Draft resistance pledge
Dublin Core
Title
Draft resistance pledge
Subject
draft resistance, conscription, war resisters, selective service
Description
Pledge affirming resistance to the draft in the case of selective service registration and deployment of people in service of the US military after President Carter reinstated the Selective Service System.
Creator
War Resisters League Southeast
Publisher
War Resisters League
Date
1980
Contributor
Kimber Heinz
Rights
From the War Resisters League Southeast Regional Office Records #5213, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Format
.tif
Language
English
Type
Petition, organizational record
Coverage
Reinstatement of the draft, 1980, Carter presidency, North Carolina
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
A Statement of Affirmation and Draft Resistance
We affirm that in the nuclear age there is no effective military defense for our nation and we therefore commit ourselves to exploring nonviolent means to resolve conflict, to resist oppression, and to create a society of justice with freedom. We draw strength from examples such as Martin Luther King, Jr.
We affirm that no State has the right to coerce citizens through military conscription or other forms of universal and compulsory service.
We who join in signing this statement, circulated by War Resisters League, come from many different groups and backgrounds. Some of us are students and youth, and some of us are parents and teachers. We are women and men, from a range of racial, economic and religious backgrounds. We are united in our determination to resist efforts to
register or draft the youth of this country. We reject the concept of military defense, whether through an army conscripted by the harsh reality of mass unemployment—which makes military service the only job open to many in the black and latino communities—or through an army directly conscripted through a draft.
We believe in exemption from military service for all who, from political or religious conviction, oppose such service. However, we are committed to far more than the exemption of a relative handful of youth whose social background has led them to such acts of conscience. We are absolutely opposed to a situation where the wealthy and powerful draft the poor and politically weak.
We shall, depending on our personal situation, take one or more of the following actions. Not all of us can take all of the actions listed, but all of us will take at least one of the actions listed. And all of us support every signer of this petition in their nonviolent affirmation of conscience and their determination to resist.
1. Those of us who are now or will soon be of draft age will refuse any cooperation with either the registration or conscription process.
2. Those of us who, because of age, are exempt from registration and conscription, give notice we will actively counsel, aid, abet and support all youth who are determined to resist the draft, that we shall take such actions as may encourage them to resist.
3. We will consider nonviolent civil disobedience to disrupt the process of registration and render any draft or registration process null and void.
We hope that our actions will set an example to the youth in every nation in the world, as part of an international effort to end conscription and militarism in every nation. When governments will not disarm, the people must disarm the government.
Additional copies can be obtained from the War Resisters League. But do not delay. Electrostencil or xerox extra copies immediately for use in your area. Circulate as widely as possible in your college, high school, church, trade union, etc. Post in coffee shops, union bulletin boards, community offices. Several thousand signatures now will be crucial in stopping the draft.
Return petitions as soon as possible to the War Resisters League, which will arrange for their presentation to key members of Congress.
WAR RESISTERS LEAGUE - 108 Purefoy Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27514; (919) 967-7244
We affirm that in the nuclear age there is no effective military defense for our nation and we therefore commit ourselves to exploring nonviolent means to resolve conflict, to resist oppression, and to create a society of justice with freedom. We draw strength from examples such as Martin Luther King, Jr.
We affirm that no State has the right to coerce citizens through military conscription or other forms of universal and compulsory service.
We who join in signing this statement, circulated by War Resisters League, come from many different groups and backgrounds. Some of us are students and youth, and some of us are parents and teachers. We are women and men, from a range of racial, economic and religious backgrounds. We are united in our determination to resist efforts to
register or draft the youth of this country. We reject the concept of military defense, whether through an army conscripted by the harsh reality of mass unemployment—which makes military service the only job open to many in the black and latino communities—or through an army directly conscripted through a draft.
We believe in exemption from military service for all who, from political or religious conviction, oppose such service. However, we are committed to far more than the exemption of a relative handful of youth whose social background has led them to such acts of conscience. We are absolutely opposed to a situation where the wealthy and powerful draft the poor and politically weak.
We shall, depending on our personal situation, take one or more of the following actions. Not all of us can take all of the actions listed, but all of us will take at least one of the actions listed. And all of us support every signer of this petition in their nonviolent affirmation of conscience and their determination to resist.
1. Those of us who are now or will soon be of draft age will refuse any cooperation with either the registration or conscription process.
2. Those of us who, because of age, are exempt from registration and conscription, give notice we will actively counsel, aid, abet and support all youth who are determined to resist the draft, that we shall take such actions as may encourage them to resist.
3. We will consider nonviolent civil disobedience to disrupt the process of registration and render any draft or registration process null and void.
We hope that our actions will set an example to the youth in every nation in the world, as part of an international effort to end conscription and militarism in every nation. When governments will not disarm, the people must disarm the government.
Additional copies can be obtained from the War Resisters League. But do not delay. Electrostencil or xerox extra copies immediately for use in your area. Circulate as widely as possible in your college, high school, church, trade union, etc. Post in coffee shops, union bulletin boards, community offices. Several thousand signatures now will be crucial in stopping the draft.
Return petitions as soon as possible to the War Resisters League, which will arrange for their presentation to key members of Congress.
WAR RESISTERS LEAGUE - 108 Purefoy Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27514; (919) 967-7244
Files
Collection
Citation
War Resisters League Southeast, “Draft resistance pledge,” War Resisters League Southeast, accessed November 21, 2024, https://resistwarsoutheast.com/items/show/7.