Conscientious Objection Workshop – Aug 10, 13 & 17 online
Conscientious Objection: Is This for You? Discerning, Deciding, Documenting and Defending a CO Claim with Selective Service
Three sessions: August 10, August 13 and August 17, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Eastern. [That’s 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Central!]
Join online through Zoom from anywhere, or attend in person at Durham Friends Meeting in Durham, North Carolina.
Register for Conscientious Objection Workshop
Effective December 18, 2026, eligible males assigned male at birth, ages 18 to 25, will be automatically registered for the military draft pool using existing federal and state records, removing the need to register manually. How do we respond as Friends, and how do we prepare the young people in our lives and communities?
Join Friends for this comprehensive, interactive workshop for teens and young adults of any gender, as well as interested adults and mentors of any age. A diversity of participants will enrich the discussion. Personal participation in war affects everyone, not only 18-year-old males.
The workshop covers Selective Service legislation, definitions of conscientious objection, activities to help participants discern and articulate their beliefs, and strategies for defending those beliefs. By the end, participants will have a better understanding of conscientious objection, a deeper grounding in the source of their convictions, and a CO letter articulating their beliefs.
The Selective Service process provides no place to indicate a conscientious-objection claim. It says that a claim can be made only if a draft is reinstated and a person receives an induction notice. That may be too late. This workshop addresses that gap and provides extensive materials, including a workbook for documenting personal reflection, activities and discussion.
The workshop is a collaboration among the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative, Durham Friends Meeting and Quaker House.
Facilitator Curt Torell, Ph.D., serves on the Steering Circle of the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative and is a longtime board member of Quaker House, a Friends witness for peace serving members of the military who are questioning their roles. Curt is a member of Chapel Hill Meeting in North Carolina.