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pacifists/conscienti ous objectors/Jeremy Corbyn

(240 Posts)
soontobe Tue 17-Nov-15 08:14:07

I dont get it.

Would they do self defence or not?
Would they defend a neighbour or not?
Would they defend somone at the end of their street that they did not know very well, or not?
Would they defend someone who they didnt know who lived in the next town, who they came across that needed defending?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34832023

Or is it a case of, they are not happy about it, but would do it if they had to?

Ana Wed 18-Nov-15 14:56:56

Or is it Top Secret grin

My FIL was exempt from service because he worked for the Generating Board. He was a keen member of the Home Guard though!

mcem Wed 18-Nov-15 14:01:32

Not quite sure if I understand your reply!
My father had to take his engineering skills 'to another country' since that was where the conflict was but that wasn't the point I was making.
I simply wanted to point out that banned and exempt have significantly different meanings.
Surprised that parents, grandparents and greatgrandparents were all exempt!
Did they all follow the same occupation or was that just coincidence?

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 13:46:50

And they would have been thought terribly of, if they had gone, which they couldnt go anyway.

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 13:45:39

There is no way that the occupation could have been done in another country! And would have been totally against the point.

mcem Wed 18-Nov-15 13:32:44

Banned? You may have been misinformed.

My father was in the last year of an engineering apprenticeship in 1939. Since engineering was a reserved occupation he was exempt from armed service.

However he volunteered to serve in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
and saw action at Dunkirk, N Africa and Italy.

Another family friend was conscripted as a Bevan boy so did not join the services.

Being exempt is not the same as being banned.

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 13:28:19

There was a list of "reserved Occupations and protected work". I have just looked up the proper term.

Ana Wed 18-Nov-15 13:14:36

Banned from going to wars? Why? confused

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 13:13:03

Lg I cant find the thread. Can you remind me which one it is please? Thanks.

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 13:11:37

Greatgrandparents etc on both sides would also have been banned from going to wars for the same reason.

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 13:08:28

Similarly uncles. Two went, but only for the last few months because of age. Because of training, they saw little if anything of any battle[they were in an office I think].

vampirequeen Wed 18-Nov-15 13:07:44

What's a 'right minded person'? Is it someone who wants to 'bomb the b*st*rds' regardless of the innocent people who will be injured/killed? Or is it someone who wants to find a different solution to the problem?

Over the last few decades we've tried the targeted bombing strategy and/or sent in ground troops (legally and illegally). All we've succeeded in doing is make matters worse. Now we have ISIS to deal with.

Do we continue with actions that have not been successful or do we look for another way? At the moment we seem to have an Homer Simpson mentality in that we try an action and find it doesn't work. So we try it again and again in slightly different ways even though it's become totally apparent that it will never work.

www.bing.com/videos/search?q=homer%20simpson%20channel%204&qs=n&form=QBVR&pq=homer%20simpson%20channel%204&sc=0-20&sp=-1&sk=&ghc=1#view=detail&mid=065E6A9BC671880F26A5065E6A9BC671880F26A5

Some of you may think the Homer Simpson analogy is ridiculous. Well Homer is ridiculous. But then isn't repeating actions that simply don't work when dealing with ISIS or any other terrorist group equally as ridiculous.

JamJar1 Wed 18-Nov-15 13:05:38

Hi again, my parents were too young as well but I used to ask them about life, growing up during air raids, etc. And I have researched some branches of my family tree and been able to trace all sorts of stories from both wars. I suppose I am posting again to say if you want to, you may not, you can find out so much online.

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 12:57:32

I am now 54.
My parents and all grandparents didnt go to war, as they were not allowed to, as their occupations were deemed too important to the war effort, and they were forced to stay home. It caused guilt in some of them, but there was nothing they could do about it.

JamJar1 Wed 18-Nov-15 12:53:36

Hi soon it says in your profile you are early 50's? I think there are quite a few of us in our 50's. I can remember covering both wars at school but also learned so much more from talking to my grandparents, my parents.

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 12:53:36

Sorry Ab. I got a bit lost by your comments, but now see where your post of 12.19pm came from. But still cant see where your 12.26pm comes from.

Ab and petra. I am, as everyone is, a product of whatever was the specific school curriculum of the time.

Lg I will look at the other thread if I can find it. But I didnt put my questions as far as I have this time.

Anniebach Wed 18-Nov-15 12:36:03

soon, sorry but I am confused by your replies , you post a link on an article on Corbyn, I reply quoting the first comment reported and now you ask which bit I meant.

On the subject of the two world wars, I was taught about c/ objectors, my daughters were as were my grand children , I am surprised you did not cover the wars during your time at school

Luckygirl Wed 18-Nov-15 12:33:54

This is a fruitless thread. There is no scope for the intelligent debate that many posters are trying so hard to initiate, as it is regularly scuppered.

This issue of what pacifism is has been debated and described in detail on another thread, but one person seems not to have grasped it yet.

Corbyn is being true to his beliefs and is stating that he does not think that Britain should engage in any acts of war that are illegal - I find it hard to believe that anyone could take issue with that. There is general agreement that when when we last did that we exacerbated the situation.

trisher Wed 18-Nov-15 12:30:29

Soon Your post uses the term "defend" a lot. It is not defence to drop bombs on what may or may not be a group of IS or women and children they have chosen to use as hostages/cover. It is not defence to send troops into a country unless they have asked for help. It is not defence to launch attacks on anyone unless you are absolutely certain that the outcome will be something better than the situation as it is. I would have thought we might have learned something from past 'actions'. The roots of IS are certainly in our actions in Iraq. If we are not careful we will find ourselves in the same position as the Americans did in Vietnam, fighting an unwinable war against idealism, with the very real difference that our opponents will have the facilities to bring their fight to our own shores. If we do not learn the lessons of history we are fated to repeat our mistakes.

Anniebach Wed 18-Nov-15 12:26:45

When were these talks held soon? Not between one or two countries

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 12:23:14

petra. I did two years of Latin. It was definitely war stuff, but as far as I can remember anyway, no way was it WW11 stuff. It was more like 1000AD stuff.

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 12:22:02

I am not sure which bit you are exactly meaning Ab, but you think he is changing his opinion now?

petra Wed 18-Nov-15 12:21:13

Soontobe. Many moons ago you told us that you did Latin at school. I find it difficult to believe that a school that taught Latin didn't mention the two world wars. And it's Henry V111 not, Henry 8th.

rosequartz Wed 18-Nov-15 12:20:42

Allule
I hope that my DGC are becoming civilised human beings who are starting to listen to reason.

I don't think discussion and negotiation are on ISIL's agenda.

Anniebach Wed 18-Nov-15 12:19:09

soon, he said - cannot currently , this was said in the summer not this week

soontobe Wed 18-Nov-15 12:19:07

Sorry to be brutal, but I have put it in context for you.