Why do Americans join the U.S. military?

 Joining the U.S. military is morally problematic. Most Americans believe that killing is morally wrong, and they realize that the military exists to kill for American power. This is a conflict that most citizens cannot resolve, and as a result, very small percentages of young American men join the military. Those who do have to find a way to ignore this conflict or justify their decision.  

So why have some of our non-Mennonite American neighbors joined the U.S. military?

Some families have pressured their young sons/brothers to join the U.S. military.

Some young people have felt so patriotic/nationalistic that they overlooked the fact that the  are carrying out orders to kill. 

Some have been swept up in pageantry and ritual as the U.S. military parades through high schools and sporting events. 

Some young people have seen the military as a way to provide for their families, or to escape dysfunctional family situations.

Some young people have been drafted: forced, by order of law, to join the U.S. military or go to prison.  Fortunately this stopped in the U.S. in the 1970s.

Some saw the U.S. military as a way to improve their lifestyles. They sought money, skills, status, travel, education, or for immigrants, a fast track to citizenship.

Mennonites don't let these common justifications for joining the military interfere with our very strong religious convictions against killing. We know that the U.S. military exists to kill for American power. For Mennonites, killing is so incompatible with our faith, morals, religious beliefs, identities, and theology that we go to extremes to avoid joining not only the U.S. military, but the militaries of other countries as well. For 500 years, Mennonites have taken extraordinary measures to avoid joining any country's military.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The constructivist and Mennonite prediction: an increasingly peaceful future

Will there be another world war? No one knows for sure. Constructivist theorists, including Mennonites, would argue that the chance of another world war gets smaller and smaller as time passes. We share the good news that we are less and less likely to be ensnared by another world war. A constructivist would say that with the passing of time, more and more people are realizing that war is a bad idea. War kills people and causes destruction. We have better ways to solve our problems than war that don't involve killing and destruction. We have diplomacy, cooperation, and building up the peaceful sectors of society, all tools that are preferable to war when nations deal with conflicts. Our progress on this peacebuilding makes the horrors of war's killing and destruction unnecessary. If we can solve our problems by choosing peace, why would we choose war? Mennonites are very progressive within constructivism. Mennonite Central Committee began with the purpose of gettin...
Read more

Constructivism, Part I

Ideas change over time. This is the basis of an international relations theory called constructivism , one of the three major theories of how countries relate to each other. Here's an example: The United States and the United Kingdom were at war in the 1770s. In the 1790s, both countries were suspicious of each others' military activities. A military buildup in the United Kingdom could be seen as a threat to the United States. There was still bad blood between the two countries. War might have seemed possible. Then, ideas changed. By the 2020s, the United States and the United Kingdom are not at all suspicious of each others' military activities. A military buildup in the United States poses no thread to the United Kingdom; the thought of the US and the UK at war with each other seems absurd. In the 1790s this was not the case. The idea of war between the two countries seemed possible in the 1790s. It seems impossible in the 2020s. The US and UK regularly...
Read more

You may not be interested in war...

Our class began with a quote. “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” This quote is attributed to Leon Trotsky, a Ukrainian theorist. Richard Betts' class at Columbia didn't include any readings of Trotsky beyond this one simple quote. This quote makes sense and does seem to ring true. Millions of Ukrainians are coming face-to-face with war and are fleeing to safety because they want nothing to do with it. Thousands of Ukrainian men who previously were accountants, bakers, mechanics etc. are setting aside their comfortable lives and responding to a war that's coming closer and closer. On the other side, thousands of conscripted Russian teenagers are being forced into combat instead of enjoying their teenage lives. The vast majority of people who encounter war do not welcome its encroachment into their lives. This is true for Mennonites as well. We don't want to go to war. Instead we feel a calling to spread God's peace. We w...
Read more