The Religious Society of Friends was founded on the belief that God's essential nature is love, as seen in the life of Jesus. Believing that there is that of God in everyone, we must be peacemakers. We must see each human being as one with us. The spirit of love is not changeable; neither can our testimony change. The violence we oppose is not only war, but all unloving acts.
The problems are complex, the solutions unclear. The methods of love, reconciliation, and non-violence, as lived by Jesus, must find application today. We must seek practical ways to apply the attitude of love.
When those dissatisfied with conditions as they are seek to make themselves heard, we ask those in authority to listen. We ask voters to insist that candidates for office present real solutions and not tell us that law and order means repressing the disaffected, or that preserving democracy means supporting dictatorships, or that we cannot have peace because we are committed to a given war, or that our nation which boasts of its wealth cannot alleviate poverty because our budget is limited.
We ask all people, as we ask ourselves, to preserve humane perspectives and the spirit of love amid turmoil; to seek to understand new or unfamiliar conditions, and then to work through individual, corporate or governmental channels to bring the end of war, poverty, racism and injustice. Through all our actions there must be an awareness of the individual worth and dignity of each person; for our enemies are wrong attitudes, not people.
"We must set before us the highest ideal, that which ought to be, rather than that which is, believing that God is not alone the God of things as they are but God of things as they are meant to be." --Minute of All Friends' Conference, London, 1920
"There is no way to peace. Peace is the way."
--A.J. Muste
"We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatsoever; this is our testimony to the whole world. The Spirit of Christ by which we are guided is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil, and again to move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the Kingdom of Christ or for the kingdoms of this world. . . . Therefore we cannot learn war any more." --George Fox and others, from a Declaration presented to Charles II 1660
In humility, we acknowledge our involvement in war and in our inability to disengage ourselves completely from it. This does not excuse us from lifelong, sacrificial efforts in peacemaking. Each Friend has the responsibility to seek and to live the full personal implications of the peace testimony.
This is a spiritual challenge. Friends should welcome joyfully this opportunity to apply spiritual insights in developing the attitudes and institutions which can bring a peaceful world in our time. Peace is more than the abolition of war. Peace is world law with love, justice and freedom.
"All men desire peace, but do not know how to attain it. They are bewildered and frightened, and in their confusion a double standard of morality develops in which, on the one hand, men are trained to kill, and,
on the other, they are taught that murder is evil. . . . Our Christian
faith says that war is wrong, and that double standards are wrong. Only the love of God is strong enough to overcome fear, suspicion and hatred. Friends should be able to bring to situations of political tension a spirit of self-sacrificing love. The Spirit of Christ is not changeable and our historic testimony is as true today as it ever was. It calls for action that is peacemaking and reconciling." --Taken from report of All Friends Conference, 1952
Friends should try to be aware of the ways that the military tends to influence the life of our country and of the world, and oppose the extension of such influence. As Friends we have for many years been granted privileged status within the draft system. This has often blinded us to the evil of the draft itself, and the treatment of those not so privileged. We recognize the evil nature of all forms of conscription and its inconsistency with the teaching and examples of Christ. Military conscription in the United States undergirds the aggressive foreign policies and oppressive domestic policies which rely on easy availability of military manpower. Conscription threatens the right and responsibility of every person to make decision in matters of conscience. Some Friends opposing war refuse any kind of military service; some opposing conscription refuse to cooperate with the Selective Service System. The issue is not equal treatment under a compulsory draft system, but freedom from compulsion.
Military training in educational institutions is a perversion of education against which testimony should constantly be made. A related evil is the tendency to deflect scientific education toward military ends.
We should fully acquaint ourselves with the proportion of the government budget spent on war and military preparedness, and encourage its reduction. Lawmakers should be made aware of Friends' support for disarmament proposals, and of our concern over the fact that defense-oriented companies have come to dominate a very large segment of the economy.
George Fox told the Commonwealth Commissioners in 1651:
"I [told the commonwealth commissioners that I] lived in the virtue of that life and power that took away the occasion of all wars and I knew from whence all wars did rise, from the lust, according to James' doctrine. I told them I was come into the covenant of peace which was before wars and strifes were."
