Happened to notice how this topic was picked up a few days ago, based on photos with an uncanny resemblance.
But before I ventured to say anything, I thought I would re-read all the posts, including mine.
A couple years ago I tried very hard to see if there was any public record of what Mr. Morris was talking about when he spoke of his militar, Vietnam and military judicial experiences. That turned up a null. But there were other conscientious objector cases - and the one that was most similar was that of Anthony Parisi.
Mr. Parisi's public record I related in the preceding pages and I compared it with what Mr. Morris was reported to have said - or else his ruminations on warfare and the pains of tribulations yet to come...
I still am not sure if Parisi and Morris are the same person.
But what if they were? What are we to carry away if Morris's military and judicial records are actually those of Mr. Parisi?
To start. Mr. Parisi began his career with an intent to serve as a medic, but declined when he received his orders to report to Vietnam. I do not mean to pass judgment on his decision about whether to go to Vietnam or not, but I want to point out that Mr. Parisi did NOT go to Vietnam. His subsequent claims in judicial reviews were based on his new-found religious reservations. Subsequently, Parisi was dealing with incarceration and not military campaigns or aiding the injured in the field. After reviews the military relented and Parisi disappeared from public view.
Now years later, we have someone who MIGHT be Parisi head of a religious body or a member of its governing board. He frequently relates stories about his service in the military and how he recalls the furies of hostile fire and the smell of death and destruction. He exhorts his audience to think about the far greater magnitude of such death and destruction awaiting in the time of trial and tribulation, emphasizing the near universality of this retribution and death.
Possibly this is the same man, but it is not any type of conscientious objector with which I would want to be associated with.
In either case, as an unknown Mr. Morris or as a Mr. Parisi in hiding, that this man is a screened and vetted member of a governing board turns the concept of vetted leadership on its head. If Morris is an alias, then his board identity is a deceit. And if Morris is simply Morris, it looks much the same as well: a selection that is so indefensible that no evidence is submitted to the community "overseen" that he has any real credentials related to leadership, administrative skills, philosophy, sober reflection ... Anything that you would want your children to imitate or aspire to.
He will talk at your convention though.
