"Reversing two earlier denials, the U.S Navy has granted conscientious objector status to Michael Izbicki, a Naval Academy graduate most recently stationed at the Naval Submarine School in Groton... After being assigned to submarine training, he was given a routine psychological exam. Among the several hundred questions, he was asked if he could launch a nuclear missile. 'It was the first time anybody had really put it so bluntly,' he said. 'At that point I thought to myself, I couldn't.' That answer flagged him for further interviews with a Navy psychologist, who recommended that he talk to a Navy chaplain. After numerous meetings, Izbicki said the chaplain suggested that he might be a conscientious objector — a term he only vaguely knew — and gave him an application to study. He eventually decided that his Christian beliefs forbid him from killing. He initially hoped he could continue his career in a noncombat role, but ultimately decided he could not support war in any way. 'I believe that Jesus Christ calls all men to love each other, under all circumstances,' Izbicki wrote in his application for discharge. 'I believe his teaching forbids the use of violence.'"
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