Conscientious Objectors, Draft Dodgers, etc.

In January 1970 I turned eighteen. Instead of registering for the draft as I was supposed to do, I wrote a letter to my draft board. This is what it said:

Today, I am eighteen years old. On this day, I am required by the law of this country to register with the Selective Service System. But my obedience to a higher law compels me to refuse to do so. This has  not been an easily or hastily arrived at position. It comes as the result of much thought and introspection. I realize that in doing what I am doing, I am breaking the law, but I am ready to accept whatever consequences my action may bring upon me. I have watched with rowing horror the actions my country has taken in Vietnam. Under the guise of defending freedom, we have destroyed a country and its people. However, my stand is even more than this. It comes from a deep personal belief that all war is wrong. The people of the world are my brothers and I cannot participate in or support the killing of my brothers. My purpose in living must be to affirm life, not to be an instrument of destroying it. As a member of a co-called "Peace Church," I could easily apply for and receive a classification as a conscientious objector. But this would be, in effect, an acceptance of the system of conscription and the militarism for which it exists, and would also be a way of effectively silencing my conscience. To accept a classification from the Selective Service would be to recognize the legitimacy of the System, a legitimacy that does not exist. The action I am taking shows my own refusal to participate in war, but even more, my belief that no man should be forced into war. So, today, instead of bowing to a god of war and destruction, I am affirming a God of peace and love. By saying "no" to death, I am saying "yes" to life.

Source: Tollefson, James W., The Strenght Not to Fight, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1993.

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