A conscientious objector was someone who refused to be drafted into the army. Being drafted meant that the government sent you a letter, and told you that you had to be in the army, whether you wanted to serve in the war or not. The United States of America doesn't have a draft now--we have an all volunteer army. Young men are still required to register with the Selective Service for the draft, but no one has actually been drafted in years. When our country did have a draft, some people refused to go, citing religious reasons. They told the Selective Service that they didn't believe in fighting in wars. They would have a sort of hearing to try to prove the point. One way to prove that you didn't believe in fighting in a war was to be a member of a "peace church". Members of some churches had already been jailed in World War I for refusing to serve. During World War II, many of these people were offered peacetime service when their names came up in the draft. Later their churches were recognized as "peace churches", not exactly exempt from the draft, but with the conscientious objector status of their members already proved. An individual who did not belong to one of these churches ( Quakers, Amish and Mennonites ) would have to make his own case for conscientious objector status.
You can watch the old movie Sergeant York to see how someone tried to prove that he was a conscientious objector. Or you can look for a biography of Muhammed Ali, the prizefighter, one of America's most famous conscientious objectors. The army decided Ali failed to prove that he refused to serve for religious reasons, and his fighting career was interrupted by a jail term for refusing to be drafted. Many people admired the strength of Ali's convictions. At about the same time, the news carried pictures of Elvis being drafted into the army, and getting a regulation uncool haircut.
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