page_title: Peace Testimony
section_title: Friends' testimony to peace
hierarchical_section_title: Peace Testimony / Friends' testimony to peace
caption_attribution_description: Front side (obverse) of one of the Nobel Prize medals in Physiology or Medicine awarded in 1950 to researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
context_page_description: Peace testimony, or testimony against war, is a shorthand description of the action generally taken by members of the Religious Society of Friends for peace and against participation in war. Like other Quaker testimonies, it is not a "belief", but a description of committed actions, in this case to promote peace, and refrain from and actively oppose participation in war. Quakers' original refusal to bear arms has been broadened to embrace protests and demonstrations in opposition to government policies of war and confrontations with others who bear arms, whatever the reason, in the support of peace and active nonviolence. Because of this core testimony, the Religious Society of Friends is considered one of the traditional peace churches.
context_section_description: Quakers have engaged in peace testimony by protesting against wars, refusing to serve in armed forces if drafted, seeking conscientious objector status when available, and even to participating in acts of civil disobedience. Not all Quakers embrace this testimony as an absolute; for example, there were Friends that fought in World War I and World War II. Some others were firm Christian pacifists. During extreme circumstances it has been difficult for some Quakers to engage in and uphold this testimony, yet Friends have almost universally been committed to the ideal of peace, even those who have felt the need to compromise on their testimony. Apart from the specific question of war, other ways in which Friends have testified to peace have included vegetarianism and a commitment to restorative justice.
  The Religious Society of Friends was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947.  The Nobel Prize was awarded to Friends for Friends' work to relieve suffering and feed many millions of starving people during and after both world wars. The Nobel prize was accepted by the American Friends Service Committee, along with the UK's Friends Service Council on behalf of all Quakers.
  The first paragraph of the Presentation Speech reads:
  "The Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament has awarded this year's Peace Prize to the Quakers, represented by their two great relief organizations, the Friends Service Council in London and the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia."
caption: In 1947, the Religious Society of Friends was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The peace testimony of Friends is their best known.[7]
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