2 of 6

Write now Article Tools

The draft is not only immoral, it is unAmerican.

The Constitution speaks of rights which are inalienable, which means they can not be separated from the person, because they are endowed by the Creator; the second and most dear is liberty.

A draft forces a person against their will to leave the pursuit of happiness, and perhaps even forfeit life. In one motion the draft insults the liberty of the person, terminates the pursuit of happiness and risks life, an offense against all three God given rights. That is immoral.

Defense of one's countrymen, and even one's soil, is not immoral. While war never provides a permanent solution to greed or injustice, there are times when it is necessary to gather together and repel aggression.

But the wars of the recent generations have not been that kind of defense. Instead, those who profit from war find ways to broaden what qualifies as "national interest" to include meaningless ideologies and so involve good citizens in bad wars. Wars make kings, so kings make wars. Immoral wars stain our national honor, and conscripting free men (since only men have ever been drafted) extends the offense from aggression on the innocent elsewhere, to the enslavement of citizens here. Since no free man could be made to kill another against his conscience, it follows that a conscripted soldier is a slave.

The offense is made worse because we draft the young. They are impressionable, have little experience, and the course of their lives should be long. War is traumatic, but so is conscription, and the young are least able to think critically about their experiences, or examine carefully the ideology they are subject to. If the draft is not immoral, I say draft the old. Their lives are at the nub end, less will be lost to our nation than when our young stolen and turned to soldiers. If the draft is not immoral, draft the old. There will be fewer wars then!

I was drafted during the Vietnam "war". I was pulled from my close rural community and shown things no good man needs to know. The track of the life I had been on was destroyed; my girlfriend married another, my education was delayed, and I never returned to my home town but was set adrift in the world. When I was drafted I was morally offended, and it is a hurt I've carried to this day.

Of all the sweet promises of the Constitution Liberty is the most cherished, and a draft is a clear violation of God given freedom, and so immoral.

Learn more about this author, Laurenc Devita.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about The draft is immoral?
We want to hear your view. Write now!