Pax Christi USA joins new campaign for Conscientious Objection

Salt shakers
January 2006

Pax Christi USA joins new campaign
for Conscientious Objection
Washington, D.C. - Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace movement, has joined the “I Will Not Kill” campaign launched by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and others. The campaign supports the right to resist participation in war and is an effort to educate youth about the reality of war.

The “I Will Not Kill” (IWNK) initiative grew from the Gathering of Conscience and Courage hosted by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) in February 2005 in Nyack, New York. IWNK was formed by a number of individuals and organizations in the United States and Canada who support conscientious objection as a human right, nonviolent resistance to military recruitment, and who oppose the possible reintroduction of the draft in the United States.

In May 2005, Pax Christi USA, along with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, the Mennonite Central Committee and more held a press conference announcing the IWNK campaign and the launch of its new Web site: www.iwillnotkill.org. The Web site answers what it is to be a conscientious objector, offers facts on the reality of war and testimonials from objectors and their supporters. The Web site also offers an online pledge for youth up to the age of 26 to sign, in which they pledge not to go to war, not to support war with other nations, and resist recruitment into the military.

“As Catholics, it is essential that we make it widely known that the church supports conscientious objection to war,” said Dave Robinson, executive director of Pax Christi USA. “The Christian tradition of pacifism and nonviolence can be traced all the way back to the origins of the church and even Jesus himself. The rights of all who, for reasons of conscience, object to participation in war must be respected and protected.”

For more information, please visit www.iwillnotkill.org or email Ibrahim Ramey, FOR Disarmament Coordinator at disarm@forusa.org.

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