Testimonies

Margaret Fell Testifies

By Nadine Hoover on May 23, 2007

Submission to the Democrat & Chronicle, Karen Reixach

By Nadine Hoover on April 16, 2007

In 2006 New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) approved the following minute:

The Living Spirit works in the world to give life, joy, peace and prosperity through love, integrity and compassionate justice among people.  We are united in this Power.  We acknowledge that paying for war violates our religious conviction.  We will seek ways to witness to this religious conviction in each of our communities.’, ‘As a Quaker and a citizen of the United States my conscience cries out at the permanent war footing of this nation.  No longer are Quakers automatically required to serve in the military, but our investments and tax dollars pay for war and preparation for war.  To the extent I am able, I have divested myself of government bonds and other instruments that pay for war, exploitation and despoliation.  However, I am compelled to pay taxes.

I believe that, rightly used, our federal taxes promote the common good and fund those things that single individuals could not secure.  However, our nation uses vast amounts of these precious resources for war, leaving peaceable people the choices of living below the taxable level, violating the law by refusing to pay some or all of their federal taxes, or paying for war while praying for peace.  To date, courts and Congress have turned a deaf ear to cries of conscience.

I urge people of conscience to contact their legislators to support the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund legislation in the U.S. Congrees, so that those of us who conscientiously object to war can pay our taxes, knowing that they will be devoted exclusively to life affirming purposes.

With hope, Karen A. Reixach

Report on Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation, Jens Braun

By Nadine Hoover on April 14, 2007

Last evening I was in a discussion with some beloved Friends on the topic of: “Isn”t war just part of human nature?”  What follows from this question is: “Is not, therefore, some form of a defense force–i.e., a military–necessary?”

We need to talk about these questions as Friends.  These discussions are important, for as we talk about these issues and tell our stories, I believe we will become increasingly clear that pacifism is not naive–war is.

We know why Martin Luther King”s image of violence as a downward spiral is true: violence does not resolve conflicts, it merely displaces them to another time and location–often with increased destructive energy.  Nonviolence, on the other hand, though not always successful, does include the possibility of transformation and reconciliation.  And the more practiced in the skills of nonviolence we become, the more it includes the probability of transformation and reconciliation.

We know that in the last half-century nonviolent movements have resolved–or if not resolved, have stopped the downward spiral of–far more conflicts than have violent or armed movements.  From the Philippines to South Africa, from Chile to the Soviet Union, from Nazi Germany to the American South, nonviolence has worked!

As Friends, most of us are sensitive to the media”s constructed image of women as sex objects, yet how often do we notice and object to the image of men as violence objects?  The myth of redemptive violence is just that, a myth.  We Friends need to be vocal that there are moral and religious reasons that war is wrong, but there are also practical and rational reasons that it doesn”t work.

In late February, the COMT (Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation) Committee cosponsored with Powell House a conference on the possibility of a group legal action on military taxation.  Rather than a continuation of individuals taking legal action in the courts as lone voices against military taxation, we wished to look at how to do this as a group.  18 fulltime participants with 25 total–including a visitor from the Peace Tax Seven in Britain (a group who has pioneered this concept of multiple people going to court on this issue, and who have successfully moved their case up through the British courts to the European Court of Human Rights), gathered at Purchase Meeting.  We have formed 5 working groups to further the project: Research and Legal, Media, Litigant Support, Meeting Support, and Fundraising.  It is exciting work and we are following up with biweekly conference calls.

This conference will be followed by another one at Rochester Meeting, June 15-17, to work on building the conscience movement.

We will practice learning the language of conscience and active pacifism, and how to share these understandings with others.  We will discuss public actions, legislative work, and judicial challenges to military taxation.

We will share stories about our fears, our sufferings, and the joyful meaning these give us as we move toward a life of wholeness and non-violence.

