The other evening as I was squeezing out the final hours of a free week of Apple TV, I came across a documentary entitled “The Conscientious Objector.”
The subject of the film was a man named Desmond Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist and conscientious objector during World War II, but the title of the documentary immediately reminded me of the late, great Muhammed Ali, a member of the nation of Islam, world boxing champion and conscientious objector during the Vietnam war.
Ali refused to be inducted into military service because he considered the war on the Vietnamese people to be genocide and could not, in good conscience, fight in the name of a country where Black and Brown people were being oppressed, taking his stand as a conscientious objector by reason of freedom of conscience. Ali drew a symbolic line in the sand, refused to back down, cross over to the other side or obey what someone else was demanding he do. He was subsequently arrested, jailed, and on June 20, 1967 convicted as a criminal by an all-White jury who gave him the maximum sentence of 5 years and a $10,000 fine, the equivalent of $100,000 in today’s economy. In addition, the boxing industry stripped Ali of his heavyweight boxing title and banned him from the sport for roughly 3 ½ years.
But Muhammed Ali was a fighter, so he fought back, but not with his fists. He appealed his conviction, battled with people who saw him as a draft dodger and, amazingly, was able to avoid detainment during the appeal process. On June 28, 1971, the US Supreme Court reversed itself and revised Ali’s conviction. He went on to continue his boxing career, reclaimed his place as the world’s heavyweight champion and became a global figure. When he was asked if he intended to sue for damages, Ali responded, “No. They only did what they thought was right at the time. I did what I thought was right. That was all. I can’t condemn them for doing what they think was right.”[1]
In contrast, Desmond Doss felt duty-bound to serve America during World War II, but he objected to going—and refused to go—with a weapon in his hand, constrained by GOD’s Law instructing him not to murder. To not be involved in the intentional taking of a human life, as Cain did and was. Like Ali, Doss drew a line in the sand and refused to back down, or cross over to the other side or, as a religious conscientious objector, obey a human command that was contrary to GOD’s. He offered to serve as a medic instead, to help others, but he refused to lift a hand to harm anyone.[2]
Doss’ religious conviction made him a pariah among the other soldiers and the army in general. Everyone wanted him gone. The combination of his physical size, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 145-pounds, and his refusal to carry a weapon led to the other soldiers feeling unsafe about going into a foxhole with him. They believed Doss could not be depended on to have their back in battle. But as the prophet Samuel learned, GOD does not make determinations based on outward appearance, which is what people look at and use to judge a person. GOD is looking into a person’s heart, into their soul.[3]
As one injustice after another was carried out against him by the Army in its attempt to drive him out of the military, Doss would not be moved. He fought each and every oppressive attack with unwavering courage and trust in GOD and was victorious each and every time, shielded under GOD’s protection.
During the battle at Hacksaw Ridge is when the Army, and every soldier therein, learned how wrong they had been about Desmond Doss, who singlehandedly rescued seventy-five soldiers. As he was being honored for his heroism, for which he received the Medal of Honor, a reporter asked Doss how he did it, and his answer is a reflection of the depth, width and height of his faith and relationship with GOD.[4]
Doss said he asked GOD to help him get to just one man, and then he started crawling toward a fallen soldier. After reaching him, the 145-pound man carried the soldier over to the edge of the cliff and lowered him down to the ground with ropes. Doss said he asked GOD again to help him reach just one more man. He crawled to another soldier, carried him to the edge of the cliff and lowered him to the ground. 73 more times Doss asked GOD to help him reach just one more man, resulting in the rescue of 75 soldiers, though not all of them survived. He said he refused to leave any man behind, knowing as he did what the enemy would do to their bodies.
Near the end of the film, a former adversarial bunk mate, one of the soldiers rescued by Doss, said of the man, “He was different from us.” Based on the reports of his life from childhood on, I would add that hero Desmond Doss was actually a holy man dressed in army regalia who was—yes—quite different from the rest.
As the credits were rolling, I realized the documentary had answered a question I had long been waiting for GOD to answer, concerning my Jesus’ command to endure patiently. I needed to know what life actually looked like for the one patiently enduring, according to my Lord’s understanding and not my own. I needed and wanted to see what it really meant for endurance to hold hands with patience.
