In the shadow of Fort Bragg, the world’s largest military installation, a modest house on Hillside Avenue in Fayetteville has stood for more than half a century as a beacon of resistance to war and peace. Since 1968, Quaker House, has counseled 50,000+ service members, supported conscientious objectors, and maintained an unwavering witness against war in all its forms. As Wayne Finegar reminds us in a powerful reflection, all wars are illegal under international law! Our time has come not only to recognize a truth but to act upon it through tax resistance and support for conscientious objection.

50 Years of Witness for Peace: A Call to End ALL Wars

An Illegal Foundation of Modern War

Writing on March 15, shortly after 47 beginning of our latest military action in, Finegar states plainly: “It is an illegal war that began with an illegal assassination and continues to kill people across the region.” His words echo a legal reality that most have never been taught.

In 1928, the United States Senate ratified a General Treaty for the Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy, commonly known as the Kellogg-Briand Pact. The treaty, as it remains binding law today, declares signatory nations “condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies and renounce it as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another”. It stipulates that “settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means”.

At the Nuremberg Trials following World War II, British prosecutor Sir Hartley Shawcross declared that with the Kellogg-Briand Pact, “practically the whole civilized world abolished war as a legally permissible means of enforcing the law or of changing it”. The Tribunal affirmed aggressive war is a “supreme international crime” because it contains within itself “the accumulated evil of the whole.” Who is culpable for today’s world war?

Today, the United States continues to wage wars across the globe with barely a mention of this binding legal obligation. The United Nations Charter, ratified in 1945, further prohibits the use of force except in cases of self-defense against an armed attack or when authorized by the Security Council. As Finegar notes, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights has explicitly stated that recent U.S. military actions do not constitute “lawful self-defense against an armed attack” and lack Security Council authorization.

Quaker House: A Living Witness

Quaker House emerged from a moral clarity of the Vietnam era. In 1969, a Fort Bragg soldier named Dean Holland sought help from Quakers in Chapel Hill to obtain conscientious objector status. After receiving assistance, Holland stood before the Friends meeting and declared that there needed to be a Quaker presence in Fayetteville. With Holland’s leadership, Quaker congregations across North Carolina raised money to open a GI counseling center in the heart of a military town.

The center quickly became a catalyst for GI resistance. With the help of angry young war veterans, Quaker House staff organized a rally in a nearby park featuring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland that drew 4,000 protesters—including over 1,000 active-duty soldiers. Four days after the rally, Quaker House was firebombed in a case that was never solved. Undeterred, the Quaker community reopened the house, where it remains today.

Former director Chuck Fager, who served from 2001 to 2012, recalled preparing for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan before they began. “I said, ‘We have to get ready for war. I don’t claim to be a prophet, but I’m sure it’s coming and it’s going to be awful and we’re on the peace side and we have to get ready,'” Fager told the Fayetteville Observer. During his tenure, the number of calls from soldiers seeking conscientious objector status surged.

AWTT – Credit photo and Art

A Conscientious Objector Tradition

The right to conscientious objection is deeply rooted in American history, but it has never been easily won. In 1969, Dean Holland became the first soldier at Fort Bragg to receive conscientious objector status with Quaker House’s help. Since then, the organization has helped countless others navigate this difficult path.

Jeremy Hinzman, a paratrooper assigned to the 82nd Airborne, attended Quaker House meetings regularly both before and after deploying to Afghanistan. When his application for conscientious objector status was denied and his unit received orders for Iraq, Hinzman fled with his family to Canada to apply for refugee status—a case that received national and international attention.

Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia, a Florida National Guardsman who served in Iraq, refused to return after his deployment and submitted a 40-page conscientious objector application. Though military authorities prevented him from speaking at a Fayetteville peace rally, his family read his statement affirming his opposition to the war and thanking supporters.

The GI Rights Hotline, staffed in part by Quaker House counselors, continues to receive calls from service members worldwide. In a recent four-month period, counselors took 935 unique calls from active-duty service members, with a notable increase in requests about conscientious objection discharges.

