Be Valiant for the Truth

George Fox lived at a time, in the mid 1600s, when a spiritual resistance to the autocratic rulers of England began. As early as age 11 Fox became aware of not taking oaths. (The Journal of George Fox, Nickalls, p. 2) In 1646 it was opened to him that all people should be treated equally (pp. 36-37) and not to honor persons of nobility more than anyone else. In 1653, he was threatened by the Magistrate at Carlisle city as he stood atop of a cross in the middle of the market “declaring their deceitful ways and doings” and “spoke the Truth to them.” (pp. 156-57). He was imprisoned, awaiting execution. But he was released and in 1655 in a declaration to Cromwell, England’s dictatorial ruler, Fox stated his resistance to all violence, war, and the sword. (p. 197).

In 1656 George Fox wrote to Friends from Launston prison where he was convicted of the crime “of not putting off our hats.” In those days it was required to doff one’s hat and bend the knees to nobility, lords and ladies. He could free himself by simply paying the fine. But he would not do so “for we are innocent sufferers.” He remained in jail for nine months. Fox and Friends witnessed to equality and justice for all in this way. Many Friends were arrested, convicted, imprisoned and died in prison for conscience’ sake. The 17th century saw a rise in dissident religious groups resisting the dictatorial power of the lord Protector, ruler of England. Their nonviolent spiritual witness finally succeeded so that William Penn was able to create “A Holy Experiment” in Pennsylvania where all who honored nonviolence would be welcome. Speaking Truth to power by sacred resistance to the principalities and powers was a conscientious imperative from the very beginning of the Quaker movement.

Fox was called to a sacred resistance opposing the principalities and powers by nonviolently opposing the power, prestige and profits of the rulers of England. Henceforth, resistance to the violence of war, tyrannical political government, and economic mistreatment of the vulnerable, the poor and the stranger became the characteristic practice of Quakers speaking Truth to power to the present day.

Thus was the origin of the Religious Society of Friends and our unique and authentic theology and witness upon which an activist Christian pacifist movement was born. I attended my first Quaker resistance vigil at the White House in 1971, having co-founded the Community for Creative Nonviolence with two Catholic priests.

In 1978, my wife Genie and I moved to Philadelphia and joined the Movement for a New Society. Sandra Boston, a Quaker member, brought our attention to the real need for an attorney to handle war tax resistance cases. We joined pacifist Catholic priest Richard McSorley and Quaker Bob Anthony to create the Center on Law and Pacifism in Philadelphia. Quaker, Bob Anthony, was a conscientious objector in World War II and became a war tax resister. I was his lawyer and took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. We didn’t win but Bob was always a happy resister. On Tax Day 1979 we entered the Federal Building in Philadelphia and knelt in the lobby with a banner against war taxes. The male police removed Bob and me but they could not find a female officer to remove Genie. It was her first arrest and she was left alone with the banner to hold. She remembers being scared.

Humor was many times part of our witness. In December 1978, I was at the Pentagon to demonstrate against war with people of pacifist persuasion. Some demonstrators were called to chain themselves to doors to block entrance ways. A few of us would not do that so we were moved to read aloud the Gospels on peace, justice and mercy. We were kneeling in a circle when a military policeman, believing I was a priest by the way I was dressed, politely asked, “How much longer, Father?” I replied that I was not a priest so he said, “Then get up you son of a bitch!” He handcuffed us at our backs and made us all kneel that way for half an hour. My nose itched but I got over it. Sometime later, a civilly disobedient ex-priest friend, Frank Cordaro, said to us while sitting in a bar, “Why did you become Quakers? Quakers don’t have any fun.” When asked why he thought so, he said, “how many Quakers are Italian?” Following his logic, we mentioned several Italian Quakers we know. Our lives of nonviolent protest are a joy and sometimes a sorrow.

We later moved the Center to Colorado Springs where we joined a pacifist activist community. The cautionary rules of treating the enemy with love characterized the movements we participated in. Spiritual community became a given for all protest against wars, capital punishment and violent acts of revenge and retaliation. Our experiences were in the law courts, the Air Force Academy, the Pentagon, various military bases and in foreign countries – Japan, Palestine and Iraq. Rather than civil disobedience, we called our acts “holy obedience.” The night before a public demonstration our Christian groups would hold a spiritual gathering in silence and prayer to prepare us for the actions the next day so that we would be disciplined to stay steadfast to our nonviolent resistance.

In 1981 we gathered at the Air Force Academy chapel to present a Christian nonviolent worship on Good Friday. I made a makeshift cross and read pacifist Gospel quotes. Genie and others sat, knelt or stood in prayer, while still others sat in front of the Protestant, Catholic and Jewish chapel doors. When the Protestant service was over, the Sheriffs arrived and arrested us. A picture of our arrest appeared in the national news as far away as Honolulu when old friends of mine saw it and got in touch, saying “we would never expect you to do that.”

We went to Palestine between 2001 and 2010 as members of Christian Peacemaker Teams. We were shot at and teargassed but lived to help Palestinian children get to school because they were regularly harassed by illegal Israeli settlers in Hebron. While there, I approached two Israeli soldiers and introduced myself. They started yelling at me as I listened silently to their views. Finally, they said, “nobody listens to us” and I said, “I am.” They calmed down and wanted to hear all about Colorado.

Genie writes excellent words on Truth. “The Quaker Peace Testimony is not only a testimony about no war, no violence, but about a way of life. Other testimonies are influenced by it as one lives it out. Quakers have always understood that war and violence arise out of injustice, discrimination, abuse and marginalization. So, for us, understanding that makes it easier to see what we must do. It means adopting a lifestyle that puts us closer to those who live in the margins, to avoid paying for war and weapons development, and to actively witness to justice for the victims of oppression and dispossession. In many ways this understanding of the Peace Testimony demonstrates how it is essentially the basic testimony under which the others fall.”

Quakers were instrumental in causing political tyranny to end and democracy to emerge. They defeated the kings and we are called again today to resist a new version of kingship by being “Valiant for the Truth.”

Bill Durland is a U.S. attorney, peace activist, author, educator, and former member of the Virginia State Legislature. He is a member of Mountain View Friends Meeting in Denver, CO (IMYM).