William O. Douglas

“ Conscience is often the echo of religious faith. But, as this case illustrates, it may also be the product of travail, meditation, or sudden revelation related to a moral comprehension of the dimensions of a problem, not to a religion in the ordinary sense. ”

“ The question of compelling a man to kill against his conscience was not squarely involved. Most of the talk in the majority opinion concerned 'serving in the armed forces of the nation in time of war.' Id., at 623, 51 S.Ct., at 574. Such service can, of course, take place in noncombatant roles. The ruling was that such service is 'dependent upon the will of Congress and not upon the scruples of the individual, except as Congress provides.' Ibid. ”

“ He refuses because he does not wish to kill a brother man; he does not obey, because the commands of his conscience are more binding upon him than the commands of men. * * * Thereby he shows that Christianity is not a sect or creed which some may profess and others reject; but that it is naught else than a life's following of that light of reason which illumines all men. ”

“ Agreements for the renunciation of war presuppose a preponderant public sentiment against wars of aggression. If, while recognizing the power of Congress, the mere holding of religious or conscientious scruples against all wars should not disqualify a citizen from holding office in this country, or an applicant otherwise qualified from being admitted to citizenship, there would seem to be no reason why a reservation of religious or conscientious objection to participation in wars believed to be unjust should constitute such a disqualification.' Id., at 635, 51 S.Ct. ”

“ Seeger does not answer the present question as Gillette is not 'opposed to participation in war in any form.'
But the constitutional infirmity in the present Act seems obvious once 'conscience' is the guide. As Chief Justice Hughes said in the Macintosh case:
'But, in the forum of conscience, duty to a moral power higher than the state has always been maintained. The reservation of that supreme obligation, as a matter of principle, would unquestionably be made by many of our conscientious and lawabiding citizens. ”

“ The essence of religion is belief in a relation to God involving duties superior to those arising from any human relation.' 283 U.S., at 633-634, 51 S.Ct., at 578.
The law as written is a species of those which show an invidious discrimination in favor of religious persons and against others with like scruples. Mr. Justice Black once said: 'The First Amendment has lost much if the religious follower and the atheist [7] are no longer to be judicially regarded as entitled to equal justice under law.' Zorach v. ”

“ This is an appropriate occasion to give content to our dictum in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, supra, 319 U.S., at 642, 63 S.Ct., at 1187:
' (F) reedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. ”