Although my heart felt confident I was on the right road, my soul is not so easily satisfied, given that my understanding is not a solid enough rock to stand on, leading to the question I presented to GOD, which I asked because I want very much to be commended as one who endured patiently. Not only because I love and want to always please my Lord Jesus on a daily basis, but also because of His promise to shield and protect from the hour of trial and testing coming on the inhabitants of the Earth, those who endured patiently. How? I have no ideas, but it’s not really necessary for me to understand the whole design, because I trust that whatever method Jesus chooses to use to shield and protect will be as effective as those used by GOD to shield and protect Noah and his family during the flood, and Doss during the heat of the battle.[5]
Mine was a simple and momentary case of having sight but lacking an ability to see. So, GOD made the answer to my question plain for me to see, using the life of a religious conscientious objector named Desmond Doss.[6]
As America continues rushing toward its not-well-thought-out future—a future where the needs of human beings and other creatures of the Earth are crowded out, dismissed and ignored in order to fund more costly wars and weaponize robots for use as killing machines, machines some human creators hope will one day have the ability to pick and attack targets and individuals on their own, free of any human involvement—it may be that some citizens will feel compelled to become conscientious objectors themselves, because they can no longer remain neutral or silent about what it is they are witnessing, hearing and experiencing and are, by default, prepared to endure the consequences sure to follow, convinced that freedom of conscience is worth fighting for.
For the religious conscientious objector, the one who can afford not to be fearful, is unafraid of what the future holds, who hears the echo of GOD’s mercy in their soul, whose trust and confidence in GOD are unshakable, the one for whom GOD is more than enough, fighting for the right to object to and refuse all things contrary to GOD is as natural as breathing.
The thinking goes somethiing like this: “What is a man, that I should fear him? With GOD on my side, no weapon formed against me shall succeed.” The world may shout at us to “Stop!” but Faith gives a little pat to our backside and says “Go!” and off we go to claim, exercise and fight for our GOD given right to object and refuse, covered by divine protection and grace.[7]
The Book of Revelation speaks of a final war that armies of the world will engage in, most likely with their killing machines, but our fight—our battle—is not one that can be fought or won with fists, guns, bombs or violence of any kind. Nor is the battle fought for the religious objector’s sake alone (GOD tends to multitask using one person for the benefit of many). The fight is an internal one, and the object of the battle is to endure with patience what must be endured, without giving into outrage, however justified one’s rage may be. To object, refuse and fight in a steadfast and patient manner without yielding or bowing down to the human tendency to become enraged enough to pick up a weapon and kill someone. We fight, yes, but this is truly not our battle, it dates back to the Lord GOD.[8]
To anyone who also wants to endure patiently, I submit to you that our Lord’s command to patiently endure—as GOD has patiently endured humanity’s unfaithfulness—relies on our keeping wrath in check, our eyes locked on the heavenly prize, so that no one can take our crown, and standing firmly on the Rock of Ages, because all other ground is sinking sand, held tightly in GOD’s embrace as the bullets whiz by.[9]
The documentary, “The Conscientious Objector,” can be downloaded from the Roku channel station at:
https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/7e33bdb35ad2564881ef752af30c6b42/the-conscientious-objector
Blessings…
[1] https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/alie28099s-supreme-court-decision-was-biggest-victory.
[2] Genesis 4:1-8; Exodus 20:13. “Thou shall not kill” is the familiar rendition, but the sense of the text is referring to an intentional killing, what we refer to as murder in the first degree.
[3] 1 Samuel 16:7b-c (NIV).
[4] Deuteronomy 20:1-4; Joshua 1:7-9; Psalm 60:11-12; Isaiah 54:17; Philippians 4:13; 1 John 5:13-15.
[5] Proverbs 3:5-8; 1 John 3:19-22; Revelation 3:10.
[6] Genesis 6:1-9:17.
[7] Psalm 27:1, 46:1-3; Isaiah 51:12, 54:17; Luke 12:4-5.
[8] 2 Chronicles 20:15; Ephesians 6:10-20; Revelation 16:12-16, 19:11-21.
[9] Psalm 91; Isaiah 26:4; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 3:1-1; Revelation 13:10-11.
Sacred Deliberations 
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