Fearless Faith

Recent political conversations have once more drawn national military conscription into the light, albeit reluctantly. Count that as no surprise given today’s geopolitics, but know also that it is nothing that has not been visited before. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, by most a brilliant Civil War strategist of his time, acknowledged the roles that were to be played.

“Those who remained faithful to non-resistance faced persecution from the larger community. Early Confederate draft law had no provisions for conscientious objectors and so they put on the uniform against their will. Anecdotal accounts portray conscripted Mennonites who refused to shoot or aim, and Jackson confirmed that Mennonites, Dunkers and Quakers could “be made to fire but can very easily take bad aim.” Jackson allowed them to serve as teamsters. He argued that in this role they made a valuable contribution to the army and he even proposed organizing conscientious objectors into units without officers, simultaneously releasing soldiers for combat and improving the care of horses.” (Longenecker. Shenandoah Religion: Outsiders and the Mainstream, 1716-1865)

Ultimately, alternative service units were formed to conduct “work of national importance” without participating directly in the killing of others. These included starvation and diet studies with the National Institutes of Health, smoke jumper firefighter units and seawater consumption experiments. Additionally, post war relief played an important role by some of the same alternate service personnel who accompanied livestock shipments from Baltimore Harbor to Spain and Italy. Their enterprising work became the basis of today’s Heifer International. Many ships were renamed for the duration of the relief shipments including the one my father rode, the SS Humanitas, an Italian registry merchant ship. It was an adventure for both volunteers and crew, many who had never been around livestock or large boats of any kind.

Honoring individual conscience in matters of faith is hard work by all sides. There is often agreement on the end objectives (i.e. — cessation of violence) but seldom are we on one page as to the how of it all. What happens when individual biases intrude? Are we able to set them aside to address the larger needs? Many of the draft board personnel in the forties declared that their local board would not tolerate allowing the signup of any COs to their rolls. Will that happen once again, and will we deal with it appropriately? Hopefully we would learn a little better how to behave the second and third times through … no FBI investigations, no lists posted around town, no vandalism to properties, no snarky remarks to and from otherwise close neighbors.

People have a right not to kill if they so choose, as much or more than many “rights” we embrace. If we honor our faith, and that of others, then we worry needlessly. If we are lax regarding freedom of and from religion, then we fall back into destructive patterns of the past. Honoring individual conscience in matters of faith is a critical component. It results in a more robust faith and provides a broader theological base from which to grow. If nothing else, it provides a living laboratory for civic engagement. Mandatory draft? Be careful what you wish for. We would need to be on our best behavior.