving as commissioners; individuals traveling to New York from around the country to receive testimony from military veterans and expert witnesses about the issues of moral and religious conscience facing our nation’s service members.

Full article: http://www.religiondispatches.org/blog/politics/2274/

by Logan Laituri
Originally published 2/9/10 at God’s Politics

Service members of faith, including Jewish and Muslim airmen, marines, sailors, and soldiers, are in the difficult position every day of discerning between the power of the state and the authority of God. I wrote recently that an allegiance to the former is best understood as subordinate to the latter. On my own blog, I also reminded friends that service members are torn between being told that they are “not paid to think” and yet to “disobey unlawful orders.” It is difficult indeed to consider the illegality of any order without being afforded the opportunity to think.

Full article: http://blog.sojo.net/2010/02/09/encouraging-informed-freedom-of-conscience-on-questions-of-war/

by Rita Nakashima Brock
Originally published 2/8/10 at DogCanyon.org

The CO option is supposed to protect religious freedom and moral conscience in the military. However, most religious traditions follow some version of what Christians call “just war,” though I doubt many people of faith know exactly what this entails. Rev. Herman Keizer, Jr., a retired Army Chaplain (COL), who served for 34 years, and was chair of the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces, notes that the military, from the level of basic training up to its war colleges, teaches ideas of just war. Yet, current CO regulations prevent soldiers from using these ideas when called to deploy in a war.

Full article: http://www.dogcanyon.org/2010/02/08/the-invisible-moral-consciences-of-those-in-the-armed-forces/

by Logan Laituri
Originally published 2/2/10 at God’s Politics

As a former service member, I share the pain and guilt that often leads to suicide or severe depression, but I know that they will not have the last word.  I know that the military as it exists today is a system that makes it difficult to do good and very easy to do evil.  Michael Walzer is correct in the afterword of his Just And Unjust Wars that the restraint of war is the foundation upon which peace is built.

Full article: http://blog.sojo.net/2010/02/02/reinvigorating-the-discourse-on-just-war-and-pacifism/

By Rita Nakashima-Brock, Serene Jones and Gabriella Lettini
Originally published 1/5/10 at ReligionDispatches.org.

For 30,000 US families, 2010 is guaranteed not to be a happy new year. Their loved ones will be deploying to our nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan. They are being sent to a war that President Obama attempted, and failed, to defend as necessary in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech; a war that is set to become the strongest evidence of his failure both as Commander-in-Chief and as a peacemaker.

Full article:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/2153/oppose_afghanistan_but_not_a_pacifist_tough.