back door draft

Last night I met Eric at a Conscientious Objector training we held at OSU. Eric joined the military straight out of high school. He spent three years in Germany serving during the Bosnian crisis. He joined as a young man so he could see the world and to pay for college when he completed his service. He is a junior at Oregon State University now, studying Construction Management. He tells us that since he as been in college his values and ethics have evolved. He is clear about living his values and he is clear he can not carry a gun and that he cannot kill another human.

After Eric’s three year service commitment, he was required to spend another 5 years in the National Guard. His unit was called up to join the Iraqi defense force. He realized that his conscience prevented him from serving in war. He tried to apply for CO status but the military denied his request and sent him to boot camp in Texas. He refused to touch the M16 he was given. That made the officers mad. It got their attention, and he was separated from the rest of his unit. After a long struggle, they eventually returned Eric to Oregon and he is enrolled in college as he awaits a military hearing on his request for CO status. A number of young men in Eric’s position have been jailed for refusing to serve. Their incarceration serves only as a form of societal revenge. It certainly is not going to change the behavior of these brave COs who are willing to live their values completely.

I met Bob at the training as welll. Bob was a CO during the Vietnam War. Bob described his wild ride across North America to return to a hearing in Hawaii within the 10 day window the military allows after calling someone to serve. He got very angry at the draft board. He said his anger served him well as the draft board believed him when he stated his convictions with angry force: “I can not kill; I can not bear arms.” He said they asked him illegal questions, trying to trick him into sabotaging himself: “would you kill a turkey if you were starving and in the woods.” He answered that he did not know, had never been in that position. Bob has read the history of COs in the United States. He told us that during the Civil War COs were tortured and killed for refusing to serve in the military. At least now we give them a hearing and jailing is more humane than being staked to the ground.

I learn a little more each time I do one of these trainings. I do not know if a popular draft will be reinstated. I do know young adults gain something by thinking about their morals and ethics, by articulating them to each other. I know that young people like Eric are being drafted against their will and and their ethics. The draft is real for any young adult who has once served in the military and the threat of prison by our government for standing couragously for ones moral beliefs is also real. The fight for religious and moral freedom is alive and well on American soil.