In this year filled with 80th anniversaries linked to World War II, between the battles of Dunkirk and Paris, there’s been less discussion of anniversary of the Selective Service legislation—signed as many wondered when, not if, the U.S. would enter the war. Signed into legislation on September 29, 1940, the Selective Training and Service Act was the first peacetime conscription in US history. A few days later came the official founding of the Center on Conscience & War, the only national organization aimed at protecting the rights of conscientious objectors to war.

 

This Saturday, October 3, 2020, the Center on Conscience & War celebrates their 80th anniversary in an online event that includes a preview documentarian Judith Ehrlich's new film, conversations with conscientious objector Dan Seeger, a conversation with journalist Chris Lombardi, author of I Ain't Marching Any More, the first sweeping history of dissent in the U.S. armed forces, and more.