During the
Korean
war I was scheduled for the
draft and had to decide whether to follow my
conscience and oppose the
war, or to follow the line of least resistance and go into the
military. There was a local office of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in
Syracuse, N.Y. where I lived and I went there in search of more
information.
A few years later I was in
New York City and was at the point where I had to pick an
organization for two years of
alternative service. As luck would have it (or was it mere luck?) I lived only two blocks from the
regional office of the AFSC and within moments I was "working" for them for about $30.00 a week. It was the most
gratifying two years of my life.
Background
The AFSC, formed in 1917, is a Quaker organization that functions as a center for people of various faiths who are concerned about social justice, peace, and humanitarian service. It grew out a concern of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) to promote the belief in the worth of every human being. Its primary premise is a faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.
It was formed in 1917 to provide conscientious objectors the opportunity to serve the needs of civilian victims during World War I. Their focus is on the economic justice, peace-building and demilitarization, social justice, and youth, in the United States, and in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
In the time I was there my primary job was to help form groups of
young volunteers, usually after their first year at the
university, for work in a state
mental hospital and in the area of New York City called "El Bario," otherwise known as
Spanish Harlem. I believe that these work camps marked the turning point for many young and concerned people.
We built a
church for
Negro migrant laborers in upstate New York, visited the
elderly and
infirmed, stood on
picket lines opposing the use of
nuclear weapons. While I was never
arrested, I saw many hauled off to
jail and treated with every [indignity. But nothing seem to dislodge their faith in "the light" that exists in every person. To use an overworked word, their conduct was truly
awesome.
I gradually moved away from AFSC and its concerns, but I have never lost my respect for the AFSC and for the Society of Friends that provides the driving force behind them. Their
humility and their
humanity and their
force of
spirit continue to put me to
shame.