The War Resisters League (WRL) is the oldest secular

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

organization in the United States."War Resisters League" Fellowship for Reconciliation website
/ref>

History

Founded in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I, it is a section of the London-based

War Resisters' International War Resisters' International (WRI), headquartered in London, is an international anti-war organisation with members and affiliates in over 30 countries. History ''War Resisters' International'' was founded in Bilthoven, Netherlands in 1921 unde ...

. It continues to be one of the leading radical voices in the anti-war movement. Many of the organization's founders had been jailed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

for refusing

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

. From the

Fellowship of Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). ...

many

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

s, and

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

separated to form this more

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

organization. Although the WRL was opposed to US participation in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it did not protest against it; the WRL complied with the

Espionage Act The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War ...

, ceased public protests, and did not solicit new members during this period. During World War II, many members were imprisoned as conscientious objectors. In the 1950s, WRL members worked in the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

and organized protests against

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s testing and

civil defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...

drills. In the 1960s, WRL was the first

organization to call for an end to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. WRL also organized the first demonstration against the war with a September 21, 1963 vigil at the U.S. Mission to the UN, followed by an October 9, 1963 picket of

Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu Trần Lệ Xuân (22 August 1924 – 24 April 2011), more popularly known in English as Madame Nhu, was the ''de facto'' First Lady of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963. She was the wife of Ngô Đình Nhu, who was the brother and chief advisor ...

speaking at the

Waldorf-Astoria in New York City The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultz ...

. WRL was among the primary groups (along with

Committee for Nonviolent Action The Committee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA) was an American anti-war group, formed in 1957 to resist the US government's program of nuclear weapons testing. It was one of the first organizations to employ nonviolent direct action to protest aga ...

, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

, and the

Student Peace Union Student Peace Union (SPU) was a nationwide student organization active on college campuses in the United States from 1959 to 1964. Its national headquarters were located near the campus of the University of Chicago. The SPU was founded by Ken Cal ...

) to organize coordinated nationwide protests against the Vietnam War on December 19, 1964. The organization's opposition to nuclear weapons was extended to include

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. The WRL has also been active in

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and anti- racist causes and works with other organizations to reduce the level of violence in modern culture.

Current activities

Presently, the War Resisters League is actively organizing against the wars in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

as well as the impact of war at home. Much of its organizing is focused on challenging military recruiters and ending corporate profit from war. It publishes an annual peace calendar, the quarterly magazine ''WIN: Through Revolutionary Nonviolence'', and other materials and is involved in a number of national peace and justice coalitions, including

United for Peace and Justice United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is a coalition of more than 1,300
,

and the

National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC — usually pronounced "new-trick") is an American activist coalition that promotes tax resistance as a way to protest against and/or disassociate from war and militarism. NWTRCC was f ...

. Since 1958, WRL has awarded almost annually the

War Resisters League Peace Award Since 1958, the War Resisters League, the pacifist group founded in 1923, has awarded almost annually its War Resisters League Peace Awardhttps://www.warresisters.org/wrl-peace-awards to a person or organization whose work represents the League's c ...

to a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of action. The War Resisters League annually publishes a pie chart showing how much of the U.S. federal budget actually covers current and past military expenses, listing the total as 54%: :"The figures are federal funds, ''which do not include trust funds'' mphasis added— such as Social Security — that are raised and spent separately from income taxes....The government practice of combining trust and federal funds began during the

, thus making the human needs portion of the budget seem larger and the military portion smaller. " Using the larger total spending that includes trust funds, official government figures produce smaller percentages for military spending: :" ov S. Zakheim, the Pentagon comptroller pointedout that the 2004 military budget would represent 16.6 percent of ''all federal spending'' mphasis added compared with 27.3 percent in the late 1980s."

Key members

* Sidney Aberman *

Devere Allen Devere Allen (1891–1955) was an American socialist and pacifist political activist and journalist. Allen is best remembered as the main editor of ''The World Tomorrow'' following the departure of Norman Thomas from the magazine in 1922. Alle ...

* Norma Becker * Ruth Benn * Frida Berrigan *

Albert Bigelow Albert Smith Bigelow (1 May 1906 – 6 October 1993) was a pacifist and former United States Navy Commander, who came to prominence in the 1950s as the skipper of the '' Golden Rule'', the first vessel to attempt disruption of a nuclear test ...

Karl Bissinger Karl Bissinger (November 5, 1914 – November 19, 2008) was an American photographer best known for his portraits of notable figures in the world of art following World War II with regular travel and fashion features in popular magazines of the mid ...

* Elinor Byrns *

Maris Cakars Maris Cakars ( Latvian: Māris Čakars) (1942-1992) is best known as having served as editor of WIN (Workshop in Nonviolence) Magazine, a bi-weekly journal of the nonviolent anti-Vietnam War movement, from 1965 to 1976. During his leadership at WIN ...

* Mandy Carter * Sybil Claiborne * Winston Dancis * Dave Dellinger * Barbara Deming *

Ralph DiGia Ralph DiGia (December 13, 1914 – February 1, 2008) was a World War II conscientious objector, lifelong pacifist and social justice activist, and staffer for 52 years at the War Resisters League. Born in the Bronx to a family of Italian imm ...

* Julius Eichel * Joe Felmet *

Henry Leroy Finch Jr. Henry Leroy Finch, Jr. (August 8, 1921 – August 22, 1997) was an American scholar and professor of philosophy and a pacifist organizer. Early life and education Roy Finch was born in New York City the oldest child of Henry Le Roy Finch and M ...

