Political Objection

The DoD and the draft law both say you can't qualify as a conscientious objector if your belief is "essentially political." This can be confusing because, if you object to war, you're likely to find that your beliefs affect your political views. You may, for instance, be against sending troops to a foreign country because you think war is wrong.

The Supreme Court has helped to make the words "essentially political" more clear. In Welsh v US, the Court said that officials can't deny your CO claim just because your beliefs influence your views on foreign policy or other political issues. This means that the military can't turn you down because your beliefs are political unless your political beliefs are the only basis for your claim.

This means that before you say your beliefs are "political," you should ask yourself whether they also have a moral or religious basis. If you're against US nuclear policy, for example, it helps to ask yourself why you're against it. Is it wrong? Why is it wrong? Could the same be said about other wars?

If your answer is a moral, ethical or religious belief that's central to you and leads you to object to all war, then you qualify as a conscientious objector--even if you've never thought of yourself in this way before. And you can qualify for CO status if there is any moral or religious basis at all for your claim.

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