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When I was 16 years old I registered for the military draft as a Conscientious Objector. You can too.
(Painting by Ron English)
A conscientious objector (CO) is an “individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service” on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion. In some countries, conscientious objectors are assigned to an alternative civilian service as a substitute for conscription or military service. Some conscientious objectors consider themselves pacifist, non-interventionist, non-resistant, or antimilitarist. The international definition of conscientious objection officially broadened on March 8, 1995 when the United Nations Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/83 stated that “persons performing military service should not be excluded from the right to have conscientious objections to military service.” That definition was re-affirmed in 1998, when the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights document called “Conscientious objection to military service, United Nations Commission on Human Rights resolution 1998/77” officially recognized that “persons [already] performing military service may develop conscientious objections.
The most famous American conscientious objector. Cassius Clay Jr. ( MUHAMMED ALI) was an Olympic gold medal winning boxer and 3 time professional Heavyweight boxing champion in the life of his boxing career. In 1964 Clay converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammed Ali. In 1966 Ali was drafted for the Viet Nam war. He refused to be inducted and applied as a conscientious objector. His application was denied by the local draft board. His title and boxing license were temporarily suspended. Ali took his case to the Supreme Court and was eventually granted CO status and returned to boxing.
MAHATMA GANDHI is the father of India. During that country’s fight for independence Gandhi was their political and spiritual leader. He was the pioneer of resistence to tyranny through non-violent mass civil disobedience. But Gandhi was more than just a wise man in a loin cloth. He was educated in London as a lawyer. During the Boer War in South Africa Gandhi served as a Sargeant Major in the British Ambulance Corps.
EVERY PACIFIST IS A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR. NOT EVERY CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR IS A PACIFIST.