What does Active Objection mean?
Resist not evil
What does active objection mean? Why is it the title of this blog?
This is what I wrote on the introduction to this website/substack page.
The idea of ACTIVE OBJECTION came to me when I was reminded that we are cautioned to not resist evil. Although there have been numerous times when I did just that, I have become convinced that responding to evil diverts our attention and energy away from creating constructive ways to address injustice.
—Jeff Kisling
Active objection grew out of my years thinking about conscientious objection, and my eventual decision that even that framework was insufficient,
At some point the thought came to me that I conscientiously objected to our current systems of Christian, colonial, capitalist violence, which is the way oppressed communities define it.
During the Vietnam War, all 18-year-old males were required to register with the Selective Service and faced being drafted into military service. One alternative was to register as a conscientious objector, doing two years of community service instead.
I had from the beginning realized that I could not agree to be a conscientious objector, because to do so was a way to deflect criticism away from the draft and conscription. I knew I should resist the draft completely, and I eventually did. The only reason it took so long to do this was to give my family more time to be comfortable with my choice. They wanted me to do alternative service as a conscientious objector, because they didn’t want me to face the possibility of a felony conviction and imprisonment if I resisted the draft. In the end I was not arrested.
The time we spend ‘resisting evil’ could be better spent in trying to find out where we can do better ourselves. You do not change others by opposing them—rather, by respecting and trying to understand and learn from them, you can both benefit and move nearer the truth. A life of example—showing the possibilities and fruits of a life lived in love and concern for others, is the only way to overcome evil.
I do not want my example to be alliance with evil. Thus, I cannot serve with the Selective Service System. However, I will not set myself against it. I will break my ties with Selective Service, and concentrate on the difficult task of working for peace in whatever way I can.
—from the letter to my draft board, February, 1972.
(Quaker) Marshall Massey, a member of my Quaker yearly meeting, Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) recently wrote:
Friends who have been in conversation with me, these past two years, have heard me speak my objections to the idea of “resistance”. We are forbidden to resist evil — an absolute, unqualified prohibition! — by the historical Jesus (Matthew 5:39), and I think many of us are also feeling that same teaching from the Christ in our hearts and consciences.
—Marshall Massey
Active objection does not resist evil. Instead, it names and acknowledges the injustice, but then the focus is on building better, more just communities and alternatives.
Rather than opposing these systems, active objection works to build what should replace them — mutual aid networks, LANDBACK, community-based safety and care. Even something as small as the Friends Committee on National Legislation's "War Is Not The Answer" button I wear on my camera strap is part of that: a daily reminder of what we're building toward.
