The Seed and the Tree: A Reflection on Nonviolence

by Daniel A. Seeger

Overview

There are critical moments in history when it becomes necessary to take stock � times when we must refocus on the basic insights which inform our approach to social realities; times to renew the gifts of the Spirit which alone can provide hope that our activities are authentic expressions of Truth.

The world-wide movement of people who seek to advance human affairs toward that condition of balance, order, harmony and peace which is the natural destiny of the Creation, and who know that this advancement will only be realized through programs of witness which are themselves just and peaceable, is now at such a critical juncture. It is a moment when the way of nonviolence has become blurred and its strategies uncertain.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940149400065
Publisher:	Pendle Hill Publications
Publication date:	04/04/2014
Series:	Pendle Hill Pamphlets , #269
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	30
File size:	119 KB

About the Author

Daniel A. Seeger became a conscientious objector in military service during the Korean War after reading Gandhi in a required �Contemporary Civilization� course in college. He first encountered Friends after graduation, when the government sought to draft him, and an acquaintance suggested that Quakers might be able to help him. After consulting the telephone directory, Daniel Seeger became a draft counseling client in the New York Office of the American Friends Service Committee, where he now serves as Regional Executive Secretary.
The encounter between Daniel Seeger and the Selective Service System resulted in the well-known court case of The United States of America versus Daniel A. Seeger. After strenuous efforts by the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors and by Kenneth Greenawalt, the well-known attorney, the United States Supreme Court unanimously decided the case in Daniel Seeger�s favor, thereby greatly broadening the basis for religious conscientious objection to military service.
Daniel Seeger joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1967. The present essay was stimulated by his staff service in the American Friends Service Committee. His work on behalf of AFSC in the broader peace and social change movement has led to frequent encounters with those whose faith in nonviolence has eroded, and with members of the Christian community who, out of sympathy for the oppressed, tend to replace the Church�s traditional rationalization for �just war� with a theory of �just revolution.� The temptation to do this has found expression even in the corporate activities and statements of Friends� bodies and agencies. It is this problem which the present essay seeks to address.