Moral Injury and the Wounds of War

Beyond legal support for conscientious objectors, Quaker House addresses what former director Kindra Bradley called “the invisible wounds of war”. Through counseling with a licensed social worker, the organization serves active-duty military members and their families dealing with moral injury, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

Monisha Rios, who served during the Persian Gulf War, turned to Quaker House after experiencing sexual harassment and assault throughout her military career. “They saved my life,” Rios said. “There’s no other way to put it. I was ready to check out and become a statistic”.

Lynn Newsom, who co-directed Quaker House with her husband Steve from 2012 to 2017, called the work “immensely moving and rewarding and very heart-breaking. We’re still haunted by some of the stories,” she said.

Tax Resistance: Putting Faith into Action

If all wars are illegal, then paying taxes that fund them raises profound moral questions. The Quaker tradition has long grappled with this dilemma. American Quaker War Tax Resistance, a documentary history edited by David M. Gross, traces the evolution of Quaker war tax resistance from the colonial era through the present day. The volume features writings from Isaac Sharpless, Thomas Story, William Penn, Benjamin Franklin, John Woolman, and other Quaker luminaries who wrestled with the limits of the peace testimony as it applied to taxpaying.

Historical voices remind us that refusing to fund war is not merely a political stance but a religious imperative. As Finegar notes, the Kellogg-Briand Pact remains binding law, yet no Department of Justice has ever brought an indictment against any president for committing a crime against humanity by starting a war in violation of the treaty. In the absence of legal enforcement, it falls to people of conscience to refuse complicity.

War tax resistance takes many forms: refusing to pay the portion of federal income taxes that goes to military spending, redirecting those funds to peaceful purposes, or engaging in public witness about the moral necessity of defunding war. Organizations like the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee offer resources and support for those considering this step.

Illegal & Unauthorized Iran War. Lebanon invaded. Heads of State Assassinated & Kidnapped – New Calls to Action?

As Quaker House enters its second half-century, its mission remains as urgent as ever. Current director Kindra Bradley, a former police officer and firefighter who found her calling in Quakerism, envisions “the world, especially the United States, be less involved in conflict and more involved in preventing conflict”. This vision requires action. 

Here are ways to support Quaker House and a movement to end all wars:

1. Support Quaker House: Donations fund the GI Rights Hotline (877-447-4487), counseling services, and peace advocacy work.
2. Learn about conscientious objection: The GI Rights Hotline provides confidential information to service members about their options, including conscientious objector discharges.
3. Consider tax resistance: Explore the resources compiled in American Quaker War Tax Resistance and connect with organizations supporting war tax resisters.
4. Educate yourself on international law: The Kellogg-Briand Pact and UN Charter remain binding treaties. Their provisions deserve to be taught in schools and invoked in public discourse.
5. Stand with peace witnesses: As Fager observed, the tide of public sentiment can turn. Weekly vigils at Fayetteville’s Market House began with “one-finger salutes” and evolved into honks of support.

A history of Quaker House demonstrates that even in the heart of militaristic country, a faithful witness for peace can endure and grow. From Dean Holland’s hitchhiked journey to Chapel Hill to the counseling of thousands of service members, from firebombing to renovation, from the Vietnam era to present wars, Quaker House has shown that calls to “renounce war as an instrument of national policy” remains alive.

As Finegar concludes, the law is clear. The moral imperative is clear. What remains is whether we will act.

Resources

• Quaker House Fayetteville: 110 Hillside Avenue, Fayetteville, NC 28301 | (910) 323-3912 | quakerhouse.org
• GI Rights Hotline: 1-877-447-4487 (24 hours)
• American Quaker War Tax Resistance (2011): Edited by David M. Gross, available through major booksellers
• Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928): Full text available through the Avalon Project at Yale Law School
• National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee: nwtrcc.org
• Friends Committee on National Legislation: fcnl.org

For Further Inquiry

1. What would it mean for the United States to return to compliance with the Kellogg-Briand Pact?
2. How do faith communities effectively support conscientious objectors within the U.S.A. military?
3. What mechanisms exist for holding leaders accountable for waging illegal war?
4. How can war tax resistance be practiced safely and effectively?
5. What lessons from Quaker House’s 50 year history apply to peacebuilders today?