Greetings fellow Kossacks. This is my first actual diary, so please forgive any foo-paws.
The news is telling me that Rowan County, KY clerk Kim Davis got an invitation to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican embassy, where he reportedly urged her to remain strong in her convictions, remarking that the Church has always supported conscientious objection in the name of religious conviction.
Now, it is not my place to declare whether Ms Davis should be considered a genuine conscientious objector or not, but the issue got me thinking about a man I once knew who was truly a conscientious objector, not only by actions, but by actual legal status, and especially by the consequences of his courageous stance. The story lies below the orange thingy.
During my student years, my roommate Jan was a guy who grew up in the German Brethren church, vulgarly known as the Dunkards. The Brethren are one of the traditional Peace Churches, along with the Mennonites, Amish, Quakers, etc., and Jan's dad Jack, a farmer, builder and lay preacher, was of prime draftable age in WWII. Jack took the inevitable course of action; he declared CO status, and spent the duration of the war in the Civilian Public Service program. There is a very detailed and heavily annotated Wikipedia piece on this program, available here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Public_Service. It is worth a read; these men performed extremely valuable work and made lasting contributions to this country that we still benefit from.
Jack spent the war working in national forests and parks, with no pay except for a small allowance supplied by his church, which means that he did dangerous grueling labor for 14 cents a day for three or four years. I remember this number because Jan told me that, during the building of a timber-frame bridge, when one of the guys dropped a timber spike in the river, they would say "There goes a day's pay!"; the spikes cost the government 14 cents each. Jack and the crew would go into town for various purposes, and it was always at the risk of taunts, insults and, frequently, assault by the locals.
By WWII, men like Jack at least had an actual program with some protections; during the Revolution, the pacifist Amish were fined; my quaker ancestors got their property confiscated. During WWI, COs ended up in prison, from which some did not escape alive due to abusive treatment.
As to Ms Davis, I really do feel badly for the woman; after all, the thought of resigning from an $80,000/year gig in a poor county must be very daunting; however, no one has the right to occupy a position while being unwilling to perform the duties inherent in the job, anymore than Jack should have had the expectation of staying home with his wife and tending the farm while other fit young men fought and died. Jack knew and accepted that, as did his fellow COs of all faiths; they did as they were told, performed their assigned duties, and took their lumps (often literally) without complaint or expectation of pity from their hostile neighbors.
Where Ms. Davis falls short compared to the COs of old is that she allows herself to believe that she is entitled to have things both ways; to be excused from performing a legally-mandated duty that she finds religiously objectionable, while being allowed to retain her comfy position. Am I suggesting that she become Uncle Sam's property till she changes her mind, like Jack and his coreligionists? Heck no, but she needs to get through her skull that her course of action is not going to be a free ride; I like to think that old Jack would advise her thusly were he still among us.