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Some People Don't Register for the Draft ... Should I? Some People Don't Register for the Draft ... Should I?

 

Not everyone registers with Selective Service. Some young men find it morally unacceptable to register for the draft.

They would rather face prison than violate their deepest beliefs. Some also know that they have been used politically to support conscription, cold war threats, and now, threats against developing nations. The draft is a tool of the selfish national interests of the military-industrial complex.

Forty percent of the men who are required to register for the draft don't register in the sixty-day time period required by law. Most get around to it eventually, although at least one or two percent still haven't registered by the time they are twenty, according to reports from the Selective Service System. At age 26 they are no longer allowed to register so the number of permanent non-registrants increases daily. There is a minimum of 300,000, perhaps a million, who are becoming permanent non-registrants. Many do so because they believe registering for the draft is wrong.

Selective Service attributes non-registration to lack of information about the legal requirement despite mass media efforts and reminder letters to eighteen-year-olds which include threats of prosecution. Immigrants are also sent reminders to register.

When it comes down to it, at least four percent register solely because if they don't, they will not get college loans and grants from the federal government. They also can't get a job with the government. Fourteen state governments have similar requirements. Some even bar attendance at state universities, and the number seeking to add penalties is growing.

But what about the people who deliberately choose not to register in spite of Selective Service announcements and the penalties? What motivates them?

 

Basic Reasons for Not Registering

The Principle of Nonviolence

A select group of young men is guided by a conscientious opposition to the principle and purposes of draft registration. Most of these believe that registering for the draft is wrong because it serves a military system which makes war possible.

The Selective Service System is part of the "war machine" in the U.S. When a person registers for a future conscription to military service he is tacitly agreeing to be part of that machine. A registrant thus cannot be "opposed to participation in war in any form" for he is already drawn into the preparations for war.

Many non-registrants, however, believe in loving our neighbors and even our enemies, an idea incompatible with the military approach to conflict. These beliefs come from various religious and moral sources which hold war and violence as immoral. A few believe in biblical "nonresistance." Some come from religious backgrounds which teach that war is a sin. Some feel they've experienced a "higher truth" which directs them to see human relationships as intertwined, even sacred. Other believe that in practical terms, fighting wars cannot ever bring about real peace.

All want to work constructively for peace. The futility of killing, the necessity for alternative conflict resolution, the future of the planet and obedience to God all contribute to the mix of reasons that young men and their supporters give for rejecting war and embracing nonviolence.

Draft Registration is a Political Threat of War
Draft registration is not neutral. It is not just a list.

Draft registration was renewed in 1980 to "send a message to the Soviet Union." It would show that we were as ready to kill them as we supposed they were prepared to kill us. Some non-registrants refused to be used in this violent posturing.

At the time, the Soviet Union had just sent troops to assist the Marxist-Leninist government of Afghanistan which was engaged in civil war. The President proposed that the U.S. cancel grain shipments to the U.S.S.R., boycott the Olympics and prepare for war by registering young men for the draft.

There were domestic political considerations too. President Jimmy Carter was running for reelection and his eventual opponent, Ronald Reagan, was accusing him of being "soft" on defense. Carter was also accused of being weak and ineffectual in not gaining the release of hostages held in the U.S. Embassy in Iran. He could look strong by increasing defense spending and by threatening to resume the draft.

President Reagan had opposed the draft during his campaign but began enforcing it in 1982 to "show resolve" when Poland's communist government cracked down on Solidarity.

Now Solidarity is the government of Poland, and the U.S. has long since resumed grain exports to the U.S.S.R. and competition in the Olympics. The Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan. The Soviet Union is no longer the "evil empire." In short, the Cold War is over and so is the Soviet Union. But draft registration lingers.

No Military Reason for a Draft
There never was a reasonable military purpose for millions of draftees. Now that there are fewer training camps (and those camps would be used first by reservists), draftees could not be accomodated for months. As it now stands, the emergency mobilization plan would deliver the first conscripts in six months plus thirteen days to training camps that do not exist.

Wars requiring a draft will not exist either. Massive troop engagements in a World War II-type land war will never happen again. Now that the Warsaw Pact doesn't exist and NATO is reducing forces, there is no possibility of such a war, and there never was a use for draftees in it. The draftee reinforcements to the reserves would not be available until well after the holocaust was over, if any survived.

