The soul of a soldier

Jake Malloy enlisted in the Army at 19, before the war with Iraq began and before he had thought much about the intersection of his religious faith and a duty to kill, should it arise.

For most of the past five years, Malloy, an MU graduate, was a cook stationed in Washington, Mo. But, in July, when he learned his unit would begin training for probable deployment to Iraq, Malloy suffered a crisis of conscience. Unable to reconcile Christ’s teachings with the use of lethal force, Malloy filed a claim with the Army, asking that he be classified as a conscientious objector.

Now, with his unit, the 1011th Quartermaster Company, running convoys in Baghdad, Malloy has been assigned to an administrative unit at Fort Sill, Okla., where he works shelving books at the base library. The monotony of the job gives him plenty of time to reflect on a decision that cost him his rank and, if the Army’s decision on his claim goes against him, could send him to prison for two years.

Malloy had been in line for promotion to staff sergeant when, last September, he committed the cardinal sin of disobeying a direct order by refusing to pick up a weapon. His commanding officer enforced Article 15, a non-judicial punishment, and 45 days of extra duty. When Malloy told his commander that he intended to claim status as a conscientious objector, the officer’s response was that he would personally see to it that Malloy received 40 years in prison.

On another occasion a different officer made Malloy stand at parade rest for five hours during a training exercise, says Josh Armfield, a friend and fellow member of the 1011th.

“I once heard him say that this was the most persecution that he has ever received for his beliefs,” Armfield writes in an e-mail message from Iraq, “and it is nothing compared to what many other Christians have received.”

The Army defines conscientious objection as “a firm, fixed and sincere objection to participation in the war in any form or the bearing of arms, because of religious training and belief.” Conscientious objectors must be opposed to all war, not just one specific military engagement; political opposition is not legitimate grounds for a conscientious objector claim.

What matters most in the process is Malloy’s sincerity and how well he expressed it in a two-page, single-spaced statement that describes how the taking of life is “inconsistent with the nature of Christ.”

There were no multiple forms to fill out, no point at which his civilian friends and family members were asked to speak of Malloy’s faith or how his wife, Tiffany, fell in love with him because of his wisdom and his love of God. He met with an Army chaplain, a psychologist and an investigating officer, who prepared four copies of a report summarizing the case.

And now Malloy waits. He will not be present when an Army review board makes its decision. If his claim is rejected, he can appeal to a civilian court or face court-martial. If his claim is accepted, the investigating officer can recommend Malloy be given a discharge — although Malloy said he would like to fulfill his military obligation. He enlisted for a six-year stint in the Army with two additional years in the Reserves. As part of his claim, he has asked the Army to keep him on active duty in a non-combatant role. He is even willing to go to Iraq, but on one condition: He refuses to carry a weapon.

“I’m not opposed to being in a dangerous position or giving my life for the benefit of others,” Malloy says. “But I am opposed to taking the lives of others.”

JOURNEY OF FAITH

“But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” — Romans 14:23

Malloy accepted Jesus Christ as his savior at a small Baptist church in Potosi when he was 9 years old. He grew up memorizing Scripture and hearing Sunday school stories about turning the other cheek.

When he enlisted in the Army, Malloy considered the use of the military as necessary to alleviate oppression. It wasn’t until he was ordered to actually learn how to use weapons that he began to re-evaluate his views.

“We grow up with things people tell us, we develop this idea of what the world is like,” he says. “I had done that, and it takes some time to scrape away at the misconceptions and develop a view that is really consistent with your other views.”

Malloy’s written claim, which he submitted to the Army in October, shows that the young soldier has thought about his obligations as a Christian and how it intersects with the realities of war. The statement references 37 Bible verses, although his journey could probably be summarized by one in particular, Romans 14:23. “But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

The verse forced Malloy to line up his conscience and his faith; to ask himself whether he possesses the love of Christ that would justify his claim to be a conscientious objector.

“I had to wrestle with the fact whether or not I could do my duty in faith,” Malloy says. “And if I had doubt about the rightness of that, then I was sinning.”

Tiffany Malloy says her husband is known for his soft-spoken nature. She says she’s only heard him raise his voice twice in the five years she’s known him, and even then, she says, the neighbors next door wouldn’t be able to hear it. He’s slow to speak until he knows what he believes.

