Introduction

Understanding Coscientious Objection

CO Process in the Military

Your Application

Your Place in History

CCW's Comprehensive Guide on Military Conscientious Objection

A close look at your CO application

Legally, these are the issues the military is to look at when reviewing your CO application:

• Do your beliefs fit within the legal definition of conscientious objection (that you object to participation in war based on your religious, moral or ethical beliefs)?
• Are you sincere in those beliefs?  Do you really believe this?
• Did your beliefs crystallize after you joined?

When you’re getting ready to write your initial CO application it’s sometimes good to talk about your beliefs with a good friend who can ask questions and help you clearly state your beliefs.

Talking to a counselor who has experience with CO law can also be very helpful.

If you’re active in a church or religious community, talk with your pastor, imam, rabbi or other spiritual advisor about your beliefs.  Get a copy of your religious group’s official teachings about conscience and war.   Re-read books or passages that have moved you and helped to shape your values.

There are six essay questions about your beliefs that the regulations require you to answer.  It is essential that your statement about your conscientious objection to war be in your own words.

It may be helpful at first to outline your main points.  Then try to write some paragraphs that say what you mean.

Your answers don’t have to be a perfect essay, especially the first draft.  What is important is to speak from the heart.

If you get stuck and don’t know what to say next, go on to the next question or go do something else for a little while and come back to it.

If you really have trouble writing your answers, get a recorder and say what you believe.  You can transcribe the recording to get a written account of your beliefs.

Once you’ve written your statement, set it aside for a couple of days and come back to it.  As you re-read it you may discover it doesn’t say exactly what you thought it said.  That’s okay!  That’s why you do several drafts.

The questions in italics on the following pages are from the DoD Instruction.

The questions are essentially the same in the regulations for each branch of service, but you might find a slight difference in wording.

 Stating your belief

A description of the nature of the belief which requires the applicant to seek separation from the Military Service or assignment to non-combatant training and duty for reasons of conscience.

This question is the heart of your application.  This is the primary place where you explain what you believe and why you can’t participate in war.
Military policy requires that you be “opposed to participation in war in any form.”  

Notice that an important part of the requirement is “participation.”  This is not an abstract question about whether or not you think there should be wars, or how the United States could defend itself without going to war.

Rather it asks whether or not you can take part in war.  So you need to think about what you believe, and what your conscience will or will not permit you to do in view of these values.

Some COs acknowledge that the civil authority has a right to conduct war, but they have come to the realization that their beliefs, rooted in a religious or moral authority, will not allow them to take part.

Other COs may even sympathize with wars against oppressors or some other wars, but they cannot in good conscience participate in violent conflicts.

Since you have come to your convictions in the context of your current military service or experience in a war zone, you need to be careful that your statement does not focus too much on the current conflict or your recent military experiences.

You need to describe the fundamental values or religious beliefs that influence your life and why they lead you to say that you can’t continue your current role in the military.  Describe the values that guide your life, what you believe about war, and how those two are connected.

You should explain why you cannot, in good conscience, continue to serve in the military in a combatant or a non-combatant capacity.

If your beliefs are closely related to your own religious body's statements, you will want to consult them.  You should be clear about where you agree and where you do not agree with them.  You may want to include the statements from your religious tradition, if you are going to rely on them, when you submit your claim.  You should consult your pastor or religious counselor to get that information, or consult CCW's collection of religious statements, Words of Conscience.

Remember to focus on what you believe - not what you don’t believe!

Explaining the source of your beliefs

The military actually divides this topic into two separate questions.

First:

An explanation as to how his beliefs changed or developed, to include an explanation as to what factors (how, when, and from whom or from what source training received and belief acquired) caused the change in or development of conscientious objection beliefs.

You may not remember this, but when you joined the military you were asked a series of questions about your beliefs:

• Are you now or have you ever been a conscientious objector? (That is, do you have, or have you ever had, a firm, fixed, and sincere objection to participation in war in any form or to the bearing of arms because of religious belief or training?)
• Have you ever been discharged by any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States for reasons pertaining to being a conscientious objector?
• Is there anything which would preclude you from performing military duties or participating in military activities whenever necessary (that is, do you have any personal restrictions or religious practices which would restrict your availability)?

