Documentary: Half a Year of My Life (2005)

[Thanavuddho]

Greetings,

I want to share a documentary with you. We made it with my sister about ten years ago. We recently added English subtitles to it. Many of my non-Finn friends have heard about my experience as a "total objector" to the compulsory Finnish military service. This film gives a little bit of insight to what actually happened to me at that time, even though it is made from the perspective of my sister.

I was yet to discover Buddhism at the time when this film was made. But perhaps I was a Buddhist without knowing it.

http://vimeo.com/66967668

Metta,
Thanavuddho

[plwk]

[DNS]

Hi Venerable,

Interesting documentary and well-done. Your sister is quite the film-maker.

I see from this link that military service would have been only 6 months, which was the length of your sentence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_service#Finland

And they have positions available that are un-armed for a 9 month hitch.

But I agree in that I also don't like a forced conscription. I have lived in countries that have conscription and it makes the soldiers very bitter about having to serve, even if they don't have any moral objections. The whole culture of the military becomes just about how much time is left to serve before getting out and there are few who make it a professional career. In the U.S. where there is no conscription, it is seen more as a career move, especially for officers and they are getting better educated, many with Master's degrees or higher. And perhaps as a result you find more officers reluctant to go to war, although the politicians are another story who always mess things up.

[EmptyShadow]

"And your main crime is refusing to perform military service? " lol
It's like your main crime is not willing to participate in killing other human beings. Becouse the point of military service is to be trained for possible war, and war is basicaly killing other being no matter if you protect your country or becouse you do it for other worldy justification. In that sense if you dont wanna be part of killing someone there's no point to be trained for that.

[Rasko]

I see from this link that military service would have been only 6 months, which was the length of your sentence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_service#Finland

And they have positions available that are un-armed for a 9 month hitch.

But I agree in that I also don't like a forced conscription. I have lived in countries that have conscription and it makes the soldiers very bitter about having to serve, even if they don't have any moral objections.

From that wiki-page, developed European countries with mandatory military service:
Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Norway, Switzerland

Small countries with not very ideal neighbors during last century.

Finland: 5 million people living next to Russia.
U.S: 350 million people living next to Canada.

Right or wrong, there are reasons for the different systems.

[Rasko]

"And your main crime is refusing to perform military service? " lol
It's like your main crime is not willing to participate in killing other human beings. Becouse the point of military service is to be trained for possible war, and war is basicaly killing other being no matter if you protect your country or becouse you do it for other worldy justification. In that sense if you dont wanna be part of killing someone there's no point to be trained for that.

Siviilipalvelus, or civiltjänst ("civilian service"), is an alternative service in Finland. It is provided as an alternative to military service provided by Article 127 of the Finnish constitution[1] for conscientious objectors. The service length is 347 days,[2] changed from 395 days in 2008 (does not apply retroactively). It can be entered into by filing paperwork indicating that one has ethical or religious objections to military service.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siviilipalvelus

"Total objector" is a choice of those who can't accept either military or civilian service.

[Thanavuddho]

Greetings,

In the U.S. where there is no conscription, it is seen more as a career move, especially for officers and they are getting better educated, many with Master's degrees or higher. And perhaps as a result you find more officers reluctant to go to war, although the politicians are another story who always mess things up.

I actually grew up near the Finnish Air Force base. The planes flew over daily and we used to go play in the shooting ground. Many of my friends had parents that worked for the military.



Metta,
Thanavuddho