The story behind Doss consenting to have the movie done

[Stan]

The often untold story

 

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/faith/conscientious-objector-left-mark-on-battlefield-400922351.html

[debbym]

Awesome story.  Thank-you Stan for moving on your inspiration to have this story told onscreen.

[Stan]

I doubt they would have a copy, it is not an Adventist production..  Check out the theatres.

[Gregory Matthews]

In the opening post, Stan provides a link to an interesting article about Doss.  I  take issue with the statement quoted below from that article:

1)  Doss was a U.S. citizen who served in the U.S. Army.  Statements about his service must be evaluated in the context of U.S. law and regulation.   These may be different in other countries, such as Canada.  I do not know.  But, the criteria for Doss must be U. S. law and regulation.

2) The governing laws and regulations will generally be those of the U. S. Selective Service System.

3)  The U.S. Selective Service System defines a conscientious objector as one who has been granted a 1AO classification by it.  Those who have been granted a 1AO classification serve in the military and they do NOT perform so-called "alternative service."  Those granted a 1AO classification perform military service in a manner in which they do not use weapons.  Under those conditions they are inducted into a military service.  NOTE:  This has mostly been the Army, but it has also included the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

4)  Those who perform alternative service are those who have been granted a 1O classification by the U.S. Selective  Service.  They are considered to be pacifists.  As such they refuse to perform any kind of military service.  The Alternative Service that they perform is not in any branch of the military.

5)  The official position of the SDA denomination is not that of a pacifist position.  Although, it could be argued that it was such during the so-called civil war.  Rather, the official position has been that SDA members in the United States only serve in the military in a 1AO position as a conscientious objector.

6)  An exception to #5 above, has been made for chaplains as due to the Geneva Conventions, chaplains are non-combatants, and the U.S. follows sthe Geneva Conventions as applied to chaplains.

7)  In addition, the official position of the SDA denomination is that military service is an individual decision as to whether one is a full-fledged combatant, a conscientious objector, or a pacifist.  In   any case all members who enter military service should be provided pastoral care.

My personal position includes the following:

a)  With some exceptions (e.g. chaplains and some other cases)  SDA members who follow traditional SDA beliefs and practices will typically discover that it is exceptionally hard to be a member of the military and maintain their required practices.  IOW, do not join.

'b) I agree with # 7, as I have listed it above.

c)  Situations will differ greatly in other countries.  In those countries where one is required to serve in the military, follow the law and attempt to, while in military service, follow your beliefs and practices as did Doss.

d)  While there may have been individual SDAs who performed alternative service, they were few and far between and did not represent the official SDA position.

e)  We have always had SDA members, to include the present, who have joined the military, probably in larger   numbers than realized by many of our members, and serve in full-fledged combatant  positions.  I attended a church yesterday with a Marine who had just graduated from his BCT (Basic Combat Training).  These people deserve full pastoral care and support.  They DO NOT deserve discipline.

 

 

 

Quote

When it comes to conscientious objection in the U.S. and Canada, Mennonites tend to get the most attention. But the ranks of those who did alternative service to being in the military during that war also included Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Quakers, groups that also teach against participation in war, together with men from other Christian denominations.

Unlike conscientious objectors who offered to serve at lumber camps, building roads, or working in mental health facilities, Doss chose a different route. He decided to join the military as a medic.

[Stan]

His audience is Mennonites, when he talks abut the Adventist position it is about the Canadian adventist position at that time.

 

This is a story, not about what you have issues with, but about Doss and the CO.