You answered “no” to these questions so you need to explain what changed since you joined.

What caused you to rethink your participation in war?   Most people seeking CO classification can identify events or experiences that caused them to begin to rethink their own participation in war.  You should think about what events caused you to rethink your beliefs about war.  While you probably won’t have too much difficulty describing these events, you may not be able to identify clearly that moment when your beliefs crystallized.

That’s okay, because it doesn’t happen that suddenly for everyone, but your Investigating Officer or others you encounter may assume it does. In any case, you will have to give a very clear explanation about how your beliefs changed since joining.

Your answer may include your personal experiences, activities with organizations you may belong to, and books and movies which influenced you.  It’s different for everybody, so think about the things that influenced you personally.

Sometimes it is a religious conversion.  Sometimes it’s a new experience in your life.   Perhaps it’s something you were exposed to because of your military service.  Sometimes it is seeing or reflecting upon something you’ve seen or experienced a thousand times before, but at a certain point in time you saw it differently because of changes that have occurred in you.

Sometimes it is a renewed commitment to religious beliefs or values you were taught as a child.

Quite often it is a negative reaction to military experiences that causes people re-think their values.   Negative experiences can be particularly telling.   We often hear from those who reacted negatively to things like weapons training, or the experience of combat, that caused them to reject war as a way of resolving conflict.  Maybe it was the dehumanization of the “enemy” in your training.  Maybe in target practice you thought about the real targets you would be shooting.  Maybe it was pointing your weapon at a live human being, and coming to the realization that you could not pull the trigger.

Maybe it had nothing to do with your military service at all.  Maybe a traumatic event like being in a car crash shook you to the core of your being and caused a change in your attitudes about violence or the sanctity of life.

Or maybe it was witnessing the destructiveness of gang violence in your neighborhood.

Whatever it was for you, talk about it here.

If it’s relevant, try to show how your present beliefs were influenced by earlier experiences, even religious training or other experiences you had before you joined the military.

You must make sure your description shows that your beliefs crystallized after you joined.  The more detailed your descriptions, the better!

Your moment of “crystallization”

An explanation as to when these beliefs became incompatible with military service and why.

The previous question is a general question about the series of events that caused changes in you that led to your change in heart.

This question asks you to describe that moment when you realized that you could no longer be a part of the military.  It is asking about that “ah-ha” moment when things suddenly became clear to you.  This is called your moment of crystallization.

Many conscientious objectors can identify a particular event or experience that was so significant that it changed how they view everything.  Some COs say that at that moment, their beliefs became clear to them.  But not everyone can.  For some people, their beliefs evolved gradually over time.

If your beliefs evolved gradually, you probably went from an acceptance of war, to perhaps tolerating it, to eventually feeling that you could no longer participate in it.  At some point the tide turned--you could no longer tolerate your participation in the war machine.  Try to identify that point at which your conscience said, “No more.”

Ideally, you’re applying for CO status shortly after that moment of crystallization.  If not, explain why you’re applying now instead of when your beliefs crystallized.

The “trick question” on the use of force

An explanation as to the circumstances, if any, under which the applicant believes in the use of force, and to what extent, under any foreseeable circumstances.

Your objection must be to “war,” as was mentioned above, and not just any fighting or violence.  War is an organized activity for social or political ends.

Be careful how you answer this question.   Your use of force or violence to defend yourself or another victim is different from government decisions to go to war.  The use of police force, your own willingness to use force, what you would do if attacked, and whether or not you would defend another person, while important questions, are relevant only if you seek CO classification as a pacifist (someone who believes that no violence is morally justified).  You do not have to be a pacifist to be a conscientious objector!

This question is inviting you to say something that contradicts what you may have said elsewhere in your application.  Or it may encourage you to make a broad statement that you don’t really believe, such as, you wouldn’t protect your sister if she were attacked because you think that is what you have to say to be recognized as a CO.

