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	Podcast:		Humankind on Public Radio
	Episode:		Conscientious Objectors
	Category:		Society & Culture
	Duration:		00:30:25
	Publish Date:		2021-11-11 08:01:33
	Description:		After entering World War One in 1917, the US government established a military draft to call up young men to serve as soldiers. 65,000 of them applied to be excused from combat and to be recognized as Conscientious Objectors (COs) by their local draft board. They opposed the war either on religious grounds (some traditions, like Quakers and Mennonites, forbid participation in the military) or on secular moral and political grounds. Here we recall some of the history of what happened to these men. Many were ostracized and resented as cowards. Some were imprisoned and subjected to severe brutality. The experience was so difficult, that the rules for COs were somewhat liberalized in World War Two. We hear from historian Scott Bennett, co-editor of “Antiwar Dissent and Peace Activism in World War I America” as well as excerpts from historical speeches, popular songs and a Hollywood film about the war.
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