Regarding the letter by Keith Roenspiess entitled “Our Values are Skewed” (February 22, 2012), how can one refer to the values of people wishing to redirect their taxes from war to peace as being skewed?
I wish to advise Mr. Roenspiess that a conscientious objector is an individual who objects to being involved in military service on the grounds that war is morally wrong. Taxation is a form of military conscription in that a portion of our tax dollars are directed to funding the military and, by extension, war.
There was a time when Canada took leadership in the world by being actively involved in peacekeeping duties. Now we are involved in aggressive military operations against other nations such as Afghanistan and Libya.
Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko’s initiative is designed to make us peacekeepers again.
Sandra Nelken
Nelson