From MP to Conscientious Objector

Have you ever wondered how a person can be transformed from a Westpoint-trained military

officer into a conscientious objector? Could it be reading scripture? Could it be taking one’s faith

more seriously? Or could it be the realization of living with an internal contradiction between the

call to love even our enemies and the training to kill them? Listen to this real-life tale of transformation.

Spencer Goldstein

Spencer is a Military Police officer turned pacifist and conscientious objector. Spencer is a

graduate from West Point and has his masters in biblical exposition. He began to think differently

about peacemaking through the disability community who taught him that God's love for all

people is grand and one centered on peace. Spencer began to read the words of Jesus who talks of

peace, love of enemy, and forgiveness through the eyes of marginalized people and decided he

could no longer serve in the military. He now is transitioning out of the Army and works for the

Center on Conscience and War as the director of development and is working as an intern for

RAWtools where they disarm hearts, forge peace, and cultivate justice.

Bill Galvin is the Counseling Coordinator at the Center on Conscience & War. He is a Vietnam

era conscientious objector. He has been working to support conscientious objectors since the

early 1970’s. He is active in the Presbyterian Church having served on the Peace & Justice

committee of the Baltimore Presbytery and their special task force to address urban violence.

Bill received the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s 2009 Peaceseeker Award. He is a graduate

of Princeton Theological Seminary and sits on the Executive Committee of the Presbyterian

Peace Fellowship. He worked with Spencer on the process of transitioning out of the Army.

Benders of the Arc