Our nation was born out of the myth that we had to fight for independence.  The Canadians, the Australians, even the Indians, who were oppressed far more severely by the British than us, did not subscribe to our myth and they all got their independence without war.  Peaceful societies have existed around the globe and through time.  Let us join them.  I recognize we all have urges towards violence, but I see in most people far stronger urges toward self-control, compassion, loving relationships, cooperation, belonging, and all those qualities that describe what it means to be fully human.

Kristin Buchholz Statement of Conscience

By Nadine Hoover on March 23, 2007

I believe that all forms of life are sacred and should be valued and respected. In valuing all walks of life, I personally, and in cooperation with others, denounce war and violence. I do not believe in war or justifications for war. I practice listening to my own conscience when facing conflict. This inner wisdom, as well as my community, and my Higher Power, all guide me in finding and acting upon peaceful and compassionate alternatives to resolve conflict. I am bound by my beliefs and my own conscience to speak and act on behalf of peace and compassion for myself and others.

Peg McIntire Letter to the Editor

By Nadine Hoover

I am alive today, thanks to nine generous men and or women, who gave me their blood, and to the wonderful care I received at Flagler Hospital and the Ponce de Leon Care Center, and the good wishes from oh, so many friends.

I am alive today and went straight off to join the enthusiastic demonstration at the Plaza de la Costituizione this morning.  It was awesome, empowering.

End the War.   Bring the Troops Home.    Stop the Funding.

Great signs, the beautiful white peace dove, the dancing Fairy Queen, and the largest crowd we have ever had (after four long years of gathering on the 3rd Saturday of every month.)   Thanks for continuous leadership from PPJ (People for Peace & Justice), Veterans of America, and Grandparents for Peace.

I am alive today and want more than ever to help change the course from violence to diplomacy, from injustice to safety, health, education, and happiness.   It will only come to pass if we work together, stand tall, with a clear vision of our goals.  Here  are my thanks to all, and my pledge to try to make each day more meaningful.

Statement of Religious Conviction Against Paying for War

By Nadine Hoover on January 25, 2007

The Living Spirit works in the world to give life, joy, peace and prosperity through love, integrity and compassionate justice among people. We are united in this Power. We acknowledge that paying for war violates our religious conviction. We will seek ways to witness to this religious conviction in each of our communities. Fourth Month 2006 NYYM

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was a Crime Against Humanity

By Nadine Hoover on January 15, 2007

We own Africans and African-Americans a deep debt and apology for the trans-Atlantic slave trade that was a crime against humanity. Many of our societal ills are tied to this unsettled debt and the U.S. government’s refusal to acknowledge this massive transgression continues to mount our debt. I join in the lamentation of our wrongs and in celebration of the family we are all part of as children of the Creator. Testimony of Nadine Hoover 2006

Wilton Minute on Conscience

By Nadine Hoover on January 12, 2007

It is now 300 years since Friends first declared we cannot learn war anymore.  Now as then, the spirit of Jesus Christ can never move us to violence, neither in personal conflict nor in public life.  His way is opened by that of God in every man; and by helping the hand of God available to us all.

Today His way can save the world.  Though every individual owes loyalty to the state, he owes higher loyalty to the authority of the inner light that is God.

And so with special urgency we invite all who hear to utterly renounce war-now the real and final enemy of man-and daily to seek ways to practice the life that knows no occasion for war, and to learn the ways of peace without which all men perish.

Wilton Monthly Meeting, Purchase Quarterly Meeting, New York Yearly Meeting, late 1950s or early 1960s (date unknown)

Meeting the Minimum Needs of All Minute

By Nadine Hoover on January 03, 2007

Friends share a concern about meeting the minimum needs of all people, which we define to be: providing adequate drinking water, nutrition, clothing, housing, primary health care and five years of primary education, to be achieved by the year 2030.  Friends are advised to raise the issue on all occasions where it is possible to influence individuals, groups, and organizations.  We charge our Clerk and General Secretary to make a special effort to speak about his issue with regional, national, and international groups.  We encourage Radh Achuthan to continue his ministry on this issue under his existing travel minute.

Fourth Month 2006 NYYM