Michalowski: Roots on American Nonviolence

While I was reading the article, I began thinking about what this country was really founded on and what "its" principles were. I can understand that, culturally, times were different in the 17th to 20th century, but I find it hard to believe that times have changed very much. In the part where Richard Keene, the Maryland Quaker who refused to be trained as a soldier, I thought about situations where there was a draft in place in the US. We preach about religious freedoms yet I do not believe that you are free of religious in-toleration. For instance... If a Buddhist was living in the US during World War II and was called upon in the draft, he either was forced to serve his country and lose his pacifist ways, be put in jail, or flee the country entirely. I feel that this is completely unacceptable, especially in a country who was founded on tolerance.