In a recent issue of Planted we addressed the topic of whether or not the draft would be reinstated, what young people should start thinking about in case they decide to become a conscientious objector and how draft recruitment is currently going on in schools and ways families and individuals can deal with it.  

Francis Crowe, founder of the Traprock Peace Center in Deerfield, Massachusetts, is still advising young people today on how to deal with a possible draft. She was influenced by Quaker tradition and feminist thinking and founded the Northampton Draft Information Center in 1968, which continued full-time until the draft ended. In the first year, 2000 participated and during the four years of thoughtful group discussions, no one faked a physical or mental condition, cut off a finger, or left for Canada. This support was empowering and clarifying for their positions and statements as conscientious objectors, while the misguided tragedies of the Vietnam war continued to unfold. Many went on to fruitful lives in healthcare, teaching or other public service.

Crowe was interviewed recently as she encourages young people to face this issue, should draft become a reality again.

"Anyone who is conscientiously opposed to participating in any war facing them, on moral, ethical, philosophical or religious grounds, with the same degree of intensity as [they] would hold a religious belief, has a right not to be drafted."

She explained that Dan Seeger helped establish this legal standard by taking his case all the way to the Supreme Court.  Before that, only some with a religious objection to war were not pressed into military service.

According to this interview at Traprock’s website (http://www.traprockpeace.org/), there are four questions draft boards have traditionally asked. Writing your answers now helps you to get clear, and talking about your process may help others clarify their positions.

1. What do you object to about war now? What is the nature of your belief-- is your objection moral, philosophical, ethical or religous?
2. Where did those beliefs come from? What influenced you?
3. How is that objection showing up in your life?
4. Would you be willing to serve as a military medic? (Many would not, because the priority of military medicine is not to heal the wounded, but to get people back to fighting -- and killing -- as quickly as possible.)

Frances says that young people have a duty to get clear regarding what it is about war they object to, (war now, not past wars). War propaganda is heavily funded and it is easy to be led along like sheep.  Sweeps to find undocumented workers and threats of deportation intimidate many into signing up, and promises of money for college create tremendous pressure to submit to participating.

[[Even though there is no place provided on draft registration cards, one can write in the margin, "I am a conscientious objector." Before mailing in the registration card, make a copy for yourself and date that by sending it to yourself, signed receipt requested. Leaving it sealed in the envelope helps create a paper trail of your history as a conscientious objector.]]

Begin now to build a file where you can add poems, research papers, letters of recommendation, notes on conversations with family, soldiers, activists and clergy, or the music, movies, and cultural events that influence you to object to war. If the draft is instituted, you might have as little as 30 days to prepare to go before your local draft board. Exploring your conscience now or discussing your process in a group setting can support you as you develop clarity about your thinking and feeling.*

Crowe worked in a factory during World War II, then worked for peace after the bombings of civilian populations in Tokyo, Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now she works to reduce her reliance on oil - by car-pooling, riding the bus, walking to downtown and flying only in emergencies. Frances Crowe says she cannot pay for killing and has become a war tax refuser.

*For current recommendations on how to sign up as a conscientious objector, consult the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, in Oakland, CA, 510-465-1617 and Philadelphia, PA, 215-563-8787; or 800/________________________ http://www.objector.org/ccco/whoweare.html;  email info@objector.org;

by Marilyn Jackson, EPI Board Member, 2/05