Pax Christi USA joins call opposing military conscription

Image: Pax Christi

Pax Christi USA and almost 40 other organizations have signed a statement expressing their opposition to new efforts to enact a federal military draft.

A diverse coalition is mobilizing opposition to a recently-passed federal law that seeks to step up preparations for and readiness to activate a military draft. The new law authorizes the federal Selective Service System to begin using automated involuntary registration to increase the number of individuals currently listed in the agency's database of potential draftees.

A statement by the coalition, published below with a list of signatories, argues that, instead of attempting to automate draft registration, Congress should repeal the entire Military Selective Service Act that authorizes registration and other planning and preparation for a draft.

Since 1980, almost all male US citizens or residents who reach age 18 have been required by law to register themselves with the Selective Service System (SSS). However, the SSS has seen persistent shortfalls in compliance, and it has become increasingly obvious that its database is both incomplete and inaccurate. As a result, Congress approved a provision buried in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act that will authorize the culling of information from other federal databases to automatically and involuntarily register men with the SSS. This law will give the SSS unprecedented authority to aggregate data from any other federal agency that might help identify or locate potential draftees.

This statement was released yesterday, the feast day of St Maximilian of Tebessa, a third century Christian martyr who was put to death for refusing induction into the Roman army - he is the first known Christian conscientious objector.

LINK

Statement opposing conscription: https://comdsd.org/pdf/Joint_Statement_Opposing_Automatic_SSS_Registration.pdf

Pax Christi conscientious objection register: https://paxchristiusa.org/2025/06/18/pax-christi-usa-announces-conscientious-objection-registry/