Our Peace Testimony (and the premises that support it)

The Quaker testimony of Peace goes to the very heart of our way of Life. The Peace testimony defines us, identifies us, and secures us. It is also one of the most counterintuitive ideas that spring forth from our philosophy of rejecting the use of force, violence, or coercion to achieve any goal—moral, political, personal, or material—and is universal. And it was this philosophy, this testimony in particular, that inspired William Penn to create the Frame of (colonial) Pennsylvania (actually, there were three Frames), and I would assert as the greatest political achievement in the history of civilization (and certainly since the Magna Carta).

“William Penn was the greatest lawgiver the world has produced, being the first, in either ancient or modern times who has laid the foundation of government in the pure and unadulterated principles of peace, reason, and right.” —Thomas Jefferson

Without the Quaker testimonies, there is no "Holy Experiment" of Pennsylvania, no Philadelphia, no "Virginia Declaration of Rights", no American Revolution—and no French Revolution!—no Benjamin Franklin, no Freedom Hall, no U.S. Constitution, et al for it was the philosophy of the Quakers and William Penn that the individual had rights that existed prior to the establishment of the State and which were not subjugated by the establishment of the State that gave birth to all of those developments. For the previous 12,000 years of civilization (or so), Man had no say in his government. This was the gift of the Quaker testimony of Peace to mankind—the creation of the United States and the U.S. Constitution, the only political achievement to rival Penn's Pennsylvania. Or should I say really just the expansion of Penn's Pennsylvania?

(Of course, Man did not get the (universal) vote for another 100 years; Woman for another 240 years. Feminists make a great deal of noise about this but any critical thinking works out something like this: Men did not have universal suffrage for 98% of the history of civilization. Women did not have universal suffrage for 99.2% of the history of civilization. In exchange for that 1.2% time privilege men died in droves and within a relatively short time handed that privilege over to Women without a shot being fired. Think about that for just a moment.)

Unfortunately, the Peace testimony became adulterated, diluted, infected, and compromised at every turn by the State and those who support authoritarianism. The Peace testimony never suggested that the individual is not entitled to his life and his property and that it was a violation of the testimony to protect oneself. It then follows, and this is going to be hard for some, that Our Peace testimony does not draw a distinction between what we may do ourselves and what we may hire others, including employees of the State, to do. Conversely, if we find it acceptable and in keeping with our Peace testimony for the government to protect us then it follows that it is not a violation of our testimony to protect ourselves.

Here is the critical issue: An action that violates our philosophy does not become an acceptable action merely because we have hired a government force agent to do our dirty work; to do things and take actions that we would not do ourselves. I refer to that as violence by proxy (original to me, but feel free to use it early and often). Importantly, it does not matter if that government force agent wears a military uniform or a police uniform. Might, even the might of a majority (mob rule), does not make right. And yet we have voted away the rights of our fellow man and have committed violence (by proxy) upon him for political, moral, and personal belief systems and agendas. By accepting this we have disgraced ourselves.

The War on Drugs is a violation of our Peace testimony! Arresting a woman (or a man) for prostitution (customer or worker) is a violation of our Peace testimony! Abortion is a violation of our Peace testimony! Stealing the production of another is a violation of our Peace testimony! If you doubt any of this I invite you to support your position in an open dialogue under the rules of logic in a reasonable and rational co-examination of the facts.

We, as individuals, have rights to live as we choose free from the violence of those—or the violence of their proxies—who wish to impose their own moral, political, or personal belief systems or agendas upon us. These were the premises our entire ethical foundation was constructed upon. So why is our fellow man willing to shoot, beat, use dogs, torture, and imprison us in violation of these premises for actions that are neither violent nor a crime against property? For "crimes" where there is no victim?

At our founding, We, The People and the government, did not engage in such violence. What changed? Well, more on that later. The first step is to get back to the practice of our testimony to Peace. And to do that we must thoroughly examine our premises and then abide by them.