Michael New: Conscientious Objector on the “Constitutional” Right
Conscientious objectors are often associated with strictly anti-war protestors, most often motivated by liberal politics. It might be the son of a Protestant minister who believes that all “murder” is wrong, despite God’s frequent willingness to wipe out the “bad guys” in the Old Testament.
US Army soldier Michael New happened to be a strong Christian, but his refusal to serve under the auspices of the United Nations during the early 1990s stands out.
Michael saw his oath to the US Constitution as something that trumped his country’s allegiance to the United Nations. He refused to surrender his nationalism to the New World Order, a battlefield line today in the world of political identity.
In a military world of possibly incompetent generals, perhaps really being led by short-sighted politicians who find that “rules of engagement” and diplomatic initiatives are all-important, when should the individual make a stand in behalf of morally based allegiances?
