THE MOLOKAN C.O. AND
THE MOLOKAN LIBRARY WEB SITE

STOP MILITARY RECRUITERS FROM GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL AGE YOUNG ADULTS

On January 8, 2002, President George Bush signed a Federal education bill which went into effect as Public Law 107-110 on May 8, 2002. One section of this education bill allows military recruiters access to the name, address and phone number of all high school students in 11th and 12th grades.

             Military recruiters are under pressure to recruit, especially at the present with the Pentagon, Congress, and President in favor of a volunteer army. With the name as address and phone number of your high school young adult, they have the legal right to contact them to present them with the opportunity to join the military. Military recruiters are provided with special privileges and tools to present the military in the best possible light to culpable high school students. The recruiters are paid bonuses and themselves acquire special benefits based on the number of recruits they can round up. But in order to meet their quota they do not tell the complete truth about military service, that its primary purpose is to turn them into killing machines. The recruiters emphasize paid schooling and large discharge bonuses upon completion of a 4-year active duty assignment. What they do not tell the students, is their assignment to some battlefield, up to 6 years in active service, and for a total of 8 years minimum obligatory military service, and longer in wartime, as at present.

             Legally, parents have the right to stop the release of their children's personal information to Armed Forces recruiters.

             The same education bill contains a provision that allows parents to inform their school district, that they do not want the school district to release this information to military recruiters. This is usually a form that is attached to other forms and is mailed to the parents, or that the student takes home with them. Sometimes, the statement is nothing more than a sentence or 2 that is buried in the context of other school information. The information is provided to the parents at the beginning of the school

year, for both junior and senior high school students.

             If you do not want your child's personal information to be released to Armed Forces recruiters, then you must find the form in the package of information from your child's high school, and fill out the form, and tell them NOT to release your child's personal information to the military. If there is no form, then, the parent must write a personal letter to the high school principal, telling them NOT to release your child's name, address or phone number to military recruiters. The student also has the right to write his own letter.

             This must be done at the beginning of each junior and  senior high school year for each student. If you do not have a child in high school, please pass this letter on to someone you know who has, or nephew or niece or grandchild. Also note that some schools required the return of this form within 10 days after the school year begins.

A sample copy of the form (it is published in English and Spanish) is available on the web page:

http://www.projectyano.org/pdf/opt_out_form_bilingual_national.pdf

or just in English on the site:  http://www.afsc.org/youthmil/militarism-in-schools/opt-out.pdf

The Selective Service and the Historic Peace Church

The policy of the Selective Service System towards those denominations earlier recognized as official peace churches changed about 1980. From Viet-Nam War the Selective Service acquired information regarding the religious affiliation of conscientious objectors: many members of historic militant churches, such as Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist, had registered as C.O., and acquired an exemption to military service; and at the same time members of historic peace churches, such as Quaker, Mennonite, Friends, and Molokans, had been conscripted into the military with no objection and served their term of enlistment.

            The attitude of the Federal Government toward religions is specified in the First Amendment to the Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,…” For the Selective Service to acknowledge one denomination as an official historic peace church and allow its members precedence to acquire a C.O. exemption, while not allowing this same treatment toward another denomination was now understood as favoring one denomination over another, and therefore unconstitutional.

            Beginning in 1980, the Selective Service began to treat all denominations equally. At the present and should there occur conscription in the future, every member of every denomination will be treated equally in regards to their request for a C.O. exemption, with no denomination to be favored over another.

            The following is the context of a letter received from the Selective Service System September 25, 2001.

“This letter acknowledges receipt of your letter dated September 22, 2001, asking that the Selective Service System included the Russian Molokan Christian Spiritual Jumpers in our official list of peace churches. Please be advised that we do not maintain an official list.

            “In a future draft, as in past drafts, the Local Board of the Selective Service System will determine whether a man receives a conscientious objector classification based upon his appearance before the Local Board with sufficient evidence that he is opposed to combatant or non-combatant military service based on deeply held moral or religious grounds. Members in good standing of established and recognized historic peace churches may find it easier to obtain C.O. classification in a draft, although such membership along would not be conclusive in making C.O. determinations. In this regard it is helpful for us to have a copy of your church’s doctrine at National Headquarters for informational purposes. Thank you for providing it”

As stated in the letter, it will be easier for a military-age Molokan to acquire a C.O. exemption but he must still be able to confess his beliefs and prove his convictions to the local draft board. If he cannot then he will not acquire a C.O. exemption.

