[as printed in Quakers and the Draft<\/em>, Charles Walker, ed., 1969]<\/p>\n\n\n\n We utterly deny all outward wars and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatever; 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 until it; and we certainly know, and testify to the world, that this Spirit of Christ, which leads us \t-George Fox and others, from a Declaration\n\t\t\t\t presented to Charles II, 1660.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Friends are exhorted to adhere faithfully to this testimony against all wars and fightings, and in no way to unite with any warlike measure such as a Selective Service Draft or Universal Military Training, to the end that we may convincingly demonstrate a more excellent way of settling conflicts. This way is far-reaching in its demands on us for positive service for Christ’s peaceable Kingdom to which it calls us. A living concern having been expressed that Friends’ practices be consistent with their professions, Friends are urged: <\/p>\n\n\n\n We realize that the basic task in peacemaking is to fill the spiritual void in our civilization by replacing the fear that now cripples all our efforts with a faith in the Eternal Power by which God unites and sustains those who pursue His Will; and we extend our fellowship to all those of other persuasions who share this faith., <\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\tIn humility and repentance for past failures, we call upon all Friends \nto renew the springs and sources of our spiritual power in our meetings \nfor worship; to examine our possessions, to see if there be any seed of \nwar in them; and to live heroically in that life and power that takes \naway the occasion of all wars and strife.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n — By a called Meeting representing Friends in the United States, held at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, July 20-22, 1948. (These Advices have been adopted or endorsed by more Quaker bodies than any other statement, and thus have gained authority and authenticity with the years.) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By the Religious Society of Friends in the United States. Richmond, Indiana 1948 We utterly deny all outward wars and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatever; 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 until it; and we certainly know, and testify to the world, that this Spirit of Christ, which leads us unto all truth, will never 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. Friends are exhorted to adhere faithfully to this testimony against all wars and fightings, and in no way to unite with any warlike measure such as a Selective Service Draft or Universal Military Training, to the end that we may convincingly demonstrate a more excellent way of settling conflicts. This way is far-reaching in its demands on us for positive service for Christ’s peaceable Kingdom to which it calls us. A living concern having been expressed that Friends’ practices be consistent with their professions, Friends are urged: To support Young Friends and others who express their opposition to conscription either by non-registration, or by registration as conscientious objectors. We warmly approve civil disobedience under Divine compulsion as an honorable testimony fully in keeping with the history and practices of Friends. To recognize that the military system is not consistent with Christ’s example of redemptive love, and that participation, even in a non-combatant capacity, weakens the testimony of our whole Society. Nevertheless, we hold in respect and sympathetic understanding all those men who in good conscience choose to enter the armed forces. To extend our religious concern and assistance to all conscientious objectors who may fall outside the narrow definition of the Selective Service Act of 1948. 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 goes for military purposes. To ask our Quaker schools and colleges to refuse to accept military training units or contracts, or military subsidies for scientific research, and to advise Young Friends not to accept military training in other institutions. To create a home and family atmosphere in which ways of love and reconciliation are so central that the resort to violence in any relationship is impossible. To help develop the institutions, methods, and attitudes necessary to a harmonious and peaceful world; to replace political anarchy, national sovereignty and war by law and government; to press for world disarmament beginning unilaterally with the United States, if necessary, instead of the present armaments race; to work for the immediate repeal of draft legislation; and to share willingly and sacrificially our resources for the rebuilding of the world. We realize that the basic task in peacemaking is to fill the spiritual void in our civilization by replacing the fear that now cripples all our efforts with a faith in the Eternal Power by which God unites and sustains those who pursue His Will; and we extend our fellowship to all those of other persuasions who share this faith., In humility and repentance for past failures, we call upon all Friends to renew the springs and sources of our spiritual power in our meetings for worship; to examine our possessions, to see if there be any seed of war in them; and to live heroically in that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars and strife. — By a called Meeting representing Friends in the United States, held at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, July 20-22, 1948. (These Advices have been adopted or endorsed by more Quaker bodies than any other statement, and thus have gained authority and authenticity with the years.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-991","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilym.org\/ilym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilym.org\/ilym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilym.org\/ilym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ilym.org\/ilym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ilym.org\/ilym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ilym.org\/ilym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":992,"href":"https:\/\/ilym.org\/ilym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/991\/revisions\/992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ilym.org\/ilym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}