A living concern having been expressed that Friends' practices be consistent with their professions, Friends are urged:
To create a home and family atmosphere in which the ways of love and reconciliation are central.
To help develop the attitudes, methods and institutions necessary to a harmonious and peaceful world; to replace anarchy with international law and government.
To extend our religious concern and assistance so far as we can to all who may be faced with difficult decisions because of war.
To avoid engaging in any trade, business, or profession directly contributing to the military system, and the purchase of government war bonds or stock certificates in war industries.
To consider carefully the implication of paying those taxes a major portion of which go for military purposes.
In humility ad repentance for past failures we call upon Friends to renew the springs and sources of spiritual power in our Meetings for Worship; to examine our lives, to see if there be any seed of war in them; and to live heroically in that Life and Power which takes away the occasion of all wars and strife.
We recognize the complexity of the problems to be faced and the difficulty of negotiating in an atmosphere of hostility and suspicion. Nevertheless we affirm that the way to peace and freedom lies in a totally disarmed world, protected by world law and guided by the spirit of love.
We think that use of our agricultural abundance and other resources to help feed a hungry world and to assist in economic and social development should be advance by every possible means. We would extend such aid to people anywhere on the basis of human need without political restrictions or military considerations.
Closer relationships between nations would furnish an opportunity for Friends to use every legitimate means to influence governmental attitudes toward other nations so that all might conform to the highest standards of justice and good will as taught by Jesus. "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." We are convinced that the method of love, reconciliation and non-violence as lived by Jesus Christ must be applied to our problems today if the Kingdom of God is to prevail on earth.
We must help not only to preserve, but also to improve the quality of the environment throughout the world. We are faced with the prospect of a crowded world with not only hunger, but famine, pestilence, and pollution. May we be led to help with the imminent tasks of limiting family size, research into new sources of food and new conditions of living, and development of a concern for conservation of natural resources.
The world has may homeless, unwanted children. Friends, especially those desiring large families, should consider seriously the possibilities of adoption.
Friends are deeply concerned about our individual and corporate participation in investment and trade, and realize that we should not let the profit motive override human justice. We are becoming aware of the immediate effect on people near us of our economic acts, but are not so sensitive to the effects in more distance places or at future times. We know that some companies produce war materials, exploit workers or consumers, pollute the environment, or engage in dishonest practices. We are also uneasy about the effect of multinational corporations on world peace and justice.
Friends reaffirm the belief that all people are children of one heavenly Father. The Light which leads to unity in the meeting community illuminates all relationships between people everywhere. This Light has led friends into deep concern for Indians, black people and other minority groups who have been victims of prejudice and exploitation. It has inspired work for prisoners and the mentally ill, and has stirred action for the alleviation of poverty and unemployment. It has created testimony for peaceful ways to resolve human conflicts.
As George Fox said in his exhortation to Friends in the ministry: " Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering to that of God in every one; whereby in them ye may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you." --Journal of George Fox
This concept of inclusive brotherhood applies not only to nations and to groups; it makes us realize that we are called to think of everyone as an individual, to deal with each as a child of God. To Jesus every person, even though a harlot, a thief or one of the despised Samaritans, was of infinite worth and might be drawn by love to attain fullness of life as a child of God. Much misunderstanding stems from the tendency to think and talk of nations, racial and religious groups as solid blocks and to forget the varied and precious individuals of whom they are composed.
Early Friends believed the mentally ill should be treated with a loving and tender spirit, and in 1796 founded an institution for their treatment. Today many of the mentally ill are being helped to return to normal life. Friends should have a similar concern for those who have a problem of alcoholism or drug addiction.
THE ELDERLY AND THE HANDICAPPED
The elderly and the handicapped share many problems in varying degrees--loneliness; dependence on others, often for the simplest needs; frustration due to a feeling that life has singled them out for unfair treatment; and lack of the understanding concern of others; in addition to low income, extra medical expenses; and need for housing adapted to their physical problems. They also have problems with public buildings (such as churches and MeetingHouses) which contain architectural barriers--steps, stairs, and doors to narrow for wheelchairs.
