Jehovah's Witness exemption from conscription deemed prejudicial in "pivotal" ruling

[Pope George Ringo II]

2. Truthfully, I don't have a problem with them opting out of military service.

They're not alone in that, and it's honorable enough taken in its own terms. What gets me is that non-military national service is an option, admittedly longer but still just under a year, and they refuse that too. And the third option which other naysayers have endured is to spend the time in prison, which Amnesty International is not a fan of. There are a lot of people who disapprove of warfare for motives at least as good as the JWs but who aren't exempted, and I'd emphatically agree with the court that they don't deserve worse treatment than the JW crowd.

I'm also frankly somewhat ignorant of a good reason why non-military national service would be unacceptable, though. We're talking about Finland, for crying out loud. What could they possibly have these young men doing?