            The latest edition of the Selective Service regulations (32 CFR Ch. VVI), July of 2001, state the similar in paragraph 1636.7,            “Boards may not give preferential treatment to one religion over another,…”
            Under the latest edition of the SSS regulations, the members of all denominations who are seeking to be C.O.’s will be treated equally and without preference.

Patriot Act 2 and the Erosion of American Religious Liberty

The recent initiation of the war on terrorism affects the Molokan community just as any other religious corporate body transplanted here from foreign shores with tenets that vary from American Christianity. The initial USA Patriot Act passed September 26, 2001, hardly 2 weeks after the terrorist attacks in New York, increased the power of the federal government in order to allow unimpeded investigation and apprehension of suspected terrorists. Indirectly this also reduced the civil rights of the individual The statement of President G.W. Bush at the initiation of the war on Iraq, “You are either with us, or against us,” serves as a precaution toward any who would now disagree with official policy of the US government and especially toward any dissenters, who could now be labeled as terrorist sympathizers, since their regression from support of official US policy could be interpreted as an attempt to undermine patriotism and weaken the efforts of Homeland Security. Religious freedom under such new circumstances will now extend to those whose religious convictions are parallel with the principles of the state.

            Subsequent legislation still in the Department of Justice, not yet introduced into the US Congress, is the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, also known as Patriot Act 2, which increases still the power of police authority domestically and especially toward non-citizens, whether permanent or non-permanent residents. The authority of the Immigration and Naturalization Service increases with the Patriot Act 2. A non-USA citizen who is arrested for some criminal offence, or is suspected of support or association with a terrorist group, or is suspected as a risk to national security, may be arrested, incarcerated and subsequently deported without due process of law, and especially if their origin was a county on the Sensitive Countries List, which includes Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Russia. Visa violations will also attract the attention of INS and can lead to arrest and deportation. Even if the Patriot Act 2 is not passed by Congress, its provisions will still be slowly incorporated into Homeland Security measures placing into jeopardy any dissenters of official US policy. Even at present the FBI has been tracking members of American C.O. organizations, such as the AFSC, because the concept of C.O. is antithetical to the intent of a state military and undermines patriotism.

            Because Molokans retain the tenet of conscientious objection to military service as well as considering ourselves Russian – and not Russian-American – it is in our best interest to display ourselves as law-abiding citizens who promote the welfare and security of the society we are members of. This especially applies to those Molokans who are not US citizens. It is easier for American religious groups who are C.O. to survive, because they are American, while we continue to uphold our Russian customs, culture and language.

First a summary on the present status of the US military: There are 1,000,000 active military personnel, with about 1-1/2 million reserves available. The present rate of voluntary recruitment is about 30,000 per month. For a war against Iraq and even Korea the US military has sufficient troops, however occupation will require considerable ground troops and for an extended length of time.

Conscription (draft) must be legislated by the US Congress. Once the law goes into effect, the Selective Service System has 193 days to provide the first recruits to military bases. During this interval, the SSS must establish country-wide draft boards, supply them with personal, and introduce a massive bureaucracy and communication network, all of which is expensive. Because of the above 2 situations, Pres. Bush, V.P. Cheney and Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld, are opposed to conscription, and any draft will also make the war more unpopular.

The following bills dealing with conscription are pending in Congress at present:

1.       H. R. 3598. Dec. 20, 2001. Universal Military Act. Requires all Americans at age 18 to serve 2 years. No deferment for C.O.’s; only non-combatant training. (This bill is dead in committee.)

2.       H. CON. RES. 368. March 20, 2002. This bill states that conscription is un-constitutional, and should be suspended. The US should have solely a volunteer military. Many congressmen support this bill.

3.       S. 89. January 7, 2003. Universal National Service Act. Similar to H.R. 3598 above, except that this bill is primarily directed at national service, and is mandatory for females.