They need to feel useful and wanted. Friends respond willingly to people we know with these problems. Seeking out other elderly and handicapped individuals, and working toward solutions for their problems through governmental channels, should come quite naturally.
"The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by people worse than themselves." --Plato
The participation of men and women of intelligence, calm judgment and high principle in the direct responsibilities of government may help to form a healthy public opinion, which will lead to sound government. Every opportunity for participation in decisions on public matters by ballot should be used, and Friends are urged to maintain a clearness of judgment, which will enable them to act upon principle. When called to serve in public office, Friends should consider the public good rather than personal preference and convenience.
True Justice requires fair-minded judges at all levels, chosen for their qualifications rather than their politics. They need efficient court personnel so that cases can proceed without the delays and procedural errors, which sometimes interfere with the rights of the accused. Only in this way can society protect the defendant's right to a fair and speedy trial. Friends should help overcome public reluctance to finance the best possible court system.
Friends have had a concern for those in prison ever since the days of George Fox, when many Friends were in prison for opposing the established religious and governmental institutions. Elizabeth Fry was a crusader for penal reform. The prison experiences of many early Friends exposed them to the suffering and injustice in the judicial system and the barbaric prisons of that era. More recently, the prison experiences of young Friends who refuse to register for the draft have sharpened their awareness of abuses in the penal system.
Ideally, the goal of prisons is rehabilitation rather than mere punishment. We must continue to try to change the attitudes of people who think prisons exist to remove offenders from our sight. Our concern should be for encouraging the good in any person, rather than punishing the bad. Rehabilitation should apply also to the attitudes of the offender's family and employers, so that he or she has a truly new chance.
However, penal reform is not enough. Pre-trial release, deferred sentencing, probation, and parole should be expanded so that few people are in prison. It ha been found that the establishment of new penal institutions in addition to those still standing lead s to a tendency to add to the prison population.
Friends should be involved in the administration of the system of justice, and willing to take on Friend of the Court projects and court watching. Only the involvement of citizens in a judicial system keeps it from becoming a bureaucracy.
We should remember that all people arrested are innocent until proven guilty. Failure to remember this leads too often to a penal cycle: A person is assumed guilty and therefore loses a job; since the prisoner is without a job, the judge sentences him or her to jail instead of giving a suspended sentence or using probation; once in jail, the person learns how to be a skilled criminal; when he or she gets out of jail, the employment situation for ex-convicts frequently forces a resort to the criminal trade learned in prison; he or she is arrested and charged with a crime and, having a previous record, returns to jail for even longer exposure to knowledge of criminal practices and attitudes.
We should encourage pre-trial release for all persons charged with victimless crimes. Persons out of jail while awaiting trial have been found far less likely to receive jail sentences if convicted than those who remained in jail while awaiting trial. In jail, the accused has no opportunity to aid in gathering evidence for a defense; there is no way to establish a post-arrest good behavior record, or to develop or strengthen family and community ties, and no possibility of becoming self-supporting. This is not equal treatment for the poor.
Police discrimination against members of minority groups can result in their being charged with more serious offenses than are whites. The more serious charges prevent their being eligible for pre-trial release, and result in longer sentences if they are convicted.
It is vital that ex-offenders be involved whenever possible in proposing changes in the penal system, in order to avoid making changes, which result in more suffering and discrimination. Specialized training in human relations for the police and prison personnel may lead to more respect for the rights of individuals and groups.
Friends have been historically opposed to capital punishment because it violates the sacredness of life. The application of the death penalty is brutalizing and degrading to those who impose it. It leaves no room for the reformation of character, nor for the revision of the sentence in the event of a miscarriage of justice. Our religious principles upholding the dignity and worth of a human being do not allow for punishment without the opportunity for reform of the offender. We continue to actively oppose the use of capital punishment.