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American Friends Service Committee — Part 1
Page 67
67 / 122
sega
for the individual who cannot accept compulsory
service of any kind under the state. Something of
a ee elt _ em trusses! tha eancerian
ihe spirit of British liberalism toward the conscien-
tious objector appears in the Afanchestcr Guardian
of August 23, 1940 (page 118), published in Lon-
don in the midst of the life and death struggle
going on there. ; ~
“The Archbishop of York (Dr. Temple) writes
in the York Diocesan Ieafict:
Several public hodies have lately passed
resolutions terminating the emp'oyment of
arty persons working for them who have
pleaded conscientious objection to mili-
tary service.
I regard this as utterly deplorable and in
the decpest sense unpatriotic. We are
fighting for freedom, including freedom
of conscience as its most vital and sensi-
tive element. The State has recognized the
reality of conscientious objection to muli-
tary tervice, and it is part of our glory
“phar it does this.
There is excellent reason for saying that
if a man is called up and refuses to serve
he shall be put at once in the same finan-
cial position as if he were serving in the
forces. He ought nul to gain financially
by his refusal to serve. But to deprive him
of employmert is to frustrate the action
of the State and destroy our most effective
witness to our own cause.”
Under the Selective Service Training Act signed
by the President of the United States on September
16, 1940, provision has been made for the conscicn-
The existence of American citizens who canr
participate in any form of war is recognized by t
Calantse i ins
Selective Seryiee Training Act. A wide-spre
understanding of why such individuals exist anc
knowledge of their background is esscntial to t
successful carrying out of this legislation.
Far back through the centuries there have be
those who have found themselves unable to ta
the lives of their fellow men either in order to fc
ward their own advantage or at the command
any external authority. Prominent among th
motives have been religious concepts, based on
awareness of God and an acceptance of the broth:
hood of man. To Christians, Jestis Christ has
terpreted a way of life based on love of God a
man, and the idea of overcoming evil with go
In the light of his awareness of God and his hi
sense of loyalty to Jesus, the Christian paci:
forms a judgment as to whether war is a proj
and effective instrument for man to use in gain
his ends. His judgment is that itis not. This jus
ment is shared by tnost of mankind up to the u
when, gripped by fear or hatred or greed, they c
brace the war method, The pacifist maintains th
beliefs even in the face of war, threatencd agr
sion or other evils.
Nor is the pacifist unwilling to pay for his c
victions. Although in the past they have been c:
demned to prison and some to death, like the Ie
line of religious martyrs, they have willingly
dured punishment for their deep belici.* TI
*Tn the United States, during the last World Was. WF
condemned to death. 142 to bfe imprisonment and many of
to terms from § to 25 years. These sentences were all conimi
after the war, '
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