Conscientious objection an option, youth are told
By Stuart Eskenazi
Seattle Times staff reporter
PORT TOWNSEND — When 18-year-old Johnny Smith registered with the Selective Service last summer, he wrote "conscientious objector" all over the form before mailing it in.
At a time when the United States is positioned for war in Iraq, Smith is laying the foundation for an exemption from military service based on moral or religious objections to war— on the remote chance a draft is reinstated.
"I believe that every war in the past some way could have been prevented," said Smith, who attends both Port Townsend High School and Peninsula College. "I don't think the draft is going to happen anytime soon. But I have to be prepared."
Smith and about a dozen other teens — including girls, who are not obligated to register for the draft — are learning how to become conscientious objectors through a "Teen Peace" study group.
It was launched last fall by Liz Rivera Goldstein, a Port Townsend mother of two teenagers who pondered the world situation and concluded that an eventual return to conscription was not out of the question.
"People said I was being premature to start this group, that there was nothing to worry about because there is no draft," she said. "But the way I see it, even if things go quickly and smoothly in Iraq, the occupation to keep the country stable will require a lot of soldiers."
Beyond advising young men to scribble on Selective Service forms, she instructs them to compile dossiers: keeping journals, taking pictures of themselves at peace marches, getting anti-war letters published in newspapers.
"A conscientious objector is not just saying, 'I oppose the war in Iraq'; it's opposing all war," Goldstein said. "It's how you live your life. It's who you are every day."
Elsewhere in the country, similar groups are forming.
"As prospects rise toward war, we see a greater level of concern and interest in educating young people, as well as an increased interest among young people," said Rick Jahnkow of Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities, a San Diego group that counters military recruitment in schools.
In January, U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, introduced a bill to reinstate the draft, saying too many minorities are bearing the burden of military service. But Pentagon officials say they oppose a draft. "There's no need for it at all," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said at the time. The military employs about 1.4 million active-duty service personnel and 1.3 million reservists. Rumsfeld and other top Pentagon officials have said those numbers are sufficient and cite disadvantages to compulsory military service. Before a draft could be reinstated, congressional
authorization and a presidential order would be required.
The Vietnam peace agreements were signed in January 1973, and that same month the end of the military draft was announced. Registration for it ceased in 1975 but was brought back in 1980 and has continued since, with the law requiring almost all male citizens and male immigrants to register within 30 days of their 18th birthday.
Because the registration form does not include a box to mark "conscientious objector," Brian Cross of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors in Oakland, Calif., recommends that young men write "conscientious objector" somewhere on the form, copy it, mail the copy back to themselves and retain the postmarked sealed envelope for documentation.
Young men wishing to be classified as objectors are free to express it the way Smith did on his form, but the Selective Service does not recognize it at the time of registration.
A formal request for objector status would be made only if a draft were reinstated, said Kenneth Bing of the Selective Service's regional office in Denver. The individual would then appear before a local draft board to explain his beliefs and how his life reflects those beliefs.
"It definitely helps build a person's case if they can point to very early influences that support their claim," Jahnkow said.
"Better safe than sorry," she said.
The teens are studying the philosophies of Gandhi, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela and watching war movies, such as the 1956 classic "Friendly Persuasion," starring Gary Cooper as the patriarch of a pacifist Quaker family during the Civil War. They also watched a documentary film about conscientious objectors in World War II.
"Kids aren't aware how vilified conscientious objectors have been in the past," Goldstein said.
She tells the teens that participating in a group of like-minded friends talking about their anti-war beliefs is not enough. "They have to walk the walk, to work in the community against war and for social justice," she said.
The teens have formed a chorus and are singing peace songs at their church, their names appearing in the program as a keepsake — and additional evidence for conscientious objection.
"For me," said Goldstein's 18-year-old daughter, Jenn Goldstein, "it's about preparing myself to work for social change and humanitarian efforts, locally and abroad. I want to bring about a more compassionate world."