nd death show that the individual can make an impact on society. Just as every vote counts, standing on one’s principles counts. It can also be seen that it is often necessary to sacrifice some of your individual liberties in order to be a member of a society, whether it is a community or a nation. From a sociological perspective, Jagerstatter could be looked upon as a social deviant. Deviation from a society’s norms will produce sanctions from that society. In Jagerstatter’s case the sanction was death. This has been the case throughout recorded history. For the nation state it is the problem of government authority versus individual liberty. Government authority will frequently overrule individual liberty, but only to the extent that the society as a whole considers the government’s power to be legitimate. In closing, Jagerstatter’s conscientious objection, in the face of opposition from most of his society, was nothing short of heroic. ...
