A Naval Academy graduate received an honorable discharge last week after two earlier denials from the Navy. The American Civil Liberties Union in Connecticut had sued the Navy on the graduate’s behalf, based on his religious objection to war and the potential that he might have to kill others.
Media reports suggest that conscientious objectors are pretty rare, so we’ve seen some pretty interesting coverage so far. The Associated Press released a pretty basic story with some of the facts and figures about how often the military approves discharges.
Applications for discharges based on conscientious objector status are relatively rare among the nation’s approximately 2.3 million active and reserve military members, and they are only approved about half of the time, according to a 2007 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
From 2002 to 2006, the military approved 53 percent, or 224, of the 425 applications it received.
Michael Izbicki said that his Christian beliefs started to conflict with the military after he graduated from Naval Academy. However, there was one part of the story that made me wonder about where his beliefs stem from and whether he attends a specific kind of church.
His application for a discharge on the grounds of being a conscientious objector was denied twice.
His lawsuit alleged the decisions were based on misinformation about his religious beliefs and Quakers, whose services he had attended but with whom he is not affiliated.
Quakers, also known as the Religious Society of Friends, emphasize peace, simplicity, candor and a personal relationship with God.
The AP might be limited in time and space, so Mark Spencer of the Hartford Courant offers a little more background.
While in high school, Izbicki also began a long and sometimes arduous quest to develop his religious beliefs. He started attending a nondenominational church and eventually read the Bible from cover to cover.
A standout student and voracious reader, he studied the religions of the world as his identity as a Christian grew. While at the academy, he attended campus services, went to an off-campus Baptist church and engaged his friends in marathon discussions on faith and belief, he said.
This kind of background is helpful to understand how Izbicki went from a naval family to deciding that his faith conflicted with his military role, especially his eventual connection to Quakers.
…Izbicki’s lawyer said that two Navy chaplains, three civilian-ordained clergy and two academic theologians have affirmed the “depth and sincerity” of his beliefs.
After moving to Connecticut, Izbicki had started worshipping with the Westerly Quaker Meeting in Rhode Island. Karpatkin said the investigators used their own religious beliefs to judge Izbicki’s. One asserted that Quakers did not believe in Jesus Christ and implied that the faith was a cult.
Paul Vitello at the New York Times offers some more interesting details, such as portions of the transcripts from the hearings, which ran more than 700 pages.
Mr. Izbicki’s beliefs are probed intensely for inconsistencies and deviations from conservative Christian belief.
One investigator, Lt. Cmdr. John A. Price, expresses surprise when Mr. Izbicki says he is not convinced that every word in the Bible is inspired by God. He questions how Mr. Izbicki can be sure, then, that the Sermon on the Mount, on which he bases his claim to know what Jesus would do, is accurate: “You realize that there’s a danger when you start believing that some stuff in the Bible’s not true, because then we might start believing that Jesus is not true.”
At another point, Commander Price asks, “If Jesus was a pacifist, why didn’t he tell all Roman soldiers to leave the army?”
Cadets are required to study the “just war” theory, a doctrine justifying military action, based largely on the writings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, Vitello reports. It’s unclear whether other military academies require this kind of study or whether it’s specific to the Navy.
Vitello says that Izbicki was a resident of a small Quaker peace community a few blocks from the Thames River, where he prays several times a day, studies Hebrew and helps with the organic garden. Details like this make an already-interesting story even better.
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Comments (12) |
February 23, 2011, at 5:27 pm
I was always amazed at “objectors” who signed up for military duty, but somehow thought they were exempted from actual fighting. I knew one girl, who was in the Air guard with me, who said she signed up for the benefits, but never thought about war.
Not a bad bit of reporting, but would have liked to see some analysis on the Quaker’s true influence in American life today (compared to 75 years ago)
David, http://www.RedLetterBelievers.com, “Salt and Light”
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February 23, 2011, at 5:28 pm
A question that came up in my mind while reading the story is whether or not the former officer is required to reimburse the United States for his education.
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February 23, 2011, at 7:06 pm
David, that would be good for future reporting. Part of my interest was how fast these publications put out some pretty decent stories - perhaps we’ll see more follow-up reporting.
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February 23, 2011, at 7:06 pm
Matt, all three of the stories suggest that he will. From the Courant:
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February 23, 2011, at 7:53 pm
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February 23, 2011, at 10:13 pm
Corey, thanks for joining us. However, we are here to discuss journalism, not specific issues on one side or another.
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February 23, 2011, at 11:13 pm
I’m glad the Paul Vitello at the New York Times worked in the Just War element of military formation.
Given the clip’s reference to the Westerly, RI Quaker Meeting, I Googled them and, sure ‘nuff, they have a web site. In the FAQ section is this on peace:
This makes for some good background on how Izbicki could be influenced by this group. Now the real journalistic pièce de résistance would be a comparison of these Quaker teachings and Just War theory.
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February 23, 2011, at 11:26 pm
I see the word “Quaker” wasn’t really parsed very far. I was a member of the Evangelical Friends as a teenager, and they were kind of vague on the whole pacifism thing. I knew several of my generation who went into the service after graduation, despite their Quakerism. It would be good to see some analysis of the Silent vs. Evangelical split.
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February 24, 2011, at 8:41 am
Thanks, Sarah. I should know better than to skim.
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February 24, 2011, at 9:45 am
Remember, we’re here to discuss journalism, not whether you agree with the military or the Naval graduate’s decision.
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February 24, 2011, at 10:03 am
As I was reading Vitello’s article in the NY Times, I wondered if the naval officers were comparing Izbicki’s beliefs to their own beliefs, or if they were trying to compare Izcicki’s beliefs to his own statements. There are two ways of reading the conversation between Izbecki and Commander Price:
1. Price is simply criticizing Izbecki’s religious beliefs (i.e. “You’re not a real Christian”). Or…
2. Price is trying to pin Izbecki down on the question of why Izbecki feels compelled to obey Jesus’ statements in the Sermon on the Mount about not resisting violence with violence, but not other passages in the NT that appear to allow military service.
To put option 2 into seminary language, is there a consistent hermeneutic guiding Izbecki’s theology, or is he “proof-texting” in order to justify his reluctance to serve in the military? I don’t know much about CO status, but I would assume that the military doesn’t grant CO status to everyone and anyone who says “I’m not going to fight because Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek.”
So, I would have liked to know whether Commander Price’s line of questioning is normal for CO hearings, customized to the petitioner’s religious claims, or if Price’s questions are out of the ordinary. If they are normal, then “Mr. Izbicki’s beliefs are probed intensely for inconsistencies and deviations from conservative Christian belief.” isn’t accurate - it should have been “…are probed intensely for inconsistencies and deviations” period.
Izbecki’s lawyer says that it was option #1, but surely there are experts on CO status who aren’t directly connected to the case.
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February 24, 2011, at 1:13 pm
Am I the only reader who had flashbacks of Gary Cooper’s conversation with his superiors in “Sergeant York?”
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