Days 60-64 - My Rebuttal

The following is my rebuttal to the report of the "Investigating Officer." Thus ends any part that I will have in my request to be discharged from the Navy as a conscientious objector.

To Whoever Decides If I Will Be Discharged:

I agree with the recommendation of the “Investigating Officer” that I am a conscientious objector to war and should be discharged. My rebuttal, therefore, is to the legitimacy of the reasoning by which you justify forcing me to labor on your behalf.

I will no longer pretend that I am a member of an “all volunteer” military force. In the previous phrase, the word “volunteer” is used in the present tense; however, I no longer voluntarily work for you, nor do thousands of others whom you call Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, and Marines. We follow orders because we ultimately know that if we do not, we will be imprisoned. This is servitude, not volunteerism.

Undoubtedly, like me, all these persons did at one time voluntarily sign a piece of paper promising to work for what is known as the “Department of Defense,” but natural law and logic reveal that a contract of enslavement is a contradiction. A slave is a person who submits to the edicts and threats of another, not a person who freely chooses. We volunteered (past tense), and this fact does nothing to address whether or not our continued labors are voluntary. As for me, I am telling you unequivocally that although I continue to work for you, this is under duress; rather than being voluntary, my work is done to avoid the further restriction of my liberty that would come from imprisonment.

If you consider yourself justified in exercising authority over me, then you inherently deny my self-ownership. Such a blatant usurpation of individual autonomy continues largely unrecognized because of widespread conformity and propaganda that employs false notions of freedom. The result is that people regularly favor the illusion of liberty over the recognition that they are obeying others’ commands to avoid being thrown in cages, or worse.

Who, except those calling themselves “the military,” imprisons people for quitting their jobs? Had I signed a piece of paper promising to play baseball for the Chicago Cubs for five years, I would not go to jail if I quit after three years (although I would likely forfeit the outstanding monetary benefits promised upon fulfillment of the contract). However, you act as if there would somehow be justification for imprisoning me simply because you wear a different uniform than a baseball jersey.

Despite the fact that I only work for you under the threat of imprisonment, I am not without volition. I have therefore chosen to jump through the bureaucratic hoops that you have established by filing this request. However, I do not want this fact to be misinterpreted as my condoning the legitimacy of this process. Slavery has been, and continues to be, an atrocity perpetuated by those who call themselves “the government of the United States of America.” I hope that this will one day change, and I’m working toward that end.

In the meantime, I do not expect that you will allow me to freely leave merely because I have exposed the truth of my involuntary servitude. Deep down, you already know this truth all too well. Most simply, a slave is someone who is forced to labor, incurring harmful consequences for attempting to sever the corrupt relationship with the master. Whether or not you choose to classify me as a conscientious objector, the truth of my slavery (and yours) is plainly evident to people who yearn to be free to make their own choices. Every day that I continue to work for you not by choice but because of your threat of imprisonment, you only add further evidence to the truth that I am indisputably a slave.

(signed)

Daniel J. Lakemacher