Say "NO!" to the Occupation!

[Boris Godunov]

Can they send you to prison for not registering with selective service? I thought they could only deny you federal loans/grants/etc.

[Ramo]

Yep, in Texas at least. I got a letter saying that if I didn't register with the SS, I could be thrown in prison.

[Boris Godunov]

Yeah, but in Texas, they'll throw you in jail for not owning a big enough gun.

[Ramo]

[David Floyd]

It's just like any other law you have to follow... whether you like it or not, and no matter what your opinoin on the subject is... it is THE law at this point in time.

And do you feel "coerced" not to commit murder or other acts simply because you get sent to prison.
Your logic is really weak/nonexsistent on this one.

Regardless of what the law says, not showing up for a draft call is a victimless crime - actually, it's the opposite of that, because not only does NOT going not harm anyone, but if I showed up to fight I WOULD be harming someone. Therefore, I have a moral obligation to ignore any such call.

That's my view of it, anyway - not only is there no moral obligation for me to go fight, there is actually a moral obligation for me NOT to fight (except in self defense).

[Shi Huangdi]

Just because 51% of the people say to do something doesn't make it morally right. God gave us a free will and a conscience and we are obligated to use them. If the government is telling you to do something wrong, then you should not do it and follow your conscience. Mark, if you believe the Occupation is as bad as most on the left make it out to be, then it would be morally abhorrent of you to go along with the draft.

I also think the draft is immoral. Like the Founding Fathers, I believe that people have natural rights and to force a person who has done nothing wrong to give up their freedom and possibly their life for something they might not believe in is wrong and should be avoided.

to Ramo and Floyd on this thread.

[Ming]

If you were so morally opposed to it David, you wouldn't register and stand up for your views. Your actions don't support what you call a "moral obligation"

[David Floyd]

Actually, my act of signing up for Selective Service is not morally repugnant. Me being forced to is, but that's different.

It would only be morally wrong for me to respond to a draft call.

[Ramo]

Seeing as how actually being drafted is so unlikely, registering with the SS isn't a moral issue one way or the other. And the whole felony issue pretty much decides it.

[Ming]

Hey David... If you think the draft is unconstitutional, don't register. Stand up for your moral right. Fight it... take it all the way to the supreme court. Be willing to take grief that other great civil rights people took for standing up... Oh that's right, it's not really important enough to you to possibly go to jail over it

[David Floyd]

Fight it... take it all the way to the supreme court.

The only thing someone my age is likely to get out of a court case is a summary dismissal and a lecture by a jackass judge.

And there's the minor problem of money.

[Ming]

I'm just funnin' you anyway. I bet you wouldn't believe that I voted for two libertarians this time around... but I did. But I'm not sure whether that is saying something good about the libs, or saying something bad about the people they were running against

[David Floyd]

No, it wouldn't surprise me, actually.

And I know you were kidding, I just have fun trying to troll out the people who REALLY believe in conscription

[Ramo]

It's not merely a "possibility" that fighting a SS-related felony charge will get you locked up; it's a near certainty. Going against a long tradition of defying the Consitution generally isn't a good idea (particular wrt such an irrelevent fight).

Bah, I ought to refresh more often.

[David Floyd]

Actually, the government has not prosecuted a case of not signing up for SS since the early '80s...apparently, when they prosecute, the percentages of people signing up go DOWN, so it isn't worth it to them.