Adventist

Church of God General Conference

Whereas, There are many of the members of the Church of God who, as individuals, sincerely and earnestly believe that military service, like similar activity in private life, is, in principle, contrary to the principles of forgiveness and love as taught by Jesus, and later by His apostles, and is, therefore, unchristian; and

Whereas, Many of said Church of God believe, as is reported to have been stated during the administration of ex-president Wilson, that "there is no non-combatant service," but that what is called non-combatant service is a necessary part and parcel of any and every military campaign; that the participant therein is a contributor to the main service, and, as such, is in harmony with common law and practice of holding one who aids and abets another in the commission of unlawful deeds, a participant and an offender with the instigator and executor of the offense; and

Whereas, The Government of the United States has from its beginning recognized the right of every person to exalt service unto God and His Son above the service to country and to flag (and this without in any manner manifesting disrespect to one's country) in that it has provided, by its Constitution, in Amendment I, Article 1—

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

and, Article 1, Section 9, Paragraph 2—

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it;

and, further, Article 6, Paragraph 2—
This Constitution . . . shall be the supreme law of the land;

and

Whereas, The Government has continuously sought to execute the spirit of these constitutionally recognized duties and provisions respecting all persons who furnish conclusive evidence that they, as avowed followers of Christ, are conscientiously opposed to military service; and

Whereas, This Church of God does not profess a creed, other than the Bible, by or according to which it receives or controls its members, and therefore cannot declare, as a matter of denominational creed, as to military service of its membership; therefore

Be it Resolved, That this General Conference of the Church of God, in Conference assembled at Oregon, Illinois, August 17, 1922—

1. Urge each individual member of its number to at all times, in military and all other matters, continue true and faithful in the performance of Christian duty according to personal conviction as to what constitutes faithful and loyal service to God through His Son;

obligation differ from country to country and even change from time to time within a country.

(From Seventh-day Adventist Teachings on Governmental Relationships and Noncombatancy, 1982)

Whereas, Under the present Selective Service Law the personal religious belief of the registrant is the vital point;

Whereas, The Church while teaching noncombatancy has recognized that is members must make a personal decision in connection with their period of obligated service to the country; therefore

We Recommend,

1. That these young men of the church making a decision concerning their obligated term of service to the country first consider the historic teaching of the church on non-combatancy, which would lead them to choose the 1-A-0 classification.

2. That for those then choosing the 1-0 classification, pastoral support, guidance, and counsel be provided when it is established that such a request is based on a consistent religious experience.

3. That such support be given by pastors, teachers, or other workers writing statements of their personal knowledge of the man's

a. Church membership.
b. Attendance and participation in services of the church.
c. Personal standards of conduct.
d. Previous expressions of belief supporting his request for 1-0 classification.

4. That those writing such statements request the draft board to respect and honor the man's personal convictions.

(From Actions on the Autumn Council of the General Conference, October 12, 1969) A Statement on Peace

It is therefore right and proper for Christians to promote peace. The Seventh-day Adventist Church urges every nation to beat its "swords into plowshares" and its "spears into pruning hooks" (Isa. 2:4). The church's Bible-based Fundamental Belief No. 7 states that men and women were "created for the glory of God" and were "called to love Him and one another, and to care for their environment," not to destroy or hurt one another. Christ Himself said, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matt. 5:9).