Minute of Concern: Violence in the World (adopted 2 February 2002)
As a people of faith, Orange County Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) feels a deep concern to respond to violence between peoples and nations. As we search our minds and hearts for an appropriate response, we return to the roots of our faith.
Friends oppose all war as inconsistent with God’s will. As every person is a child of God, we recognize God’s Light also in our adversaries. Violence and injustice deny this reality and violate the teachings of Jesus and other prophets.
Pacific Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice (2001), 57In 1651 George Fox, our founder, said, “I lived in the virtue of that life and power that took away the occasion of all wars . . . .” For more than 350 years, Friends have sought to do just that.
Our long experience with peacemaking calls us to minister to the victims of all violence, whatever its sources, and teaches us that violence may often merely sow the seeds of future violence, whatever its immediate effect upon those towards whom it is directed. It also teaches us that working to remove the occasion of war is ultimately the surest path to peace. We understand this to be God’s will for our lives and work.
We ask ourselves what it means to live this testimony today – both in the face of present conflicts, but also in a larger sense, for ours is a world of many wars, many injustices, and much suffering. In such a world, we seek to understand how God calls us to answer, and to nourish the Light of God in every person. We therefore dedicate ourselves to a continuing, long-term, active effort in our homes, our cities, our nation, and our world to “take away the occasion of all wars.”