• By enlisting in the military you lose a certain amount of your individual freedom and decision-making. You subordinate yourself to the chain of command and the collective will.

• However, although you are not fundamentally free to choose your mission, you still maintain your humanity – you cannot be made to do something that you fundamentally believe is wrong.

• You are obliged to disobey any order that is illegal (such as an order to use lethal force against unarmed peaceful protestors). However, force may be permitted if it is being employed in order to protect life.

See 5 of Diamonds, and 2 of Clubs

Melissa Bergeron, ‘Selective Conscientious Objection: A Violation of the Social Contract’, in Andrea Ellner, Paul Robinson, and David Whetham (eds.), When Soldiers Say No: Selective Conscientious Objection in the Modern Military, (Ashgate, Farnham, 2014), p59-60.

Paul Robinson, ‘Selective Conscientious Objection’, in George Lucas (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Military Ethics, (Routledge, Abingdon, 2015), p77-78.