Kriegsdienstverweigerung
Friday, June 26th, 2009 03:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
In Germany, cis men over the age of eighteen have to complete nine months of military service or nine months of Zivildienst ("compulsory paid community service", as so aptly translated in Wiki) if they refuse to do the former. It is forbidden by law to force cis women or transmen into military service, and a year of "civilian service" is completely optional for them, too, but unless the people are physically unfit to complete military service or object for reasons of consciousness, they have to do it (transwomen can be exempted for "psychological reasons"). The laws regarding this are outrageous in their gender inequality, and it doesn't look as though they are going to be changed any time soon.
What I find most peculiar about this is that those who do not wish to do military service have to write a lengthy essay in which they detail the reasons for not wanting to do so, why they believe that it is, indeed, unethical to harm other human beings in what your government reckons are the best interests of your country or its allies.
In what world is it the accepted norm to be completely fine with shooting or bombing people?
What I find most peculiar about this is that those who do not wish to do military service have to write a lengthy essay in which they detail the reasons for not wanting to do so, why they believe that it is, indeed, unethical to harm other human beings in what your government reckons are the best interests of your country or its allies.
In what world is it the accepted norm to be completely fine with shooting or bombing people?