5c. Issues

Many issues and questions could be debated around Conscientious Objection as a peace movement.

1. When you think about the five types of CO, it is clear that there is a continuum of pacifist expressions in response to a government’s requirement that its citizens go to war. While all COs would say their ‘conscience’ prevents them from taking up weapons in military service, their particular reasons for doing so are not all the same.

   If you were a CO, where would you put yourself on that continuum? 

   1. Absolutist

   Will not participate in any type of warfare

   2. No service is acceptable

   3. Will accept non-combatant military service

   4. Selective

   Do not object to all warfare

   5. Will not pay military portion of federal income tax

2. Another theme is the public response to COs. At times this has been very negative. In Canada this was especially true during the Second World War. COs and their families faced discrimination, and their church communities were subject to violence such as vandalism and arson. In Britain in the First World War, men who were not in military service were ridiculed by women who handed them white feathers – a sign of cowardice – on the streets.
3. The response by governments also varies. Sometimes, alternatives to military service were offered to COs, but often prison terms were the fate for COs, and even more so for war resisters and deserters. In specific contexts, such as Britain in the First World War, or Germany in the Second World War, some COs were executed. 

   Sam Martin was imprisoned in Canada in the Second World War; read his story here: Conscientious Objectors in Prison

4. Many COs faced the dilemma of what kind of work or service during wartime was acceptable. This was a question faced especially by pacifists, whose refusal to do military service was based on religious or moral principles. Even work in industry or agriculture, performed by many COs, could be viewed as supporting war. Especially during the large global conflicts of the 20th century, all nations developed war-time economies that produced food for soldiers or weapons for the military, for example. Absolutist COs might have argued that even contributing money to the Red Cross could aid the war machine.
5. Most COs, resisters, and deserters grappled with the tension between patriotism and pacifism. How do you show respect and love for your country even while you refuse to participate in that country’s military and war effort? Certainly, most COs would say you could be both, but the public and government didn’t always see it that way.

Conscientious Objection is a peace movement with specific goals and methods, arising from diverse ideologies. In all military conflicts throughout history, you can find individuals who chose to say no to taking up weapons against the enemy, and refused military service for their nation. It was, and continues to be, a controversial stance. Take some time to reflect on what your choice would be if you were ‘called up’ for mandatory military service by your country.

 

Stop and Ask

What are the aims/goals, methods/tactics, ideology/philosophy, and symbols of this movement?

© Course Author and University of Waterloo