Nonviolent Activism Is a Practical Way of Resisting Oppression

Hello dear readers,

Thank you for exploring the theme of Peace and Nonviolence with me this month and for your wonderful query responses.

We started the month looking at the historical context of the peace testimony in Quakerism, with writings from George Fox and Margaret Fell, which ran strongly against the militaristic culture of their day. We read that pacifism is not passive and that nonviolent resistance can be an effective, practical solution as much as a moral stance. We went on to read about the experience of conscientious objectors, both historically and in a case currently being litigated in court. We also read that some Friends feel a call to military service and what grappling with that looks like.

Tomorrow we are fortunate to begin a week from guest editor Paul Buckley. Paul is a member of Clear Creek Friends Meeting in Richmond, Indiana. For the last 25 years, he has traveled extensively among North American Friends offering a variety of workshops, seminars, retreats, and short courses. He has published books and articles on Quaker history, faith, and practice.

This will be followed by a month on the theme of Simplicity. At a moment in our culture when we are encouraged to revere wealth and excess, we will explore the Quaker roots of plainness. We will hear from Friends who examine their relationships with their material desires and dare to ask ourselves, “How do we know when we have enough?”  

In friendship,

Maeve Sutherland
Editor of the Daily Quaker Message

Reader Responses

When have you loved your “enemy” even though it was challenging?

My father was a brutal man who came from a troubled life. When I could give him a place in my heart as a wounded child and war veteran, his soul called for my love. And it doesn’t hurt my heart as hating did. It doesn’t force me to be cut off from him and/or others. I’m blessed, he is too.

Wendy T., Lacey, WA, USA
Several decades ago I realized that I needed to include my pro-life beliefs and activities in my description of myself as a peace activist. The clear biological evidence of a unique, irreplaceable human life beginning at conception required me to do what I could to protect vulnerable preborn life as well as supporting the needs of mother and father. 

My own experience as an adoptive mother who cannot imagine the world without my wonderful India-born son convinced me that there is always an alternative to abortion. 

When I pray at an abortion center I always include all the staff working there, that they may find work that supports life instead of destroying it. The conflicts between pro-life and pro-abortion people, all persons of good will, give me grief and I believe that God is wanting us to find ways to bring peace to this tragedy. I have a vision of Quaker groups forming a Friends for Life Network. This is a seed I am planting.

Marilyn S., Haddonfield, NJ, USA
I have written a whole book about loving my enemy. It’s called “Love in a Different Way: A Journey Through Dementia”. The enemy was the disease that infiltrated my husband. I had to find a new way to manifest love in our relationship.

Our book - because in the early stages of the disease he journaled and drew what it felt like to be slowly infiltrated with dementia - will be published in June.

Liz and David Amaral, Nelson, BC, Canada

This Week’s Messages

Mon May 19

I Put my Quakerism to Work in the Military

“I felt like I was being a really good Quaker. I was putting my [Quakerism] to work all the time. Not in that I was a pacifist on the sidelines, shaking my fist and holding my handmade sign saying ‘war is wrong.’ But I was showing up: present, available, listening. Willing to understand the way that God moves in people’s lives in unexpected ways. […] A big part of my chaplaincy work was just creating open spaces for people to show up and be human beings.” …
Tue May 20

The Peace Testimony Will Itself Cause Conflict

“The peace testimony is about deeds not creeds; not a form of words but a way of living. It is the cumulative lived witness of generations of Quakers… The peace testimony is not about being nice to people and living so that everyone likes us. It will remain a stumbling block and will itself cause conflict and disagreement.” …
Wed May 21

Peace Is the Presence of Justice

“I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.” …
Thu May 22

Peace Is a Holy Imperative

“Quakers are not ‘for peace’ but rather know, in the deepest sense of the word, that peace is a holy imperative as part of a just society.” …
Fri May 23

Can Peace Be a Practical Solution?

“Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many Friends have struggled to make sense of their pacifism and the morality of their non-violent stance. Watching the horrors of the war unfold has led many Quakers to reflect on what it means to be a pacifist and, for some, to question whether Quakers should be pacifist at all. […] In the case of Ukraine, opposing war in such a time does not mean staying neutral, allowing injustice to go unchallenged, or doing nothing. Instead, Friends seek ways to engage and fight injustice without killing another human being.” …
Sat May 24

Good News for Humans

Destruction hasn’t been your only story. / All living things beyond you that you’ve loved, / you’ve made love live in them: at the junction / of chocolate & cream-colored rings on the king / snake’s skin, in the morning sparkle of cows’ / dewy slobber all over the pasture, in the powerful / slice of a gator’s tail, in the 5 a.m. ruckus …

Banner image: Todd Drake

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Author

  • Maeve Sutherland

    Maeve Sutherland is a communications professional who never recovered from her wonderful childhood at a Quaker elementary school. She has spent her career helping nonprofits share their stories, from schools and universities, to museums, to radio stations. As a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Maeve spent a year living in “Peaceable Kingdoms,” pacifist intentional communities around the world, where she learned that everyone has a role to play in shaping a better world. She worked as a freelance social media manager before joining Thee Quaker Project. After returning to Quakerism as a young adult, Maeve now attends Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting in Philadelphia.

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