“Jake has always tried to be very clear about how he feels about something and what side of the fence he’s on,” says his father, Calvin Malloy.

His parents describe him as studious and honest. When Malloy called his mother, Denise Malloy, to inform her of his decision and the possibility of prison time, she says she knew he had devoted a significant amount of time praying over the decision.

But the uncertainty has been difficult. Malloy’s family has not been eager to tell church members about Jake’s claim, and although his mother says church members would support her son, they might not agree with his position on the war, which has received the support of many Christians, especially evangelicals.

Expressing the sincerity of his belief has been especially difficult for Malloy. Opposition to war is a peripheral issue, rather than a core foundation of the Christian faith. Nor is it a point of view endorsed by Malloy’s Southern Baptist denomination.

With fellow Southern Baptists such as vocal scholar Richard Land showing strong support for the president, Malloy finds himself in the minority.

“Jake is more articulate than others I’ve worked with and has a very deep faith,” says James Branum, a counselor with the Oklahoma Committee for Conscientious Objectors, whose activism stems from his Mennonite roots. “I have known very few evangelicals that have his belief, so that was really encouraging to me.”

But perhaps the tides are turning among evangelicals. The popular Christian movie, “End of the Spear,” captures the lives of five missionaries, including noted pacifist Jim Elliot, whose families chose not to retaliate against the tribe who murders the five men. Christian singer/songwriter Derek Webb has also publicly commented on the Iraq war with his latest album, “Mockingbird,” which is filled with anti-war lyrics.

TRENDS OF CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION

“Then the officers shall add, ‘Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too.’” — Deuteronomy 20:8

The U.S. Department of Defense began to officially recognize conscientious objector status in 1962. Applications remained low until the Vietnam War, when, in 1971, more than 4,300 soldiers filed claims. Elimination of the draft and institution of an all-volunteer military has kept the number of claims low. In 2005, there were 61 conscientious objector claims filed — a miniscule percentage of active and reserve soldiers on duty, said Army spokeswoman Maj. Elizabeth Robbins.

“Typically soldiers fulfill the obligation that they voluntarily made to serve the nation,” Robbins said. “Clearly we need our forces prepared. This is the mission the nation has given us, and if a soldier is not willing to perform their duty, then we would need to process them out of the Army.”

But organizations such as the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, a nonprofit group that provides counseling for service members considering filing claims, argues that the number of conscientious objectors is higher than the number of claims suggests. In 2005, the committee-sponsored GI Rights Hotline received 197 calls dealing with conscientious objection.

“We definitely have more people calling recently,” says hotline counselor Steve Woolford.

Theo Sitther, a lobbyist for the Center on Conscience and War, a Washington-based nonprofit founded in the 1940s to aid conscientious objectors, said Army figures may be lower because of the handling of the process.

“We know that the numbers are much higher than that,” Sitther says. “There are a number of people who apply for the CO discharge and, during that time, a lot of these guys get tired of it and get mistreated and end up going absent without leave or find other ways to get out. That is where the numbers get skewed a bit.”

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” — Matthew 6:34

After months of waiting as his claim meanders through military bureaucracy, a superior officer told Malloy the Department of the Army would hear his claim in mid-March. As of Friday, his case is still under review. Malloy would be entitled to an honorable discharge from the Army if his claim is successful, although he says he hopes he will be granted non-combatant status. If he is denied, Malloy says he plans to take his case to civilian court with Branum's help.

“The Supreme Court said that it is not the military’s job to examine the religious belief, but whether or not the claim is sincere,” Branum says.

In the long afternoons at Fort Sill, when Malloy reads alone in his room and thinks about the members of his unit who are running convoys in Baghdad, the doubts arise. So do the questions, one in particular: Has God abandoned him during one of the most difficult times of his life?

“Seeing all the things mounting up against me, sometimes I wonder if this was the right step,” he says. “Thus far, God has brought me through. People go through a lot harder things for the name of Christ.”

In his mind and in the end, Malloy says he will know that what he did was right. Prayer and Bible study prepared him for the decision to file his claim. Everything about the process, he says, including the interminable wait for the Army to issue a ruling in his case, has helped make him more like Christ, who modeled compassion and endured suffering.

“My belief in general is more consistent with the compassion we see in God and through his son,” Malloy says. “It’s changed my view of what justice really is.”

[Note: this story has been modified since its original posting to more fully identify a source on first reference.]