Renee Metcalf Mrs. Mutschler English 1020 September 14, 2014 Punishing Innocence About one hundred years ago The United States took part in the First World War. Many men volunteered to fight in the epic battle that would kill thousands, however, there were some that wanted nothing to do with the fighting and were completely anti-war. These people were called pacifists, or anti-war protestors. Since this was back in 1914 Americans couldn’t express their opinion without being out casted and mistreated. As a result of this era, these anti-war protestors were looked at as traitors to their country. Anti-war protestors were innocently punished in World War One because they voiced their opinions, refused the draft, and had different views on violence. …show more content…
Meaning everyone has a right to speak their mind. For Anti-war protestors in 1914, this freedom was apparently under looked. When World War One began many were convinced that fighting was the only option and that refusing the war was a sign of being non-patriotic or a traitor to their country. According to the History Learning Site, Pacifists and World War One article, 36 men who protested the war were shipped to France where “They were endangered of being sucked into the war machine with no help from civilian authorities.” (Pacifists and World War One). Which concluded to a ten year prison sentence instead, just for refusing to fight. These men were simply voicing their opinion and were innocently punished for doing so. Since so many protestors were punished for simply publicly disagreeing with the war, there were very few organizations made for anti-war protesting. There were however, two major ones called Fellowship of Reconciliation and No Conscription Fellowship. BBC’s article on pacifism states that there were about 16,000 pacifists during World War One and most were members of the organizations. Sixteen thousand people were anti-war and punished for it during that first war. Not only did these protestors get punished for voicing their opinions but they also refused the draft and were severely …show more content…
According to BBC, there are three main reasons why someone would choose to be a pacifist. The first reason their article, Pacifism, gives is that religion is playing a major part. Many religions are anti-violence and strong believers in it could choose to be a pacifist against the war. The other two major reasons given by BBC is “non-religious belief in the sanctity of life” and “practical belief that war is wasteful and ineffective.” (Pacifism). Both of these are reasons anyone could choose to become anti-war. In today’s age, many are anti-war due to beliefs that war is a waste of time and they are not innocently punished for doing/thinking so. Back during World War One, pacifists had to be extremely religious, or a strong believer, and also extremely brave to stand up against the norms of society and protest the war especially knowing the consequences that could happen. During World War One there were many who were punished for simply being anti-war and expressing their freedom of speech. In today’s era, there are many pacifists that also voice their opinions not only on war but many other controversial topics. Pacifists aren’t being punished today for doing the same thing that was done in World War One. Being out casted and harshly mistreated for strongly believing something is ridiculous. Anti-war pacifists during World War One should not have been innocently punished for just voicing their opinion,