Generally, focus your written and oral statements on “war in any form.”  Give a thoughtful answer to this question about the use of force.  Do you believe in a police force? How is that different from war or military force?

If you have said earlier in the application that you are a pacifist (someone who believes that all violence is wrong) saying you believe it’s okay to use violence, even as a last resort to defend someone, would be inconsistent with your stated belief and could be grounds for turning down your CO application.  These issues are why this question is a problem.

Many people think of violence when they hear the word force, but Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary defines it this way:

a: strength or energy exerted or brought to bear: cause of motion or change : active power < the motivating force in her life>.    .  b: moral or mental strength, c: capacity to persuade or convince <the force of the argument>

Military strength comes after that, and violence is further down the list!

So if you understand the definition of force, you have lots of room to talk positively about things you believe when you answer this question.

But keep in mind that regardless of how you answer this question in your written application, it is likely that during your interviews and hearings, military officers will be curious about the degree to which you do believe in using violence or military force in response to various situations.  So do give these questions some thought, so you can give a thoughtful answer when the question is asked.  And while a question may be irrelevant or inappropriate, and you could point that out to the questioner, you should not respond in a way that appears to be evasive or flip.

Showing how you live your beliefs

How you live your beliefs is very important.  This question is also divided into two parts. Here’s the first part:

An explanation as to how the applicant’s daily lifestyle has changed as a result of his beliefs and what future actions he plans to continue to support his beliefs.

Since your beliefs are something inside your head and heart, they cannot be examined directly or proven or disproven.  The fact that you really believe what you claim to believe is not easy to prove. If you are on active duty, you may have very little control over your daily routine, so showing how your life has changed because of your change in values may seem at first to be impossible.   But choices you make every day may show evidence of your beliefs.  So think about what has changed.

• Do you go to religious services more often?
• Do you read the Bible, Talmud, Koran, or other sacred text more than you used to?
• Do you go to violent, shoot-em-up movies less than you used to?
• Do you play violent video games as much as you used to?
• What about how you relate to others in your unit?
• Do you talk about your beliefs?
• Have you tried to avoid weapons training or other violent exercises?
• Have you gone AWOL?
• Have you become vegetarian? Is being vegetarian related to your moral values?

Showing a negative belief (not participating in war) is hard.  But such a belief really is part of a larger belief system about peace, caring for others, obedience to God, maybe even simplicity and non-violence.
Showing that your other beliefs and actions are consistent with your CO beliefs is a good way to show the sincerity of your beliefs about not participating in war.
Doing positive acts of service to others, joining organizations that work for peace and justice, preparing for work that contributes to the highest values in our world are all consistent with being a CO.

While consistency is not the same as sincerity, sincerity is reflected in it.

The one thing that shows your sincerity

The second part of the question about how you live your beliefs has to do with your sincerity.

An explanation as to what in the applicant’s opinion most conspicuously demonstrates the consistency and depth of his beliefs which give rise to his claim.

This question asks, “What is the one thing that, more than anything else, shows you are really sincere and believe this?”

So think more about changes in your life.  Are there any that really stand out--that somehow reflect your fundamental core values?

If so, here’s the place to talk about it.

Letters of Support

You should submit letters of support from people who know you and can testify to your sincerity or to the truthfulness of what you have said in your written application.

Getting letters of support from those who disagree with your stance (like others in your unit), and who say they don’t agree with you in their letter, can be especially helpful.  If someone who obviously disagrees with you is willing to go on record in support of your claim, that letter will carry a lot of weight.

There is no "correct" number of letters but getting a few good strong letters is better than many weak ones.

Those writing letters should indicate their relationship with you, and if they have been in the military they should also indicate that.

You should have the letters sent to you, and you should review them before you submit them with your application.

If you have a letter that doesn’t really support your application, you don't have to include it with your CO packet.  Or even better, you could contact the person who wrote the letter, explain the problem, and ask them to rewrite the letter.  If they really want to support you, they will probably be happy to do so.