Conscientious Objection

Way back when I was in the process of graduating high school, we along with probably every other high school in the union were required to take the ASVAB test (ASVAB, or Armed Services Vocation Aptitude Battery, is a test given to determine suitability to serve in the armed services).

The test covered among many other topics, mathematics, simple, applied and theoretical and tools by showing you a picture and you have to determine what said tool was designed for.  I was shall we say deficient in my advanced knowledge of math and some of those tools looked more like implements for torture than anything else.  Needless to say, I did not do well in these areas but exceeded quite effectively in all other areas. 

Since I was determined to pursue a career in the ministry (Fundamental Baptist Minister to be exact), insufficient mathematical skills were not a concern.  Since doing well on the test, I was contacted by the US Army recruiter in our little town.  He was very insistent that I should serve given my relatively good scores on their test.  I chose Chaplains Assistant for my desired position since it seemed to be the perfect fit for me and my goals. 

Joining the Army was not exactly an easy choice since I was a tiny bit apprehensive given the many stories my family, who is chock full of men who had served in the armed forces and more specifically the US Army, would tell of their experiences in boot camp and beyond. 

As I recall when filling out the paperwork for the recruiter, the one question that really stuck out for me was the one asking if you are a conscientious objector.  When I asked about this the recruiter became very serious because although I have hunted many varieties of wild life I would not consider myself willing to turn a loaded weapon on another human being.  Once he explained that I would be rejected, I reluctantly changed my answer from yes, I am a conscientious objector to no I will shoot whoever enemy was threatening my life.  A bit of a philosophical conundrum to be sure that plagued me for many a night.

So, the point of this article is, aren't we all (excluding sociopaths and psychopaths) all just a little bit of a conscientious objector?  It has been determined that the more educated an individual is, the less likely they are to actually pull the trigger when confronted with a threatening person.  However, I do believe that it would be a very difficult move to kill someone knowing what that would entail.

If you are of a particularly religious bent, I would think you would have a very serious problem with ending another person’s life since it is in the big 10 of no no's we have been given to live by (10 commandments if that is not clear).  Even with accidental deaths involving vehicles, most people have to spend a good bit of time in therapy to overcome the trauma but to actually consciously pull a trigger to end another person’s life must be very difficult to resolve in one’s mind, heart and soul.

In the end, I did not have to put this to the test since at the time they did not have a Chaplain's Assistant position available, so I did not server in the armed services.  Instead, I went to college and made a life in the wonderful world of computers.  Thankfully, I have not as yet been put in a position to choose but I do know if someone threatened my family (mother, brother, wife, daughter, granddaughter, etc.) I would find it very easy to resolve this dilemma.