Mennonite Weekly: Selective Objectors
by Paul Schrag
Originally published in the 12/6/10 issue mennoweekly.org
There’s always been a problem with how the U.S defines conscientious objector. A CO has to oppose “war in any form” … Now there’s a movement to change that. … [T]he Truth Commission on Conscience in War calls selective objection an issue of religious freedom. … [Its] efforts represent an important step in advocating for the rights of conscience. Members of historic peace churches can affirm this campaign to extend moral freedom to soldiers who reject the only that matters, the one they’re told to fight.
The Christian Century: “Conscientious objection to specific wars sought”
Originally published 11/24/10 at ChristianCentury.org
The Truth Commission on Conscience in War, issuing its report November 10 in Washington, D.C., recommended that the military revise its rules to include “selective conscientious objection” and urged religious leaders to address issues of conscience during wartime.
“Training has made it so that our soldiers are much more reflexive than they are reflective about things that happen on the battlefield,” said Herman Keizer, a retired army chaplain who once oversaw chaplains in the European Command. “And when they do get an opportunity to reflect, that’s when the moral issues really begin to roll.”
America Magazine: “A Change in C.O. Status?”
Originally published 11/19/10 at AmericaMagazine.com
When the United States had a military draft, conscientious objector status was sought mostly by people who opposed all wars. But in the decades since then, the country has turned to an all-volunteer military; and the issue of conscientious objection now usually arises with people who volunteered for military service but came to have moral qualms about a specific conflict. A new report from the Truth Commission on Conscience in War documents the moral and psychological harm inflicted by the nation’s current C.O. policy and calls for revising U.S. military regulations to allow such “selective conscientious objection.”
“Calls to Address Moral Conflict, CO Definition”
Originally published 11/19/10 at ChristianFighterPilot.com
There is certainly validity to the claim that “moral injury” is contributing to PTSD and even suicides among active and former military members. It is regrettable, however, that groups are choosing to focus on the seeming political popularity of wars, rather than that which most directly impacts troops: After violently taking a life (an action seemingly at odds with their morality) they seek reassurance that their conduct is “morally right” — and they are told that it is neither right nor wrong, it’s just what they’ve been ordered to do.
WickedLocal.com: “Fighting the Army on conscientious objection”
Originally published 11/18/10 at WickedLocal.com (Framingham Tab)
The Truth Commission on Conscience in War released a report on Veterans Day fervently urging the U.S. government to expand the Army’s current conscientious objection regulations to include both religious and moral objections to a particular war, like the war in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The wording for conscientious objection requires that a soldier object to “war in any form” in order to qualify. Generally, this includes members of certain religious groups who declare themselves pacifists.
But the TCCW points out the inherent conflict when the military preaches the importance of the “just war” criteria and maintaining a clear moral compass, but forces soldiers who may be religiously or morally conflicted with a certain war to fight in it.
The Georgia Bulletin: “Selective conscientious objection to war service gets new push”
Originally published 11/12/10 by The Georgia Bulletin (The newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta)
When the United States had a military draft, conscientious objector status was mostly sought by people who opposed all war and wanted out of military duty altogether. But in the decades since the country has had an all-volunteer military, conscientious objection has almost always been about people who volunteered for military service, but once in came to have moral qualms about the specific conflict where they were expected to fight. A new campaign is seeking to ease the path for what is known as selective conscientious objection.
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly: “Religious Leaders Urge Attention to Moral Injuries of War”
Originally published 11/12/10 on PBS.org
This piece from PBS’ Religion & Ethics Newsweekly includes video interviews with Herm Keizer, Jake Diliberto, and Rita Nakashima Brock.
To mark Veterans Day, the Truth Commission on Conscience in War, a coalition of more than 60 religious, academic, advocacy, and veterans groups, released a report on the moral injuries suffered by service members.The report urged religious leaders to do a better job of educating communities about the criteria governing the moral conduct of war and the needs of veterans and their families.
The Christian Post: Churches Urged to Speak Out on War, Moral Conscience
by Stephanie Samuel
Originally published November 11, 2010 at ChristianPost.com
WASHINGTON – On the eve of Veterans Day, interfaith group Truth Commission on Conscience in War urged churches and religious leaders to break their silence regarding the moral conflict that America’s involvement in unjustified wars is putting religious soldiers through.
A group of evangelicals and Catholic soldiers, military chaplains and Truth Commission staff gathered in Washington, D.C., and testified Wednesday about their personal stories of moral guilt and confliction while serving their country in a war.
In their testimonies, veterans advocated for Christians to stand against wars that do not match the principals of just war. Church leaders were also encouraged to be vocal about the implications unjust wars have on the service men and women in their congregations.
Sojourners: “This Veterans Day, Honor the Consciences of Our Veterans”
by Rose Marie Berger
Originally published 11/11/10 at God’s Politics (Sojourners)
Today, on Armistice Day, 18 American military vets will commit suicide. This weekend, military veterans are gathering in Washington, D.C., for the second Truth Commission on Conscience in War. Today is also the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours: Patron Saint of Conscientious Objectors.
“War inflicts terrible, tragic consequences on all touched by it,” says Truth Commission member Herman Keizer (U.S. Army ret.). “Moral conscience should not be one of its casualties.”
