War and conscience in America

This volume is written to help all of us to think more searchingly about the agonizing problems raised by war -- and about the moral issues confronting young men who face military service. While the discussion does not ignore questions of political consequence, it directs attention mainly to the problems of individual conscience in confronting alternatives of judgment, decision, and opinion, as well as alternatives of action, available under national policy. With respect to the moral issues its purpose is more to examine than to advocate, more to explain than to exhort. It ends, however, with a plea for the nation to expand the freedom available to men of many convictions so that they may all relate constructively to the needs of these times and to one another in the midst of rending diversities. - Introduction.