Documentary

Let’s talk about “Soldiers of Conscience.” 

What did you feel? What do you think? 

First one here gets to kick things off.

Click on “Comments” and start typing.

Comments

[quicktype89]

"War is fought by the will of man."
"What if the same determination used to defeat was used to redeem?"
"What is your duty as a soldier and then as a human?"
Three great quotes from the film that really caused me to stop and think. Personally I hate war and I hate talking about it because it's just as hard to justify the cause as it is to justify inaction. It's hard to justify something that is powered by the greed of humans, aka our sin. War kills innocents, destroys people, and breaks families so there must be no justification for it. However, at the same time how can we protect the innocents that live in our community, save people, and keep families in peace? War is our instinctual answer for defense. However what if we were to change that form of defense like they mentioned? What if we were to say... be diplomatic? Finally when answering the question what is your duty, I feel that your duty as a human comes first because all humans are created equally and are ultimately expected of the same thing, to be compassionate and benevolent-the definition of humane.

[Brandon]

I watched it and for the most part I felt sorry for the innocent people that had to be killed because of the war in general. When soldiers say they had to kill innocent civilians that bothered me. On the topic of the conscience objectors I believe they are totally wrong for trying to get out because they do not want to kill someone. There was no secret that there was a chance that they would have to kill people when they signed up for the military. When they were trained they were trained to kill. I do not see how they can go to war and not want to kill the enemy. I understand not wanting to kill innocent civilians but not wanting to kill the enemy is a problem. I agree with the military when they punish the soldiers for claiming to be a conscience objector. Everyone knows there is a chance that they will have to kill someone in times of war. Just a comment on another note, I think it is amazing that we won a war with only 25% of soldiers firing their weapons at the enemy. I do not see how we even had a chance to win when 75% of our soldiers were not trying to kill the enemy.

[David Cook]

I felt that the documentary was a fair representation of both sides. On one side you had the soldiers who have come to terms with the fact that they are warriors and it is their jobs to take lives when they are called upon. On the opposing side, you have the Conscience Objectors who felt that it was their right and their freedom to leave a war in which they felt that there was no cause.

I do have to agree with Brandon when it comes to their choices as to why they wanted to leave the military. As a soldier, you knowingly sign up to fight for our country and you might have to take a life. We were misled about a lot of the intel leading up to the war. That is a fact. Not for a moment will I be pretentious enough to say that I would not act the same way as the soldiers who applied for Conscience Objector status. No one knows how they would react to a situation until they are thrust into it.

Where I agree that they have a duty and should not abandon their posts, I also believe that as Americans and human beings they have a freedom to say "No" if they feel their heart is not in it, or that what they are doing is wrong. The movie was very compelling when it portrayed the family being pulled out of their house forcefully, and, honestly, those two boys would more than likely grow up as enemies of America. We only caught a glimpse of everyday life over there. At some point people are going to have to make a moral choice.

Peace is possible and war is unavoidable. It is not going to happen over night, but, like the movie said, dreams can become possibilities if people fight for them.

[JohnEvans]

While watching the movie I began to get very angry at the deserters. They deserted there post and put their fellow soldiers in greater danger because of it. They signed a contract and must fulfill it or face the consequences. I also was rather annoyed by the presesntaion of war as immoral. From a Christian prospective, war is never mentioned as wrong. The bible express murder as a sin not killing. Killings in war are not murders. Also you can love your enemy and kill him at the same time. If you kill him to prevent him from doing more evil , you are actually helping him. Because you love someone doesn't mean you excuse all their evil deeds. On the subject of the little boys dragged out of the house, nothing can be determined for the short time we saw them. They were not harmed. If they are made to understand that the soldiers do not hate them and do not wish them harm and only were protecting them by removing them form a potential field of fire, they could feel good about america. Lastly I don't recall any of the soldiers talking about having to kill innocents. They mentioned kill adolescence a few times but it is quite possible the adolescents were combatants.

[Morgan]

The documentary Soldiers of Conscience made me think of war for the first time as people just like me killing others. I have always thought of war by what I've seen in movies. I have never thought of the impact of killing another human being in combat before this documentary. I can see where both sides are coming from. The conscience objectors violated the promise they made when they first joined the military and should see it through. But, people make mistakes. They came into war thinking it was going to be just like what they've seen in movies and it wasn't. They weren't comfortable killing another human being and I can understand why they would want to ably for a CO.

