Anti_War_and_Pro_Peace_is_Patriotic

Text Box: In this country we have a rich history of being encouraged to speak out against injustices. From the Boston Tea Party (which actually occurred first in South Carolina) to the Civil Rights movements of the 1960’s, it is our right as citizens of this democracy to exercise our freedom of speech. Any individual, group, or association has the right to disagree with you, but to claim anti-war or pro-peace is unpatriotic is not consistent with the nation our founders envisioned - a place where all views are important, all voices matter, and no one is silenced because they do not express the opinion you want. To suggest or profess otherwise is to be unaware of history, and that the silencing of conscientious objectors was (and sadly today is also) the aim of many horrific regimes and cultures throughout history.

Text Box: Other free speech/patriotic and conscientious objector resources on why it is important to express your opinion can be found here

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One of the greatest lessons we have learned as a nation from the Vietnam debates is that we can support our soldiers, sailors, and service personnel in harms way without supporting the socio-political or ideological decisions and thinking that placed them in there in the first place. They are fighting for all of us, they are our brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, nieces and nephews and the highest homage we can pay to these brave people is to support them both abroad and domestically, while working through our faith and conviction for the dialogue and decisions that will prevent them from deploying in future conflicts.