From Thought to Action

In my continued brainstorming about how I can best work toward ending war, I decided it would be helpful to gain some hands-on experience with others who are trying to achieve that same goal. To this end, I spent last week volunteering at the Center on Conscience & War (CCW) in Washington, D.C.

Since 1940, CCW has been advocating for the rights of conscientious objectors as well as providing them with invaluable advice and supportive counseling. Although it was originally formed by an association of religious groups and is still considered a "faith based organization," CCW is adamant about its support of all conscientious objectors to war. I quickly discovered that my own experience of their support for my non-religious conscientious objection is but one case among many.

A second example of their service to non-religious objectors turned out to be one of the biggest highlights of my week. One of the days when I was volunteering, I met a former Naval Officer who had been discharged just one week prior to my arrival at CCW, and like myself, this individual wanted to do some volunteer work as well. This opportunity was extremely meaningful for me as the two of us were both discharged recently and could so readily relate to each other's experiences. I felt an almost immediate and strong level of kinship, and in addition to participating in some of CCW's training together, we also spent time swapping stories and congratulating each other over lunch.

We resonated over the sense of isolation that we each felt throughout the process. Not that we didn't have the support and encouragement of both significant people in our lives and from CCW, but more so the feeling that even our best friend or an experienced counselor could not offer the unspoken understanding of someone who was personally facing the obstacles of having a conscientious objection as a member of the military. The reality is that it's definitely not hard to feel out of place in an organization of hundreds of thousands of people, especially when it seems that you are the only one to have a moral resignation about participating in war.

Echoing each other's sentiments, we both agreed that it would have been great to be connected with someone else who was going through the process of conscientious objection at the same time as we were. Amidst the myriad military support organizations and peace activist groups, neither of us is aware of anything geared specifically at connecting conscientious objectors to each other. However, given all my recent thinking about how I can advance liberty and stop war, I immediately jumped to the possibility of starting such a network myself.

For the moment, my ideas have only been briefly discussed, but it's definitely an exciting option and a project that would have particular meaning for me. Your feedback is appreciated, and to help evidence the very real world of military conscientious objection, included below is a slideshow from CCW's website. The photos are all of recent conscientious objectors, and they are mostly arranged in a before (uniformed) and after (civilian) format, with yours truly included near the end.

*As a final note, CCW isn't limited to helping military personnel with conscientious objection. They also deal with issues of AWOL/UA, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Hardship discharge, Pregnancy/Parenthood discharge, and many other concerns of military members and their families. If you, or someone you know, would be in need of their help either call them directly at 1-800-379-2679 or call the GI Rights Hotline of which they are a member organization.

My blogging schedule has gotten a little off, but stay tuned as next week I'm planning on meeting members of Free Keene!

123 Days Later . . . A Verbal Answer Is Given

This afternoon a man identifying himself as my "SEA" (Senior Enlisted Advisor) informed me that I will be discharged from the military within about one week. This individual was not forthcoming with details, but apparently on an as yet unknown day next week, I will no longer be subject to imprisonment should I stop working for the organization known as the United States Navy. I'm unsure what exactly will transpire during my remaining days of involuntary servitude, but I have been told that I will undergo a final physical examination in addition to being asked to sign a lot of paperwork.

For any military members reading this, I hope you're encouraged to file your own request to be discharged as a conscientious objector. The truth is that war is immoral, and it's abhorrent that you're threatened with imprisonment if you stop working in support of it on anything but the military's terms.

Again, here's a link to the organization that has been my biggest asset in seeking discharge:

Center on Conscience & War: http://centeronconscience.org/home.shtml

*They assist military members with many issues beyond conscientious objection, and their toll-free confidential phone number is 1-800-379-2679.

Day 50 - A Light in the Darkness

While on leave, one fantastic experience I had was to personally visit the Center on Conscience & War (CCW) in Washington, D.C. Although I didn't make my request until May, I first decided to apply as a conscientious objector in March 2009. Only days after having made my decision, I called CCW's GI Rights Hotline (1-800-379-2679)

From then until now, the staff at CCW have truly been my greatest resource. They've counseled hundreds of others through this same process and have provided me with expert professional advice, while at the same time always being empathetic to my specific circumstances and how I'm feeling. I truly enjoyed meeting each of the staff, as well as hearing their own stories of how they came to believe that all war is immoral.

I happily assume that the Investigating Officer (and other military members) are still reading my blog, so I'd like to take the chance to better answer one of the questions I was asked during the hearing, especially as it relates to CCW.

IO: Which natural rights advocate follows, if any, follows to your conclusion?

Me: Off the top of my head I could only cite my, what I believe as my own beliefs, I know of no individual or group that advocates explicitly in accordance with every single facet of my beliefs.

IO: I’m not talking every single facet. I’m specifically talking to war itself. Any, are there any natural rights philosophers, advocates that you’ve read, that have come to your conclusion that war in any form is immoral?

Me: Off the top of my head right now, I could not quote any individual or organization that I know of that would, that makes that specific statement. I certainly believe that there do exist such people slash organizations, I can’t think of one off the top of my head that has that as their explicit statement of belief.

Where I got caught up was in trying to think of someone or some group that used the same line of reasoning to reach my same conclusion. Although I think there are persons that even meet that criteria (Stefan Molyneux and Wes Bertrand for starters), I didn't want to try and explain who they were, and I admittedly had only discovered them after coming to my own conclusions, unlike the philosophers that I had referenced in my application as being influential in getting me to that point.

Since this forum allows me a kind of mulligan, I would now more broadly answer the question that as far as people or organizations who have come to my same conclusion (albeit some of them for different reasons), CCW is the best answer I could possibly give. It's an organization that has existed since 1940 for the purpose of "stopping war one soldier at a time."

I find the above slogan in conjunction with the J.F.K. quote that, "War will exist until the distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige as the warrior does today," to truly be the most practical. The reality is that the people who instigate and force others to carry out war would never risk fighting in battles themselves.

The reality is that if a critical mass (probably even less than 10%) of military members refused to fight, this would undoubtedly put an immediate end to America's current wars. The reasons that such a small number can have such a significant impact are many. Ultimately, it's not the direct loss of labor that would be the lynchpin, but the ripple effect of doubt and the loss of legitimacy.

As of February 2009, the entire U.S. Armed Forces consists of 1.4 million "active duty personnel." 10% of this would be 140,000 people. Think about what you know of how much time and how many resources have been used in the course of my individual request to be classified as a conscientious objector. Imagine that multiplied by 140,000, or even by 70,000 (5%) or even 14,000 (1%).

Add to this the multiplying effect that would come from the circle in which each individual spread his or her beliefs. The numbers would be in the millions. For example, since May 31st when I began using Google Analytics, warisimmoral.com has had over 500 unique visitors from more than 20 different countries. Surely not everyone will blog, but I know that all will tell their families and their friends and that these people will continue to tell others, and by this, the phrase "stopping war one solider at a time," proves its true power.