Conscientious Objection

Conscientious Objection

This page is a part of the web site of the West Knoxville Friends Meeting (Quakers)

Quakers embrace a peace testimony. No one should be forced to bear arms when it is against his or her conscience to do so.

People who seek alternatives to military service are called conscientious objectors (C.O.'s). Quakers have been passionately tied to conscientious objection in many ways over the centuries. During the First World War, the British Friends Service Council and the American Friends Service Committee urged the creation alternative-service programs for C.O.'s. They received the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize for their relief work in the Second World War and afterwards.

The internet has many sites that can link you to information about conscientious objection. We recommend the following web resources:

A good place to start looking is http://co.quaker.org/index.html
The American Friends Service Committee's National Youth and Militarism Program is on the web at http://www.afsc.org/youthmil
Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors has a web site at http://www.objector.org
The Center on Conscience and War's site is http://www.nisbco.org

The West Knoxville Friends Meeting supports the right to conscientious objection. Please contact us if you, or a C. O. that you know, needs help.

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This web page was most recently updated on 10 April 2005