Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

This article is part of a growing movement to codify extant rights that are at risk due to the jurisprudential revolution now underway at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Codification Project examines the precarious position of one such right--secular conscientious objection in the United States. 

Conscientious objection serves a vital function in a liberal democracy. It allows individuals with sincerely held beliefs to reject the call of government-sanctioned violence. The law on conscientious objection is built on a patchwork of statutes and case law. The relevant statute provides for conscientious objector status to individuals who "by reason of religious training and belief are conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form," but it excludes individuals with essentially political, sociological, or philosophical beliefs, "or a merely personal moral code." Despite the statutory language, the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted this provision to include individuals whose beliefs emanate from moral or ethical sources. Given the Court's recent jurisprudential shift in its approach to statutory construction and religious liberty, this interpretation now stands on shaky ground. 

For these reasons, Congress should amend the Military Selective Service Act to clarify that conscientious objector status is not limited to individuals motivated solely by religious training and belief. Recognition should extend to individuals whose beliefs emanate from moral or ethical sources. This statutory guardrail would protect the status and reach of conscientious objection, a fundamental form of peaceful protest with a long history for those who oppose government-sanctioned violence. It is the sincerely held belief, and not its religious origins, that matters. After all, the concept is referred to as "conscientious objection" and not "religious objection." 

The Codification Project is written to inspire and guide future efforts to protect essential rights. It offers a template for such efforts.

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