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History
and Supporters
Founding
of the Fellowship
In 1914, an ecumenical conference
was held in Switzerland by Christians seeking to prevent the outbreak
of war in Europe. Before the conference ended, however, World War
I had started and those present had to return to their respective
countries. At a railroad station in Germany, two of the participants,
Henry Hodgkin, an English Quaker, and Friedrich Sigmund-Schultze,
a German Lutheran, pledged to find a way of working for peace even
though their countries were at war. Out of this pledge Christians
gathered in Cambridge, England in December 1914 to found the Fellowship
of Reconciliation. The FOR-USA was founded one year later, in 1915.
FOR has since become an interfaith
and international movement with branches and groups in over 40
countries and on every continent. Today the membership of FOR
includes Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, and people of other
faith traditions, as well as those with no formal religious affiliation.
FOR's
History - Some Highlights
1916-1917: Helps organize the National Civil Liberties
Bureau, now the ACLU. Supports World War I conscientious objectors
(CO) and contributes to legal recognition of CO rights.
1920s: Helps organize the National Conference of Christians
and Jews (now the National Conference on Community and Justice). Sends a peace delegation to meet Sandino in Nicaragua.
1930s: Works to strengthen the labor movement in it's
drive to secure better working conditions. Sponsors Ambassadors
of Reconciliation to visit world leaders.
1940s: Encourages nonviolent resistance to World War
II. Leads the struggle against internment of Japanese Americans.
European FOR members rescue Jews and other political refugees
fleeing Nazism. Sponsors an interracial team on the first "freedom
ride" to test court decision outlawing discrimination in interstate
travel. Organizes extensive campaign to prevent the Pentagon from
extending wartime conscription into universal military training.
1950s: Helps organize the American Committee on Africa
(now part of Africa Action) to support the movements for African independence. Conducts six-year
Food for China program in response to Chinese famines. FOR staff
work with Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Montgomery bus boycott,
and hold workshops in nonviolence throughout the South. Produces
a full-color comic book, Martin Luther King and the Montgomery
Story, that sells over 250,000 copies.
1960s: Launches Shelters for the Shelterless, building
real shelters for homeless people, in response to increasing public
demand for fallout shelters. Makes contact with Vietnamese Buddhist
pacifist movement and sponsors world tour by Buddhist monk, Thich
Nhat Hanh. Forms International Committee of Conscience on Vietnam
with 10,000 clergy in 40 countries. Raises money for medical aid
for both sides in Vietnam.
1970s: Founds Dai Dong, a transnational project linking
war, environmental problems, poverty and other social issues,
involving thousands of scientists around the world. Seeks to reverse
the Cold War and the arms race with campaigns, marches, educational
projects and civil disobedience. Opposes death penalty in concerted
campaign with ACLU.
1980s: Takes the lead in initiating the Nuclear Freeze
Campaign in cooperation with other groups. Initiates U.S.-U.S.S.R. reconciliation
program, including people-to-people exchanges, artistic and educational
resources, teach-ins and conferences. Leads nonviolence training
seminars in the Philippines prior to the nonviolent overthrow
of the Marcos dictatorship.
1990s: Sends delegations of religious leaders and peace
activists to Iraq to try to prevent war and later, to see the
massive devastation caused by the economic sanctions imposed upon
Iraq. Starts the Campaign to Save a Generation, an ongoing project
centered on saving Iraqi children from the horrors of the sanctions,
and American children from the poverty rampant in the United States. Launches
"Stop the Killing, Start the Healing" campaign in response to
escalating levels of gun violence in the United States. Initiates
Bosnian Student Project, bringing students from the former Yugoslavia
out of war zones and into U.S. homes and schools, and later starts
the International Reconciliation Work Camp Project. Works to bring
an end to the suffering of the Serbs and Kosovars during and after
the war in former Yugoslavia. Works to ensure the U.S. military's
withdrawal from Panama.
FOR
Supporters
"Your goal is, in my opinion, the
only reasonable one and to make it prevail is of vital importance."
--Albert Einstein, in a letter to FOR
"The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
values its long partnership with FOR and recognizes FOR's outstanding
work in the anti-war movement and continued commitment to peace
and nonviolence."
--The Rev. Joseph Lowery, SCLC president
"Reconciliation required connection,
not separation. I want to be connected with those who have the
courage to care, the muscle to be compassionate. That is why I
belong to FOR."
--Rabbi Leo Beerman, Leo Baeck Temple, Los Angeles
"FOR has been in the forefront of
the nonviolent struggle for peace with justice. What is important
about FOR is what it stands for. And that is a courageous
dedication to the liberation of humanity from the triple evils
of poverty, racism, and violence."
--Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for
Nonviolent Social Change
"I joined FOR because of the people who
represented the Fellowship. They were really for nonviolent action
and were penetrated deeply with the sense of humanism with which
Buddhists are familiar. What makes FOR meaningful to me is
the presence of open-minded, deeply humanistic, and creative people."
--Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk, author, poet
Eighty-five
Years of the Fellowship of Reconciliation
Click
here to read Richard Deats'
article "The Rebel Passion: 85 Years of the Fellowship of
Reconciliation."
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