A long-term, Vietnam-type engagement is not likely in the Balkans, in Central America, or anywhere. When humanitarian aid to Somalia began to escalate to shooting, the troops were withdrawn. No draftees would ever be needed for such wars, known as "low intensity conflicts." Nevertheless, some non-registrants fear that they would be used in wars to repress freedom for poor people and to stop movements for social and economic justice.

Current military readiness doctrine, the "total force design," would mobilize up to a million reservists before turning to a draft. Even the mobilization for the war in the Persian Gulf was only half this level. The "1994-99 Defense Planning Guidance Scenario Set" offers no conceivable future war that would require a draft except for a reunified and rearmed Soviet Union sometime in the next century.

The Pentagon has regularly insisted that it does not want a drafted army. It has provided reports showing that the volunteer force is superior and less costly. Caspar Weinberger, when he was Secretary of Defense during the largest peacetime buildup of U.S. forces in history, opposed the draft. He said he did not want people in the army who did not want to be there. The Department of Defense has also opposed proposals for national service citizen soldiers, preferring the present all-volunteer military. President Clinton has commended the report from the Pentagon that concedes there is no need for draft registration, but keep it anyway.

Some military leaders, Senators, and civilian analysts see the draft as a way to make all social classes share proportionately in the defense of the society. Yet a 1990 report to Senator John Glenn by the Congressional Budget Office shows that "a limited draft would only modestly improve representation." Only a very large draft that took most eligible men, as in World War II, would even the burden among the social classes and races.

The Economic and Personal Cost
Over the last dozen years [16 yrs] the Selective Service System has cost the country $350,000,000. The annual budget is down to $25 million [23]. This is a relatively small budget, but the cumulative cost has been a wasteful addition to the national debt.

A more significant cost is the loss of personal freedom in exchange for a useless system. Conscription is a deprivation of liberty which the Supreme Court has justified only on the basis of a compelling national defense reason. Without such a justification, the peacetime penalties for not registering of up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines are not justified. The injustice is exacerbated by the uneven way the penalties have been applied.

Draft Registration as Cultic Ritual of the State
The real reasons for continuing a militarily useless conscription system are ideological. They are part of our nation's civil religion, which includes belief in the technology of military power "to kill people and destroy things." The religious patriotism that had great popularity during World War II was later transferred to the struggle against communism. It still drives the huge, continuing investment in Pentagon hardware, bases and troop strength. Older politicians and many other people remember the draft from earlier times when it was part of national victories and they believe it would be all right to compel young people to solve current problems. Advocates of the draft have seen it as showing manliness, a "rite of passage," patriotism, doing one's duty, and opposition to atheistic communism.

Thus draft registration was renewed and continues to exist because it serves this ideological purpose, the ritual support of the garrison state. The first requirement of the state of a young man when he comes of age is to sign up to accept orders to kill in an organized way. Registering to vote is only now becoming as easy to do, though still not required.

Not even religious groups have a simple ritual that can require young men to give allegiance to their God - certainly not under threat of withholding education, types of employment or personal liberty. Allegiance should be a personal choice springing from sincere belief. Indeed, for many non-registrants, their allegiance to a higher power forbids the civil ritual of draft registration.

It is well known that in the early years of the Christian Church, refusal to kill was expected of believers. Significantly, the refusal to give false allegiance was equally important, as it was in Judaism and soon developed in Islam.

During the long Pax Romana when the peace was being maintained, a soldier might be able to serve his forty-year enlistment without ever having to go to war. The soldier, however, was required to participate in the annual religious ceremonies of oaths of allegiance, the sacramentum, to the gods of the state, to the symbols of the legion, and to the Emperors, who claimed divine status. This led to a conflict of conscience in the early church. The oaths were idolatrous. For Jews, Christians, and Muslims, there is only one God.

Today, some believers cannot pledge allegiance to a rival to their own commitment to peace and nonviolence. They therefore cannot register for the draft. To do so would be to perform a sacramentum to war. It is having another god before the true one.

Conscientious Objector Registration Not Allowed
Some non-registrants might have registered, had they been given the opportunity to refuse military service at registration. In every draft registration before the registration which began in 1980, conscientious objectors could immediately assert their claims and request to give civilian service instead of military service. This request was entered into the registrant's file and had to be considered before the registrant could be treated as eligible to serve in the military. The draft registration now in force does not allow for that declaration of conscience; all registrants are regarded as eligible for war, 1-A.

