Basic

"We utterly deny all outward wars and strife, and fightings with out- ward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatsoever; this is our testimony to the whole world..."

This was George Fox and the early Quaker position on war in 1661 and our Faith and Practice has a similar statement.

"We feel bound explicitly to avow our unshaken persuasion that all war is incompatible with the plain precepts of our divine Lord and Law giver, and the whole spirit of His Gospel, and that no plea of necessity or policy, however urgent or peculiar, can avail to release either individuals or nations from the paramount allegiance which they owe to Him who has said, "Love your enemies..."

I have been called a lot of names because of my position on War, but I remain convinced that non-violence is really the only response that will ever change our World and make any difference among the nations of mankind.

I believe it is the position our Lord asks of us. It was the way Gandhi advocated and that Martin Luther King demonstrated in his years on earth. Jesus not only said, "Love your enemies" he also said to "Pray for those who despitefully use you." That's putting it pretty plain. How can we ignore his teachings?

I wholeheartedly agree with Gandhi's non-violent approach. Gandhi said, "It takes a soldier of great strength to fight in a war because he must overcome a basic instinct: to flee. He must always attack no matter how frightened or endangered he is. (Bravery is not feeling no fear, that is stupidity or numbness. Bravery is feeling the fear and doing what you feel you must anyway) but the non-violent person must be twice as strong and twice as brave: he must neither flee nor attack: he must stand firm upholding the truth and demanding his oppressor to cease harming him, he must be creative and humane; knowing that it might or might not work, but knowing that it will never be as harmful as violence. He must provoke thinking and analysis and ethical values. He must be willing to sacrifice if necessary to make the point, as well as to avoid doing wrong. He must hold firm to his convictions even when everyone in his nation mocks him by calling him names, like un-American and worse.

The events of September 11, 2001 were an emergency call for peace ...a spiritual challenge to each of us to break the cycle of violence in our lives and choose love over hate.

Does anyone really believe that we will be safe if the U.S. destroys what is left of Afghanistan as well as our civil rights? Won't some of the terrorists survive? Is this really the answer? How does this response get at the root cause of terrorism?

When will it stop? Neither you nor I can stop the next terrorist attack. Neither of us can control whether the Taliban decides to hand over Osama bin Laden, nor whether George W. Bush decides to respond with even more violence.

The only thing we can do is control our own participation in the cycle of violence. We each have the power to reject the temptation to respond in our own lives with fear. We can make the committment to respond without fear. We can avoid taking this out on our friends, neighbors, co-workers, husbands, wives, children, ourselves, people who are different. We can practice tolerance and non-violence in our own lives We can begin to look for root causes for terrorism and vio- lence. We can break the cycle. We can start a new cycle. Our actions will forward the cause of peace and healing. If we cannot make peace with our neighbors how do we expect nations to?

Written in the spirit of love and peace this Thanksgiving Day, 2001.

Earl J Prignitz