4.       H. R. 163. January 7, 2003. Universal National Service Act. The House version of S. 89 above.

5.       H.R. 487. January 29, 2003. Repeal of the Military Selective Service Act.

            The chance of war conscription is slim to none viewing the circumstances pragmatically, but sometime in the future compulsory National Service may be legislated to “patriotize” multi-cultural and multi-ethnic America and as a part of Homeland Security. In Universal National Service all young men and women are required to serve 2 years when they graduate from high school and become 18 years of age, but no later than 20 for any person, male or female. Part of this time in is military service and the balance of the time in some type of national service.  C.O.’s will be exempt from the military portion of the service but will still have to perform 2 years of community service, which is yet to be defined. In the event of either war conscription or National Service work-shops will be held on properly filling out forms and learning the procedures, and every church will have members fluent in all the procedures and possessing all the forms needed. The primary threat at present is voluntary enlistment as a result of military recruiters on high school campuses, including advertisements in the media.

MOLOKAN C.O. UPDATE #3

(The following is adapted from the CCCO webpage: www.objector.com)

The U.S. Army and Navy Recruiting Commands are deploying a powerful recruiting weapon—and they’re using America’s schoolyards and classrooms to do it. The Army Cinema Vans, the Army Cinema Pods, the Army Adventure Van and the NavyExhibitCenters are crisscrossing the country with high-tech “educational” shows that glamorize military life.

What are the Recruiting Vans?

·         Five Army Cinema Vans, each equipped with nine slide projectors and three screens.

·         Six Multiple Exhibit Vehicles, these are equipped with state of the art DVD presentations and can be viewed in the vehicle or brought into the schools.

·         Four Rockwalls, carries 6 recruiters, and is a rock climbing wall for youth.

·         TheArmy Adventure Van & The Armor Experience, featuring an M-1 tank simulator, a Cobra helicopter simulator, and a “Weaponeer” – anM-16 rifle simulator.The Weaponeer provides each student with a printout showing where each “hit” tore through their depersonalized, but human, target.

·         Four Air Force ROVers, specially refitted recreational vehicles wrapped in bold Air Force graphics and includes an F-16 minijet.

·         Five Navy Exhibit Centers include a “Nuclear Power Van,” and an “America’s Sea Power Van.”

Seven parking spaces long by two deep, the Vans provide, according to the Army, “educational multi-media shows.” The Recruiting Commands, who control the vans, aim to keep them filled all day long with class after class of students. Local recruiters are always present at these “educational” events. The Army’s 17 vans visit a total of 2000 schools per year, propagandizing 380,000 “recruitable” students. The Navy and Air Force visits approximately 500 schools, including community colleges and vocational schools. Both vans stop by shopping malls, state fairs, racing events, rodeos - wherever young people can be found. Two “National Science” vans, sponsored by the military and the NationalScienceCenter, also tour the country. In each case, the Pentagon’s Recruiting Commands and local recruiters use school grounds, school facilities, and school time to glorify the armed forces and their version of history.

The Army Recruiting Command advertises the vans as “A Learning Experience.” The Navy baldly calls them, “Recruiting Vans.” But so-called academic slide shows are packaged with far more blatant advertisements for the U.S. military. The vans are designed to recruit, not to educate.

The Cinema Van’s so-called “academic” shows include We the People- “217 years of American history from the birth of the nation through Operation Desert Storm.” It All Starts Here, one of several shows explicitly geared to junior high school students. But the real intent of the Vans is to portray the military as a glamorous, painless “opportunity.”

The Army slide shows featureCombat Arms - The Tough Choice, with21 minutes of artillery, armor, and combat engineering, doubtless without the carnage that results when these weapons are actually used; Path to the Future, bringing to multi-media life the recruiters’ empty promises about education and career training; and Path to Professionalism, a “guide on the transition from civilian to soldier,” which glorifies a soldier’s first year without mentioning the hazing, humiliation, and loss of civil rights endemic to basic training.

The Navy’s videos include Steel Boats and Iron Men, Sea Warriors,Angels Over America, and, The Navy and You – Full Speed Ahead.

What YOU can do: Sustain activism. Although these vans are an immoral use of federal and school resources to militarize youth, military recruiters often have nearly unlimited access to students throughout the year. You have the right to equal access and to complain to your school’s principal and guidance counselors.