NYTimes: “War and Conscience: Expanding the Definition of Conscientious Objection”
by James Dao
Originally published 11/10/10 at the NYTimes.com
[Today], Nov. 10, a coalition of around 60 mostly left-leaning religious, veterans and anti-war groups are calling on Congress to expand the definition of conscientious objection to allow opposition to a particular war. Leaders of the coalition, the Truth Commission on Conscience in War, assert that broadening the definition would probably lead to more troops applying to become conscientious objectors. But it would also allow for greater religious freedom in the military and improve morale among the troops, they say.
“For many of us, it is a religious freedom issue,” said Rita N. Brock, one of the main organizers of the commission. “The only religious conscience protected now is for pacifists. But the majority of people are not pacifists. I’m not a pacifist. We have a relative view of when violence is appropriate and not appropriate.”
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: Coalition seeks moral objection to war
by Adelle M. Banks (RNS)
Originally published 11/10/10 at PewForum.org
WASHINGTON (RNS) On the eve of Veterans Day, religious leaders and veterans called for a reconsideration of conscientious objection to war, saying military members should have the right to object to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for moral reasons.
In a report issued Wednesday (Nov. 10), the Truth Commission on Conscience in War called on the military to revise its rules to include “selective conscientious objection,” and urged religious leaders to address issues of conscience during wartime.
“Training has made it so that our soldiers are much more reflexive than they are reflective about things that happen on the battlefield,”said the Rev. Herman Keizer, a retired Army chaplain who once oversaw chaplains in the European Command.
Huffington Post: This Veterans Day, Honor Those Who Say “No” to Immoral War
by Derrick Crowe
Originally published 11/10/10 at HuffingtonPost.com
November 11 is Veterans Day, the 10th Veterans Day since the Afghanistan War began. The burden of this brutal, futile war falls heaviest on a very small slice of the population: military members and their families. Many of them consider this war immoral, but their rights to object to fighting it on moral grounds are severely limited under current law.
Watch the video below…
The Oklahoman: Coalition seeks moral objection to war
by Adelle M. Banks
Originally published 11/10/10 at NewsOK.com (The Oklahoman)
WASHINGTON (RNS) On the eve of Veterans Day, religious leaders and veterans called for a reconsideration of conscientious objection to war, saying military members should have the right to object to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for moral reasons.
In a report issued Wednesday (Nov. 10), the Truth Commission on Conscience in War called on the military to revise its rules to include “selective conscientious objection,” and urged religious leaders to address issues of conscience during wartime.
“Training has made it so that our soldiers are much more reflexive than they are reflective about things that happen on the battlefield,” said the Rev. Herman Keizer, a retired Army chaplain who once oversaw chaplains in the European Command.
Beliefnet.com: “Coalition Seeks Moral Objection to War”
Originally published 11/10/10 at Beliefnet.com
On the eve of Veterans Day, religious leaders and veterans called for a reconsideration of conscientious objection to war, saying military members should have the right to object to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for moral reasons.In a report issued Wednesday (Nov. 10), the Truth Commission on Conscience in War called on the military to revise its rules to include “selective conscientious objection,” and urged religious leaders to address issues of conscience during wartime.
“Training has made it so that our soldiers are much more reflexive than they are reflective about things that happen on the battlefield,” said the Rev. Herman Keizer, a retired Army chaplain who once oversaw chaplains in the European Command. “And when they do get an opportunity to reflect, that’s when the moral issues really begin to roll.”
“‘Truth commission’ urges change in conscientious-objector status”
by Bob Allen
Originally published 11/10/10 at ABPNews.com (Associated Baptist Press)
Objector status, recognized since the Civil War, originally applied to members of certain religious groups known for their pacifist beliefs, such as Quakers and Mennonites. The Supreme Court expanded the definition in 1971 to include not only members of specified religious traditions, but also anyone with “deeply held beliefs that cause them to oppose participation in war in any form.”
The truth commission pointed out that the current exemption still applies only to pacifists, a small minority among Christians, while leaving out those in the “just-war” tradition embraced by the vast majority of Christians.
“Expanding the meaning of conscientious objection”
Originally published 11/10/10 at Sermons in Stones
It used to be that in order to be granted conscientious objector status, you had to claim religious grounds; I believe you also had to be a member of a “peace church” such as the Quakers or Mennonites. In either case, this was overturned in 1965, in United States v. Seeger, which ruled that one could seek CO status based on any religious belief, defined as “a sincere and meaningful belief occupying in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by the God” of other people.
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Now the Truth Commission on Conscience in War, on whose Planning Committee the Starr King School for the Ministry serves, proposes a further expansion of the grounds for conscientious objection. To my mind it is similarly reasonable to US v Seeger, though difficult to administer (as are people’s current claims of religious objection to war): instead of requiring all would-be COs to be pacifists, it would allow someone to object to participation in a particular, or particular kind of, war.
Sojourners: “Truth Commission on Conscience in War Gathers in D.C.”
by Claire Lorentzen
Originally published 11/10/10 on God’s Politics (Sojourners)
This week, the Truth Commission on Conscience in War, a coalition of 60 army veterans and anti-war groups, are meeting in Washington, D.C., in hopes of gathering support in Congress for legislation that would provide the legal right to selective conscientious objection, in which soldiers who object to particular wars are recognized. Today, the Commission will be holding a press conference where they will release their study, “Truth Commission on Conscience in War: A Report,” which includes a series of recommendations for legislation. On Thursday and Friday, they will be holding an, Inter-faith Service and a teach-in on selective conscientious objection.
The Washington Post: “The moral injuries of war”
By Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini
Originally published 11/11/10 at WashingtonPost.com
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