Conscientious objection to specific wars sought
A coalition of religious leaders and veterans has called for a reconsideration of conscientious objection to war, saying that military members should have the right to object to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for moral reasons.
The Truth Commission on Conscience in War, issuing its report November 10 in Washington, D.C., recommended that the military revise its rules to include "selective conscientious objection" and urged religious leaders to address issues of conscience during wartime.
"Training has made it so that our soldiers are much more reflexive than they are reflective about things that happen on the battlefield," said Herman Keizer, a retired army chaplain who once oversaw chaplains in the European Command. "And when they do get an opportunity to reflect, that's when the moral issues really begin to roll."
