© www.luzarcoiris.comFrom whence does this decision come...
Conscientious objection wages an active challenge to war, one soldier at a time.Affirmation of conscience and support for conscientious objectors, or COs - helping people get out of the military - is an important part of a larger anti-war strategy
, and one with real, concrete and measurable results. Military COs give us powerful insight into our own nature, and they can be strong and credible voices for peace, having fixed the opposition to war in their hearts through experiences most people will never have.
As long as there has been war, there have been conscientious objectors. One of the earliest references to conscientious objection is found in Deuteronomy in the
Bible. It says, "Officials are instructed to address troops: Is anyone afraid or disheartened? He should go back to his house or he might cause the heart of his comrades to fail like his own." This is not to say, by any means, that conscientious objection is akin to cowardice. Quite the opposite:
It takes incredible courage to stand up and resist killing from within a culture that exists for that sole purpose.Nonetheless, the point of this passage shines through:
Conscience is contagious. This is why conscientious objection - affirmation of the human conscience - is so threatening to the US military and government, and why there is a history of attempts to suppress it.
Comment: There is a science of teaching soldiers to kill and it is called
killology. It is the science of circumventing the conscience. In order to get an otherwise psychologically healthy individual to kill, US military training has been developed to bypass the conscience and have the act of killing - the act of firing one's weapon with the intent to kill - become reflexive. -
The US military and the myth that humanity is predisposed to violenceIt is much harder to wage a war if nobody comes.
Comment: Don't be surprised if there is an outbreak of acute flaccid paralysis (otherwise known as polio) downstream of this "accident".