[cdavis17]

This documentary was kind of "eye-opening" for me. I really didn't realize there were people like the consciencious observers, but I guess there are. I was shocked that there were men that signed up for this and trained for this and then they left because they "couldn't" kill someone...I'm pretty sure that is what happens in war- you kill the enemy. In Iraq and those nations they train small boys to start killing and terrorizing over there, so we have to kill them, or they will kill us. I know that it might be a little harder to kill them since they are so young, but they are THE ENEMY.

[Ghost]

The part most interesting to me was the Staff Sergeant who had to kill the 10 year old boy, his options were the boy or his whole squad. At what point can he claim self defense? The "killer" was just a child, but could end the lives of countless soldiers regardless of age. The sergeant shows remorse, but has no regrets, he saved the lives of his squad mates. I cannot help but think that this child was not unaware of the weapon he wielded, he knew the destruction it would cause and chose to attempt to kill American soldiers. In my opinion the Staff Sergeant was right in his actions.

[mgn]

After watching the documentary today what I found to be most interesting was how the video focused on two types of soldiers. One was those who have been to Iraq, but are able to deal with all of their emotions after being on the line and killing people. Even though they say there is a struggle from time to time when looking back at the things they did during the war they realized it was either them or the enemy that was going to die. Then there were the soldiers who going out to Iraq and facing the situation of pulling the trigger and taking the life of another man, after that first kill they discovered that after killing someone they could never let it go.
I was also blown away by how the army now uses the tactics in training soldiers which involve encouraging the soldiers to just kill. When one of the soldiers said that these drills are repeated over and over so that it all becomes routine. I just can’t understand why anyone would want to be trained to kill without a second thought.
The shocking thing is how successful these new drills are. They said that during WWII only about twenty-five percent of the soldiers shot to kill, but today the majority of soldiers do shot for the kill.

[Torey]

I have thought a great deal about what my position would be in the shoes of these soldiers, but it is really hard to say. I find myself gaining more and more respect for those who do choose to perform those duties that may not be desirable, but are the very duties that have achieved success in war throughout history. It is almost certain that I could never be one of them. Although I can sympathize with the conciencious objectors, I would have to say that having soldiers who will perform their duties on command are the very ones that win wars and keep even more future deaths from occurring.

[kmcnutt]

Before watching this documentary, I opposed the war and the belief behind war. From what I gather, the basic plan of war is to destroy the enemy with violence and death to protect yourself and people. This is what I can't gree with. I felt this documentary did show both sides of the moral aspect of the war and fighting in it.
I don't think there will ever be a 'right' or 'wrong' way to do almost anything that deals with moral issues. With war, we know that most of who we are fighting believe that they are doing what is right, according to their faith. Most American fighters have the understanding that fighting for their country's freedom is their responsibility. I am in no position to declare anyone wrong or say that they are immoral. I do feel that the violence of war is inhumane and immoral. The images shown today throughout the documentary upset me and I wondered how some of these men could feel accomplished knowing they have taken so many lives, enemy lives or not, they are human lives.
As far as the conscience objectors go, I am behind them and believe they are doing the right thing. I understand that they have signed up for this and were even trained to commit the very actions they are opposing. I don't think these formers soldiers would criticize the men now fighting, I think they wish there would be no more fighting. I wouldn't consider them traitors or unpatriotic either. I also understand that people make mistakes, have a change of heart and should also be allowed the freedom to live accordingly. When they went into war, I imagine they thought they could kill, fight and fulfill their duty. After being behind and in front of the lines, they are forever changed. We all heard them state that war changes you. I didn't understand why they had to go through the long process and some were sentenced to prison because of what they believed, I didn't feel that was very American, punishing for a belief?
The dream that Carillo had of ending the war with enough Conscience Objectors, may be naive and dreaming but he believes it with all his heart and in that, he's still fighting the war, without violence.

