1-6 August 2005 was the 20th annual summer conference of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, held this year on the campus of Linfield College and First Baptist Church, McMinnville, Oregon. I was there not only as a member, but also representing ECAPC. Clif and Lois Kenagy of Salem Mennonite Church, Salem, OR, ECAPC's newest affiliated congregation, also attended. The conference, or "peace camp" as the young folks call it, was wonderful and I made many positive contacts for ECAPC. But one theme that ran throughout the week was the threat of a renewed military draft in the United States. The Pentagon doesn't really want a draft since it gets more committed recruits through the "voluntary" system. Most of the current administration also realize that a draft would stiffen opposition to the war in Iraq. However, the policy of "preemptive war,"has created problems for the "all volunteer" military. With major occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus lesser deployments in the Philippines, Colombia, and elsewhere, the U.S. military is stretched too thin. As the death rate to U.S. troops goes up, fewer military personnel are re-enlisting at the end of their term of enlistment. Faced with a promised "endless war" against terrorism, many highly trained young officers are resigning their commissions to take jobs in the civilian sector. All branches of the U.S. military are failing to make recruiting goals as the "poverty draft" among poor neighborhoods is less effective when promises of "one weekend a month" and college give way to the reality of very likely death in Iraq. All this means that, unless there is a major shift in U.S. foreign policy, a new draft is very likely. Rumors from Washington, D.C. insiders suggest that a new draft would involve women as well as men. The political realities make it unlikely that those wishing to evade conscription into the military would be able to seek political asylum in Canada or Sweden (as in the Vietnam era) or be able to evade conscription by staying in college. Further, with the use of reservists and the national guard as frontline troops, the option of evading combat by getting into the National Guard (an option chosen by George W. Bush in his day) will be eliminated. So the time to think about conscientious objection and its consequences is now. These themes were found throughout the week of "peace camp." Signs were posted for the youth and young adults, "Interested in Becoming a C.O.?" with advice on who to contact at camp. Janet Brown of the national council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation gave a workshop on the "I Will Not Kill" Conscientious Objection campaign launched by the F.O.R. and others. Other C.O. themes came up throughout the week. On Thursday night, 04 August 2005, the youth and young adults planned and led a "commissioning service" for conscientious objectors as part of the nightly worship. Forty (40) young people, from roughly ages 13 to 25, pledged not to kill or go to war. They created cards for their wallets on which each person, in her or his own words, wrote out their commitment as conscientious objectors. They signed and dated them and, in a very moving ceremony, had those of us who were COs from previous wars (or, in my case and one other, were military COs from "between wars") sign the back as witnesses. Files were created to help these young folk document their CO convictions in advance of a time when they may have to face draft board hearings. Support networks were created in case some of these young folks faced imprisonment should their claims be denied. Along with others, I was both smiling and crying in this part of the service. Outside the "historic peac
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