When signing up for the military, a person can check off a box that is asking whether the applicant is a Conscientious Objector. According to an article by Jane O’ Brien of the BBC titled The Soldiers Who Can No Longer Fight, the Government Accountability Office reported that between 2002 and 2006 there were 425 applications for conscientious objector. Of those that applied, 224 were approved. Some people suggest that this number is far less than the real amount of people who are conscientious objectors but the records kept are not comprehensive enough. Regardless of all the speculation, I am of the opinion that conscientious objector should not even be an option when joining the military.
My reasoning behind my statement is that if and when the fabled feces hits the infamous fan, every serviceman and servicewoman should rest assured that the soldier, airman, or sailor to their left and right will pick up arms to defend their comrades. I understand that asking someone to take another person’s life is a tremendous thing, and that only an insane person would have no trouble with it. But this is one of the great sacrifices asked of men and women joining the armed forces. It is part of what sets them apart. Their ability to respond with reasonable and measured force to appropriately deemed threats. Every man and woman in uniform should be counted on by their comrades to end the life of those that are threatening to their mission, their fellow servicemen, their countrymen, and the innocent.
