Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred - Jude Lal Fernando

Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred - Jude Lal Fernando

7. “Enemies of the Nation, Heretics of the Church”: Conscientious Rejection of National Authority

Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred - Jude Lal Fernando

Nami Kim [+-]
Spelman College, Atlanta, USA
Nami Kim is associate professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies in Spelman College, Atlanta, U.S.A. She has co-edited (with Wonhee Anne Joh), Critical Theology against U.S. Militarism in Asia: Decolonization and Deimperialization, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. She was the co-chair of the Women and Religion Section of the American Academy of Religion.

Description

This chapter provides a critical intervention in the normative understanding of “national security” as military security by examining the narratives of conscientious objectors in the Republic of Korea (aka South Korea), a sub-empire and a staunch U.S. ally, where military service is mandatory for men. Within the larger geopolitical context of US “War on Terror”, the narratives of conscientious objectors redefine national security not only in relation to their resistance to war, militarism, and state sanctioned violence, but also with regard to their stance against (hetero)sexism, neoliberal economic system, and various forms of violence against women and other vulnerable people. This redefining is significant because it demands that “national security” should be concerned with everyday struggles of ordinary people, especially women and other minorities. The narratives also pose challenges to the Protestant Right’s view of “national security” as the protection of the nation from both internal and external “enemies” that include communists/leftists/pro-North (Korea), conscientious objectors, sexual/gender minorities, and Muslim (im)migrants. The Protestant Right has been one of the most vehement opponents of the efforts to provide alternative to military service by labelling conscientious objectors as “threats to national security,” “selfish,” or “heretics.” Furthermore, the narratives of conscientious objectors directly or indirectly challenge hegemonic masculinity. The conscientious objectors’ refusal of enacting hegemonic masculinity signals cisgender men’s different ways of performing masculinities that are counter-hegemonic in a highly militarized, classed, and misogynistic Korean society.

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Citation

Kim, Nami. 7. “Enemies of the Nation, Heretics of the Church”: Conscientious Rejection of National Authority. Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 127-140 Apr 2020. ISBN 9781800500204. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=40194. Date accessed: 05 Oct 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.40194. Apr 2020

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