It is the year of the veteran, and we gather around to commemorate the heroes who have risked their lives for our freedom, and to them we bow our heads. The poppy we wear on our shirts each year on that day represents the idea of freedom and fighting for our country, but think about it, what about the people who didn’t go out to fight for the sake of our country or for the honor and dignity of their family, not because they didn’t want to but because they couldn’t? Many of the conscientious objectors that we are going to speak of didn’t go out to fight due to religious reasons, while others protested for moral reasons.

There were sectarian pacifist groups that lived in Canada who followed a religion that preached to them that it was immoral to kill and were guaranteed exemption from military combat when they immigrated to Canada. Instead of military combat, they would be expected to serve as civilians and perform some non-voluntary service when necessary. Sectarian pacifism was and still is practiced by the Mennonites, the Quakers, the Hutterites, the Quakers, and the Doukhobors. Sectarian pacifists hold the same anti-violent values and beliefs as other pacifists except they’ve chosen to remove themselves from the mainstream lifestyle of typical Canadians.  Each sect had their own beliefs.  For example, the Doukhobors believed that God resides in each individual rather than in a church.  Their equivalent to the Bible is called the Living Book, a collection of psalms and hymns that were orally transferred at sobranyas (religious services and community meetings).  The Doukhobors’ religion is based on these two ideas; recognized and love God with all thy heart, mind and soul and Love thy neighbour as thyself.

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In addition, there were others who chose not to fight did so because they felt that it was morally wrong to kill another human being. This was, for some, based on the fact Jesus was a pacifist who insisted on peaceful methods to solve problems. They weren’t trying to be selfish but merely they were looking at the war from a different light; a light that didn’t shower all the glamour and glee that the government made the war look seem to be but one of more realistic consequences.

Imagine you being put in the position of ...

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