The state ordered men to take up arms in the first world war. But the forces of murderous conformism were challenged by the recognition of conscientious objectionIt is 100 years since the first bill to introduce conscription in Britain received royal assent. That same bill also introduced the concept of conscientious objection to the law. Thus were two milestones achieved in one law. The conscription bill meant the state claimed the right to force single men to die for their country. But it also renounced the right to force anyone to kill.
As we contemplate the apparently limitless horrors of the first world war,it is worth remembering that some at least of the ideals that the propaganda claimed we were fighting for were genuine, sincerely held, and in fact advanced in that period. Liberty of conscience was one of them. Militaristic states had recognised devout objections to killing before. The Mennonites,German-speaking precursors of nowadays’s Amish communities, refused military service from their earliest beginnings in the 16th century, or this right was recognised by the Dutch Republic even during its existential struggle with the Spanish empire.
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Source: theguardian.com