[Julie Jackson]

The documentary made me frustrated with the conscience objectors. What happens if all the soldiers in the United States became conscience objectors like the ones in the documentary? We would be doomed. Another part that made me mad was when the Jihadist was saying to the soldier that he was wrong for killing and being at war when he is doing the same exact thing. It did not make sense to me. The men did sign a contract and before signing a contract you should put in a lot of thought and make sure you will not back out. No matter what if you make a commitment you should stick with it. I do wish that everyone could get along and there be no war, but we need to defend our country and if we were all conscience objectors we would not be doing so. Everyone wishes there would be no fighting but we cannot let other countries run planes into our cities and not do anything about it. Although it is hard to be against conscience objectors because I do not know what I would do if i were in their shoes. I have respect for all those who have been and are in the military. War does change people like they said nothing can truly prepare you for it so some may not be able to handle it.

[Larz]

Todays military is volunteer, which means that there was no draft. Everyone in the military today signed up on there own. When they signed up they took an oath and pledged to defend the constitution of America to protect the USA from all enemies foreign and domestic. This oath involves war, which in turn means you have to kill the enemy. Everyone who has signed up for the military knows exactly what they are getting into, so then why do we have CO's? When you sign up for an all volunteer military your making a conscious decision to do what the military does, which is kill. It is unlike earlier in America when there was a draft, and if you didn't report you would be put into jail, now it is ones own decision to join the military, no one else's. So, back a while ago when we did have the draft I believe it is a different situation and I can see how there would be CO's whether it be religious reasons or anything else, however; today in America I do not believe there should be any CO's they should make that decision before they made an oath to serve and protect.

[Tyler]

This documentary was one that I wish the whole country could watch. Growing up, I was told about people who left their fellow comrades and how they should all be arrested and punished. For everything that has ever been done, there has been a reason. This was not told to me and is not often told to the people of America. For this reason, people are not fully aware of the situations that surround issues like these. This film does a great job of showing the other side of the coin.
People are so scared to question or challenge anything related to the military, and because of this, we have lost the ability to have a voice. Thanks to great American soldiers just like the ones shown in this documentary, they are finally taking action and are making a stand for soldiers who have a conscious and cannot continue killing people without having their faith or their morals compromised. This documentary also focuses not only on Christians and the argument that war is not a sin, but also on people who just cannot deal with the guilt of ending someone’s life.

John—You say, “If you kill him to prevent him from doing more evil, you are actually helping him.”
Really? Where do you get your support for that argument? Because my Bible tells me to go and spread the Gospel to the ends of the Earth…no ifs, ands, or buts in the whole verse. Also, by ending someone’s life who is evil…then you are sending them straight to Hell. Jesus never killed the people who opposed Him, in fact he never used violence against His opponents. My Bible actually quotes Jesus as saying “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If anyone opposes attempts at peace…you really must question the intentions of their heart.

[JohnEvans]

Tyler- Yes "Love your neighbor as yourself" is the direct quote, but the point still stands. If I were to embark on a great quest of death and destruction I would want someone to but a bullet between my eyes. Also you can't "spread the Gospel to the ends of the Earth" if you are dead. Also, at the risk of turing this into a debate about theology, the Gospel has already been spread to these countries and, if the people killed had been among the elect, the Holy Spirt would have drawn them out and they would be saved. I don't oppose peace. I would be excited if we pulled all of our soldiers out of Iraq today. But i also don't oppose war. It is not evil and sometimes it is necessary.

[quicktype89]

John- Yes "Love your neighbor as yourself" is the direct quote, but the point still stands. If I were to embark on a great quest of death and destruction I would want someone to but a bullet between my eyes. Also you can't "spread the Gospel to the ends of the Earth" if you are dead.

That makes no sense to me. please explain.

Also they did mention the harm and killing of innocents as collateral damage from the war and stated that that in itself affected them and helped cause their change of heart.

[Tyler]

John-- No where in your response did you support any claim you have made thus far.

" Also, at the risk of turing this into a debate about theology, the Gospel has already been spread to these countries and, if the people killed had been among the elect, the Holy Spirt would have drawn them out and they would be saved."

The opposite of this being the Holy Spirit approving war, which you are implying by justifying the war, you are then an instrument of God used to bring death and destruction to a group of people. This is the very idea that drives the people we are at war with. Also, I have never heard any evidence which supports this.

I am not turning this into a debate on theology, but the fact that you brought it up says something.