The “Objector Church” and Courage to Resist
We’re excited to announce that Courage to Resist is now a project of the Church of Conscious Objection (CCO), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization (EIN 83-1810568).
The church was recently founded by three current members of the Courage to Resist organizing collective, so we’re looking forward to a very collaborative relationship with our new fiscal sponsor. Courage to Resist’s mission and organizing structure will not change, and donations will continue to be tax-deductible.
The “Objector Church” embraces the historic legacy of religious humanism, with a simple doctrine: To do the right thing, guided by an embrace of humanity and a rejection of war and militarism. It’s a non-denominational peace and justice ministry, so everyone is welcome.
Aside from supporting Courage to Resist, the church will be launching a national conscientious objection registry. Right now, every young man in the United States between the ages of 18 and 25 is required by law to register for the draft. As we’ve been writing about, it’s likely that this forced registration will soon be expanded to women as well, since all military jobs are now open to women for the first time.
The Selective Service System has no method of (or interest in) recording an individual’s objection to participating in war at the time of registration. The church will provide counseling and options such as notarized letters of support for an individual’s conscientious beliefs. These will serve as evidence of previously held beliefs in the case of a draft.
Visit the church at objector.church
What is changing?
Since we have a new tax ID number, we have to cancel all of our monthly donation pledges. For security reasons, we don’t store anyone’s financial information, so we can’t automatically enroll sustainers in our new system. That’s a big deal, as we count on those funds for our basic organizational expenses. We hope (and plead) that folks will sign up here to start or renew their monthly donation.
“The effectiveness of Courage to Resist is growing, but this cannot continue unless we actively step up to the plate…”
