FOR DISCUSSION

1. From the early resisters to today’s conscientious objectors (COs), the debate continues about whether one’s convictions are compromised by paying taxes to a government that uses them to support military action and build weapons. Consider that tax money is also used for purposes other than military action and weapons. What are your thoughts about this?

2. How have individuals’ relationship with God and their beliefs about the sanctity of life affected the resistance movement in America? Are the rights of an individual more important than the good of society? If not, who determines what is best for society?

3. Try to imagine what American society would be like if no wars had been fought. Would the United States still be subject to British rule? Would slavery still be legal? Would America be under communist control? Can the freedoms Americans enjoy justify the loss of life and property in a war? How can you support your opinion?

4. Meltzer asks the question, “Is war inevitable?” Can a world of peace exist, without war? How would you respond to these questions, and can you support your ideas with historical proof?

5. During the Civil War, many peace activists came to accept violence when it promised to advance emancipation. When does the end justify the means, and how do we determine where the line is in our lives? Would you be willing to die for a cause? Why or why not?

6. The drafting of able-bodied men began with the Civil War and has occurred often throughout American history. Most proponents of the peace movement see the draft as immoral and illegal, while military leaders think the draft is the only way to ensure we have enough soldiers to defend the American way of life. What is your opinion? Argue the point using historical evidence. Discuss the loopholes that have sometimes enabled wealthy young men and men of influence to avoid the draft. Would you close the loopholes? If so, how would you accomplish that?

7. Many Americans view those who object to fighting in wars as unpatriotic or cowardly. Military leaders and the American judicial system punish men who refuse to serve in the military for religious or other personal reasons. Many who have refused to serve have done jail time, and those who have agreed to serve only in noncombat positions have been treated with a lack of respect and have often been abused within the military. Do you have any ideas about how this situation could be changed?

8. The media has played a prominent role in war by using either pro- or antiwar propaganda. This has become more apparent since the twentieth century because of the advances in technology. What is the responsibility of the media to inform the public, and when does that responsibility cross the line and begin to sway social opinion with propaganda?

9. Meltzer finishes his book by making a plea for the education system to teach that “conflict can be prevented and resolved through nonviolent means.” He calls for the creation of national programs to “[build] tolerance and respect among diverse groups” and to teach young people how to take decisive action to reduce violence. Also, he encourages people to support humanitarian aid, refugee relief, and human rights. Are these goals too idealistic? How do you think these ideas could be made a reality? What could you do to help ensure the success of educational programs like the ones Meltzer supports?

10. Thoreau wanted the individual of conscience to carry action far enough to change society. What do you think one person can do to effect change? Can you think of one person who has effected change in policies related to war?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Words With Milton Meltzer

1. Was there a specific incident or experience that motivated you to write a book about the peace movement in America?

Yes, the war in Vietnam, the longest and most controversial in the twentieth century. When the U.S. began the massive bombing of that country, it ignited demonstrations nationwide against it. Like people of many different political views, I, too, opposed the war and joined in the massive nonviolent resistance to it. Thinking about this crucial issue, I decided to investigate how Americans in the past responded to the many conflicts that have bled our country. The outcome was my story of America’s peace-seekers.

2. Do you think the time in which you live has impacted your feelings about war?

I am old enough to have served in the air force for over three years during World War II–as a control tower operator. Although I never saw combat, I did what I could to help win that war. As a teenager, I was very much aware of the brutality of Mussolini’s fascism and Hitler’s Nazism. I saw how these dictators had used their power to crush civil liberties, destroy democracy, and murder millions, within their own countries and abroad, so I was ready to do whatever I could to help end their tyranny. For me this was a just war. Nevertheless, I respected the pacifists who refused to serve because they opposed the use of violence. America has been involved in many other conflicts since that time. I keep hoping we will find other, peaceful ways to settle issues rather than quickly resorting to armed force.

3. You suggest that the education system take up the responsibility of teaching students how to get along in a diverse society. What do you think teachers and parents could do to help young people understand and respect the differences of others?

This gets to the question of stereotyping. My book Never to Forget: The Jews of the Holocaust demonstrates through personal experiences, especially of young people, the deadly effects of stereotyping. One and a half million children were tortured, starved, beaten, shot, gassed, or burned to death. And tens of millions more died in Hitler’s drive to impose his racism on the world. The stereotype reduces the individual character to a single, almost invariably negative, trait. When you see another as a stereotype, you miss that person in all the rich complexity and fascinating contradictions all human beings share. The stereotype is like a virus; it dims your vision so that all persons of a certain group appear not as individuals but as blurred and undifferentiated members of that group, and therefore easily subject to prejudice, discrimination, and persecution.

4. What effect do you think the reading and teaching of history can have on young people?

On the most basic level, if it simply encourages curiosity, it will be doing a great thing. Every student should be encouraged to ask real questions, questions most people care about, even questions that can often embarrass or threaten us. Why are things this way? Can’t they be changed? How do we go about making change? If institutions have become rigidly resistant to change, is violence justifiable to bring about change? What is the cost of change? Who loses and who gains by change? This is what true history does. It asks questions; it stimulates thought; it tries to bring us closer to understanding. The questions it raises about the record of past generations help us to think more clearly about the future we are trying to shape. Without an understanding of the forces moving our country and the world, we are likely to be their victim. Reading history can be challenging if it makes young people more aware, deepens their feelings, broadens their experience, enlarges their understanding–and perhaps even moves them to action.