Time with Tony - 3/20

 

This week, 3rd Grade teacher Eileen taught our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Graders the George Fox song and paused on one curious line, “You can’t kill the devil with a pistol or a sword.” That simple sentence created an opportunity for Eileen to ask students about what it means to be a Quaker school in a world filled with conflict. Our students are learning that “the devil” in this song is not a person or a country, but the hatred, fear, and injustice that live in human hearts and systems. Weapons may silence people, but they cannot heal those roots of violence.

From the earliest days of Quakerism, George Fox and other Friends came to believe that the spirit of Christ could never lead them to take up weapons against another person. They spoke of “that of God” in everyone, which means that no life is expendable and no group of people should be labeled the enemy. This conviction is why Quakers have historically opposed all wars. When we say, as a Quaker school, that we are against the war in Iran, and against any war, we are not choosing one side over another. We are standing with ordinary people on all sides who suffer loss, trauma, and displacement whenever violence escalates.

At the same time, our beliefs do not allow us to turn away from injustice. Quaker faith holds human rights and social justice at its core. We care deeply about those who live under repression, discrimination, or the constant threat of violence, whether in Iran or anywhere else in the world. The hard question for us is this: how do we defend human rights and oppose oppression without relying on tools that inevitably harm innocent people? Our tradition challenges us to seek nonviolent paths. Diplomacy, solidarity, truthful witness, intentional listening, and persistent work to change the conditions that give rise to war.

Because we believe there is that of God in everyone, we also hold with tenderness those who serve in the military, including members of our own families and community. As Friends, we oppose war and the use of violence, yet we honor the courage, sacrifice, and suffering of individuals who put their lives at risk in the line of duty. We seek to separate our rejection of war as an institution from our love and respect for those who serve, offering care, memorials, and support, especially for those carrying physical or mental wounds, while continuing to work for nonviolent alternatives and to address the roots of war in society.

In our classrooms, this moral work begins in very small but intentional ways. When children sing that they cannot “kill the devil with a pistol or a sword,” they are learning that courage can look like speaking up for a friend, asking thoughtful questions about some news they overheard, or caring for those who are afraid or sad. As Head of School, I am grateful that we are a community where students can wrestle honestly with the realities of conflict while being grounded in a tradition that insists on the sacred worth of every person. My hope is that these amazing children grow into adults who continue this work, rejecting war as a solution and choosing, again and again, the harder and braver path of justice and peace.