* Larry Gara * Sidney E. Goldstein * Walter Gormly * Edward P. Gottlieb * Richard Gregg * G. Simon Harak * George W. Hartmann *

Ammon Hennacy Ammon Ashford Hennacy (1893–1970) was an American Christian pacifist, anarchist, social activist, member of the Catholic Worker Movement, and Wobbly. He established the Joe Hill House of Hospitality in Salt Lake City, Utah, and practiced tax ...

Nat Hentoff Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for ''The Village Voice'' from 1958 to 2009. Fo ...

* Scott Herrick * Isidor B. Hoffman *

John Haynes Holmes John Haynes Holmes (November 29, 1879 – April 3, 1964) was an American Unitarian minister, pacifist, and co-founder of the NAACP and the ACLU. He is noted for his anti-war activism. Early life Holmes was born in Philadelphia on November 2 ...

* George Houser * Evelyn West Hughan *

Jessie Wallace Hughan Jessie Wallace Hughan (December 25, 1875 – April 10, 1955) was an American educator, a socialist activist, and a radical pacifist. During her college days she was one of four co-founders of Alpha Omicron Pi, a national fraternity for university ...

* Bert Kanegson *

Abe Kaufman Abe or ABE may refer to: People and fictional characters * Shinzo Abe (1954–2022), former Prime Minister of Japan * Abe (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Abe (surname), a list of people and ...

Randy Kehler Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of them ...

* Roy Kepler * Steve Ladd * Frieda Langer Lazarus *

Bradford Lyttle Bradford Lyttle (born November 20, 1927) is an American pacifist and peace activist. He was an organizer with the Committee for Non-Violent Action of several major campaigns against militarism, including "Omaha Action", against land-based nuclear ...

* Ruth MacAdam * Dwight Macdonald *

David McReynolds David Ernest McReynolds (October 25, 1929 – August 17, 2018) was an American politician and social activist who was a prominent democratic socialist and pacifist activist. He described himself as "a peace movement bureaucrat" during his 40-yea ...

* Mary S. McDowell *

A.J. Muste Abraham Johannes Muste ( ; January 8, 1885 – February 11, 1967) was a Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist. He is best remembered for his work in the labor movement, pacifist movement, antiwar movement, and civil rights movemen ...

Tracy Dickinson Mygatt Tracy Dickinson Mygatt (March 12, 1885 – November 22, 1973) was an American writer and pacifist, co-founder with Frances M. Witherspoon of the War Resisters League, and longtime officer of the Campaign for World Government. Early life and e ...

Frank Olmstead (pacifist) Frank Olmstead (March 3, 1923 – January 28, 2004) was an American politician and accountant who served as the 18th Auditor of New Mexico from 1971 to 1974. Early life and education Olmstead was born in Cimarron, New Mexico, and attended M ...

* James Otsuka *

Grace Paley Grace Paley (December 11, 1922 – August 22, 2007) was an American short story author, poet, teacher, and political activist. Paley wrote three critically acclaimed collections of short stories, which were compiled in the Pulitzer Prize and Na ...

* James Peck * Orlie Pell * Frances Rose Ransom * Earle L. Reynolds *

Ruth Mary Reynolds Ruth Mary Reynolds (February 29, 1916 – December 2, 1989) was an American educator, political and civil rights activist who embraced the ideals of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She was incarcerated in ''La Princesa'' Prison for sedi ...

* Edward (Ned) Richards * Igal Roodenko * Vicki Rovere *

Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin (; March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an African American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin worked with A. Philip Randolph on the March on Washington Movement, ...

Ira Sandperl Ira Sandperl (March 11, 1923 – April 13, 2013) was an American anti-war activist and educator. He influenced students and heroes of the anti-war, civil rights, and peace movements, including Martin Luther King Jr., David Harris, Bob Dylan, John ...

Lawrence Scott (Quaker) Lawrence Scott FRSL (born in Trinidad, 1943) is a novelist and short-story writer from Trinidad and Tobago, who divides his time between London and Port of Spain. He has also worked as a teacher of English and Drama at schools in London and in ...

Joanne Sheehan Joanne may refer to: Music * ''Joanne'' (album), 2016 album by Lady Gaga ** "Joanne" (Lady Gaga song), a 2016 song from the album ''Joanne'' * "Joanne" (Michael Nesmith song), a 1970 song from the album ''Magnetic South'' * "Joanne", a song by C ...

* Craig Simpson *

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in seve ...

* Ernest Allyn Smith * William Sutherland * Arlo Tatum * Evan W. Thomas (pacifist) *

Carmen Trotta Carmen Trotta is a pacifist and a member of the Catholic Worker Movement, Trotta has been an opponent of the war in Iraq. He has been an associate editor of the Catholic Worker, and has served on the executive committee of the War Resisters Leag ...

Jay Nelson Tuck Jay Nelson Tuck (1916-1985) was a journalist, television critic and president of The Newspaper Guild of New York City. He held reporting and editing posts at the New York World-Telegram and Sun, New York Post, The New York Post and at Medical Wo ...

* Anna Strunsky Walling * George Willoughby *

Lillian Willoughby Lillian Ruth Pemberton Willoughby (January 29, 1915''Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1856-1940'' – January 15, 2009) was an American Quakers, Quaker activist who advocated for world peace, founded Take Back the Night (protest), Take Back the Nigh ...

* Frances M. Witherspoon * Irma Zigas

Footnotes

External links

War Resisters League website

War Resisters Support Campaign
nbsp;– an effort to let US soldiers stay in Canada so they do not have to fight in Iraq or go to prison {{Authority control 1923 establishments in the United States Anti-nuclear organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 1923 Peace organizations based in the United States

History

Current activities

Key members

See also

Footnotes

Further reading

External links