--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People despised conscientious objectors…" description: "\"“People despised conscientious objectors, even those of the enemy country, because patriotism was held to be an absolute virtue. It is hard to get much..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/richard-dawkins-115_patriotism_people-despised-conscientious-objectors_1098797.jpg" --- # People despised conscientious objectors, even those of the… ![“People despised conscientious objectors, even those of the enemy country, because patriotism was held to be an absolute virtue. It is hard to get much more absolute than the ‘My country right or wrong’ of the professional soldier, for the slogan commits you to kill whomever the politicians of some…” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/richard-dawkins-115_patriotism_people-despised-conscientious-objectors_1098797.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/richard-dawkins-115_patriotism_people-despised-conscientious-objectors_1098797.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/richard-dawkins-115_patriotism_people-despised-conscientious-objectors_1098797.jpg) > ““People despised conscientious objectors, even those of the enemy country, because patriotism was held to be an absolute virtue. It is hard to get much more absolute than the ‘My country right or wrong’ of the professional soldier, for the slogan commits you to kill whomever the politicians of some future date might choose to call enemies.”” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Patriotism is portrayed as an absolute virtue that forces individuals to support any national cause, even when it leads to killing, highlighting the moral danger of uncritical loyalty. **In simple terms:** Blind patriotism can compel people to justify violence. Key Takeaway Question the morality of absolute national loyalty. Themes ethics patriotism war morality political ideology Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - military service - political activism - education - media consumption Key Concepts moral absolutism critical thinking national identity Questions to Reflect On - What are the limits of patriotism? - How can societies encourage critical patriotism? A Different Perspective Absolute loyalty can suppress dissent and ethical reasoning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conscientious objectors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscientious-objectors/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) ## Related quotes > [“...we have seen that the priests regard the state as an enemy to be exploited, it is only natural that our politicians do likewise.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-o-flaherty/we-have-seen-that-the-priests-regard-the-state-as-an-enemy-to-be/) [Liam O'Flaherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-o-flaherty/) > [America now is stumbling through the darkness of hatred and divisiveness. Our values, our principles, and our determination to succeed as a free and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-r-ford/america-now-is-stumbling-through-the-darkness-of-hatred-and/) [Gerald R. Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-r-ford/) > [I feel, if I criticize my country, it's not because I don't like my country. I love my country. That is my patriotism. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soni-razdan/i-feel-if-i-criticize-my-country-it-s-not-because-i-don-t-like-my/) [Soni Razdan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soni-razdan/) > [“In some country patriotism is shown only for cricket. When it comes to responsibilities’ they started blaming their own country, politician, people, and others.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivek-thangaswamy/in-some-country-patriotism-is-shown-only-for-cricket-when-it-comes-to/) [Vivek Thangaswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivek-thangaswamy/) > [We live in a free country. While patriotism is important, liberty of thought and liberty of expression are even more important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-green/we-live-in-a-free-country-while-patriotism-is-important-liberty-of/) [James Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-green/) > [ “It was only after I'd grown up and left that I developed an attitude \[towards the South\]. And at first my attitude was that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul/it-was-only-after-i-d-grown-up-and-left-that-i-developed-an-attitude/) [V. S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul/) > [“Working on behalf of the common good is the engine of democracy, vital to our communities, cities, states—and, ultimately, the nation. 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I told them that when the white man asked me to go off somewhere and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/they-asked-if-i-knew-what-conscientious-objector-meant-i-told-them/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Vaccination is a barbarous practice and one of the most fatal of all the delusions current in our time. Conscientious objectors to vaccination should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/vaccination-is-a-barbarous-practice-and-one-of-the-most-fatal-of-all/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [As a very young man I signed a declaration - 'I renounce war and will never support another'. That was in 1939 and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-saunders/as-a-very-young-man-i-signed-a-declaration-i-renounce-war-and-will/) Donald Saunders > [As a conscientious objector I did my community service in 1971 in a psychiatric hospital and a friend there, who also was a guitar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-rother/as-a-conscientious-objector-i-did-my-community-service-in-1971-in-a/) Michael Rother > [“In 1944-1945, Dr Ancel Keys, a specialist in nutrition and the inventor of the K-ration, led a carefully controlled yearlong study of starvation at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-stacey/in-1944-1945-dr-ancel-keys-a-specialist-in-nutrition-and-the-inventor/) [Michelle Stacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-stacey/) > [The conscientious objector is a revoultionary. On deciding to disobey the law he sacrifices his personal interests to the most important cause of working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-conscientious-objector-is-a-revoultionary-on-deciding-to-disobey/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. The true scientist, however passionately he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fundamentalist-kurt-wise-proclaims-that-all-the-evidence-in-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully 'designed' to have come into existence by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-seen-that-living-things-are-too-improbable-and-too/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“We will not go quietly away. If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More Conscientious objectors quotes > [“In 1944-1945, Dr Ancel Keys, a specialist in nutrition and the inventor of the K-ration, led a carefully controlled yearlong study of starvation at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-stacey/in-1944-1945-dr-ancel-keys-a-specialist-in-nutrition-and-the-inventor/) [Michelle Stacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-stacey/) > [As a conscientious objector I did my community service in 1971 in a psychiatric hospital and a friend there, who also was a guitar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-rother/as-a-conscientious-objector-i-did-my-community-service-in-1971-in-a/) Michael Rother > [... I have become a conscientious objector in the war between the sexes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-buchanan/i-have-become-a-conscientious-objector-in-the-war-between-the-sexes/) [Edna Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-buchanan/) > [Periodically, 'The New York Times' runs a business news story lamenting how few women still make it to the top in the Wall Street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-brown/periodically-the-new-york-times-runs-a-business-news-story-lamenting/) [Tina Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-brown/) > [The conscientious objector is a revoultionary. On deciding to disobey the law he sacrifices his personal interests to the most important cause of working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-conscientious-objector-is-a-revoultionary-on-deciding-to-disobey/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [They asked if I knew what 'conscientious objector' meant. I told them that when the white man asked me to go off somewhere and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/they-asked-if-i-knew-what-conscientious-objector-meant-i-told-them/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Vaccination is a barbarous practice and one of the most fatal of all the delusions current in our time. Conscientious objectors to vaccination should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/vaccination-is-a-barbarous-practice-and-one-of-the-most-fatal-of-all/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [As a very young man I signed a declaration - 'I renounce war and will never support another'. That was in 1939 and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-saunders/as-a-very-young-man-i-signed-a-declaration-i-renounce-war-and-will/) Donald Saunders > [If sex is a war, I am a conscientious objector: I will not play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/if-sex-is-a-war-i-am-a-conscientious-objector-i-will-not-play/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [I wouldn't choose conscientious objector and I wouldn't go to Canada. I did what Hap did and almost went to prison. I think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-r-lansdale/i-wouldn-t-choose-conscientious-objector-and-i-wouldn-t-go-to-canada/) [Joe R. Lansdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-r-lansdale/) > [At the vital point of truth, we all become a conscientious objector.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-lyman-atwood-marshall/at-the-vital-point-of-truth-we-all-become-a-conscientious-objector/) [Samuel Lyman Atwood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-lyman-atwood-marshall/) [Browse all 12 Conscientious objectors quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscientious-objectors/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“People despised conscientious objectors, even those of the enemy country, because patriotism was held to be an absolute virtue. 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