On December 20, 2001 a bill was quietly and without fanfare introduced into the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, H.R. 3598, titled, The Universal Military Training and Service Act of 2001. In essence the purpose of the legislation is to require all American males between 18 and 22, a 1 year mandatory service under the jurisdiction of the armed forces; this service would consist of about half the time in military training and education and the balance of the term in some type of public civil service. Those above the age of 22 would also be accepted into the program on a volunteer basis. As the bill presently reads, the C.O. will be exempt only from combatant training but still subject to military education. As of today, February 12, 2002, the bill is in the Armed Services Committee for review.

      Women between 18 and 22 will be permitted to voluntarily enlist into such a program.

      The need for such legislation is very obvious with the recent wave of terrorist attacks against the United States and especially with a large number of immigrants and aliens now residing here. The passage of this bill by both houses of Congress and its signature by the President may well occur under the present circumstances, but the Selective Service will also need to amend the bill for the many who will refuse any type of military training or education due to their religious beliefs and replace military conscription with solely civilian public service.

      Such legislation will impact the Molokan community as much as the draft did in World War 2 or worse because of its continuous long-term implication. We must remember that about 700 Molokans served in the military during WW2; while only 88 as C.O.’s were assigned to Civilian Public Service camps. For this legislation not to engulf all military age young Molokans, the support of the community for the C.O. Advisory Board is needed. This is a matter that affects the entire brotherhood and should be supported by all the churches. If this bill becomes law then more elders will need to become involved because of the large number of military age Molokans in our community, both men and women. The local draft board must still review each candidate requesting a C.O. exemption to determine sincerity and knowledge in their religious convictions, and the individual must prove this.

      Every minister in our brotherhood has been contacted for their churches’ financial support of the C.O. Advisory Board and several contributions have been received. The C.O. seminar held on November 3, 2001 in Kerman was paid for by the central valley Molokan churches and donations from those attending.

      Please note that draft registration is still required for all males from age 18 and through their 26th birthday. When filling out your draft registration form, write in the lower left hand corner of the form I am a conscientious objector opposed to war in any form. Make a photocopy of the form before you mail it to the Selective Service System. You should receive a response from the SSS within 90 days. If you do not receive a response, follow the directions on the form or see the C.O. Advisor assigned to your church. Not registering for the draft will only make it more difficult for you to acquire a C.O. deferment if a draft is implemented. The SSS does not use registration for conscription or tracking military age personnel, but uses Motor Vehicle Department records of all the states and is presently making arrangements to use high school records. Females are outside the scope of the SSS at present.

      In case of military conscription, the Advisory Board has a member in every major Molokan church fluent in the procedures of the SSS and the manner to acquire an exemption as a conscientious objector.

 Rumors of an impending conscription for this coming June are still being disseminated in our community. This is purely sensationalism. Please note the following:

1.      The lastest information from the Center for Conscience and War, Washington, DC, is that President Bush does not have the authority to order conscription. In order to begin conscription, the U.S. Congress must first authorize the president to do so through legislature. There are no plans for this at present, and many members of Congress are in favor of closing down the Selective Service entirely.

2.      The president himself stated in his Second Presidential Debate, that there will not be a military draft during his term.

3.      The House of Representatives has voted against HR 163, which is National Service.

4.      The Selective Service operates on a shoe-string budget of $28 million (it needs $500 million from Congress for conscription). The Selective Service is not making any arrangements to hire personel for Draft Boards.

5.      The Pentagon is not requesting money from Congress for a conscription.

6.      The latest information from the Pentagon is that they have exceeded their recruitment for the year 2004 in voluntary enlistment, re-enlistment, and the reserves, and feel the same will occur for 2005.

7.      The Pentagon is on another wave of military base closures to reduce the size of the military. The US Navy is also reducing the size of it force.

8.      Military recruiters are turning people away who do not meet the grade. They want quality, not quantity. If the military wants more recruites, all they need to do is lower their standards.

The primary threat for the next 3-4 years is military recruitment on high school campuses. If we would concentrate on this issue in our respective churches and families, then we will achieve the success of zero Molokan enlistment, and still be prepared if conscription materializes in the future.