7-12-2-1 Christadelphian Conscientious
Objection
Extracts From " Conscientious Objection"
The above book, published by the U.S. Govt. Printing Office in 1950,
is the official U.S. Government analysis of the various groups in
North America who sought exemption from military service in World
War 2.
" ... [Christadelphian] members always applied to the
Government to be relieved from military duty in consequence of religious
and conscientious scruples. In order that they might be identified,
they adopted the name " Christadelphian" . They have
consistently maintained that their faith prohibited participation
in the armed forces...the Christadelphian church as a whole was perhaps
the most strict of the non-resistance groups...the Christadelphians
did not work against the war; each one simply took his individual
stand...a very definite stand was taken by this church...a table
has been prepared which lists the denominations in the order of the
ratios of conscientious objectors in camps to the total membership.
This reveals, in general, the degree to which the registrants [members]
of these churches objected to service in the armed forces...ratios
per 1000 of church membership: Christadelphian, 49, Jehovah's Witnesses
7, Church of God 1...it would appear from table No. 25 that the members
of the Christadelphian church followed more closely than any other
denomination the doctrine of their denomination as it related to conscientious
objection...ratios of camps assignees [i.e. conscientious objectors]
to church membership show the Christadelphians highest"
. [Emphasis mine throughout]. |