November 4, 2026
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Mathew 5:9 NRSVUE)
First signed into law in 1917 by President Woodrow Wilson, the Selective Service Act sought to rapidly expand the United States Military in anticipation of World War I. Though a draft has not been enacted since the Vietnam War, the act has remained in place and still requires all males ages 18-25 to register. Due to a law passed last year to address declining compliance rates, beginning on December 18, 2026, the Selective Service System (SSS) is required to start automatically registering eligible individuals using information from federal databases. But the Trump administration is quickly running out of time to submit their implementation plan for regulatory review.
Anabaptists have long rejected military participation in war, instead pursuing service alternatives that foster global peacebuilding. From development initiatives in Puerto Rico during the first World War to relief work in Vietnam during the 1970's, Mennonites have a documented history of alternative service as a form of draft resistance.
A bipartisan bill to repeal the Military Selective Service Act (S. 4537) would permanently dismantle the SSS, while including a provision that solidifies legal protections for conscientious objectors. The absence of a readily available registrant database would make it more difficult for the U.S. government to reinstitute a military draft, effectively acting as a power check on warmongering.
Urge your members of Congress to repeal Selective Service registration requirements.
Photo above: Yoshihiro Ichikawa (left) and Max Ediger, two of the four MCC volunteers who remained in Saigon during the war in Vietnam, shake hands with PRG (Provisional Revolutionary Government) officials from Quang Ngai Province to acknowledge the receipt of a tractor sent by MCC one month after the change of government in South Vietnam in 1975. MCC also provided four detectors for locating unexploded munitions. MCC photo/Earl Martin