As a conscientious objector, you will not be treated any differently from other potential warriors until you make a claim after you are called up for war. You may have as little as nine days or less to delay the induction process to have your conscientious objection claim decided by the local board. At a declaration of a national emergency most registrants in the priority age group (19-20) with a lottery number below the set cut-off will get a draft notice the next day. The mailgram will order you to present yourself in ten days to be examined and inducted. Only claims for postponement, deferment, or exemption submitted by the day before induction will be considered, with almost no exceptions.

This "rapid mobilization" plan, which is designed to draft as many people as possible with as little interruption as possible, is itself offensive to some people of conscience. That has been reason enough for them to refuse to register for an unfair system.

The modest alternative to this denial of long-standing rights of conscience has been to write on the registration card that you, the registrant, are a conscientious objector, or that you are conscientiously "opposed to participation in war." Selective Service makes no record of this declaration in its computer files, but they do make a microfilm record of the registration card. You should make a copy of your card for your file. Repeated efforts have failed to put a box on the registration card for COs to check.

Youth Made to Take the Burden
Finally, the system imposes an unfair burden on the young. No other age group in the nation has a unique obligation that has such extensive penalties attached. Both failure to register and failure to keep the draft board informed of a change of address can possibly incur a sentence of five years in jail and $250,000 fine. Yet even refusal to pay taxes for war results in only a civil penalty, not a criminal conviction.

The denial for the rest of your life of federal educational grants and loans, job training, or federal employment if you have not registered by the time you are twenty-six is a life-long punishment with no redress. The current international political situation hardly seems to justify such burdens on the liberty of young people beginning their most productive years.

Those with genuine convictions about war and violence are most penalized, just when our society most needs their witness and contribution.

 

"What Should I Do?"
"What if I decide to be a conscientious objector?" The legal requirement to register for the draft demands a decision: go along with the system, or seek recognition as a conscientious objector, or conscientiously refuse to register. You can decide to live out the rest of your life for your beliefs about nonviolence and the possibility of peace on earth. If you do not register you are in a long tradition of civil disobedience. No one can tell you what is right for you. You must decide for yourself. But there are qualified people who can help you make up your mind.

If you haven't already, get their advice. Keep your own file about your beliefs about war and the draft. Keep records of all transactions with the Selective Service System. Many local peace centers have information. Get on record with your religious organization, especially if there is an official registrar. The Center on Conscience & War (CCW) provides a counseling service by mail and phone, and publishes aids for thinking out what you believe and what to do. So does CCCO, the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors.

If you decide to register, you can be prepared in the event of a draft notice. You can register at the nearest post office, and if you are opposed to participation in war, write that on the registration form (SSS Form 1). Since the Selective Service System makes no computer record of your statement, you should make copies of the form before you submit it. One copy can be dated by folding it, sealing it and mailing it to yourself. The postmark shows the date. Selective Service will confirm your registration by letter (SSS Form 3).

Be sure to learn the procedure for obtaining conscientious objection status. You will be required to perform alternative service if drafted. CCW provides full and current information.

If you decide not to register, the consequences of breaking the law should be faced now. There's a slight chance you might be prosecuted for non-registration. You will almost surely be denied federal assistance for higher education and job training and employment with the federal government. Conscientious objector organizations such as CCW and its member religious bodies will support you in your decision.

There are alternative funds for financial aid for those who cannot register for war because they believe registration is wrong. A few colleges will provide scholarships to make up for the government money denied. Mennonites, the Church of the Brethren, Quakers, Presbyterians and Lutherans have such limited assistance funds to support non-registrants in their own groups. There is a general fund, the Fund for Education and Training (FEAT), which supports those who do not qualify for the other programs. FEAT also would aid those who are denied job training programs for refusing to register for the draft. Those who contribute to these funds do so because they support the conscientious decisions of these young men and wish to bear with them the consequences of their actions.

However you decide to express your convictions, if you know that war is wrong, you will be marching to a different drummer. There are others who are already in that procession, and if you join them, you will inspire still others to walk with you.

To do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. That is what is required of us. (Micah 6:8) - each in our pattern of beliefs.

FROM:

 

 

Center on Conscience & War (NISBCO)
1830 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC
20009   Tel: (202) 483-2220   Fax: (202) 483-1246
  Email: nisbco@nisbco.org