Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Newton Garver has given flesh to the peace testimony over the years by burning his draft card, refusing to register for the draft, and clerking the NYYM Peace and Social Action Program.

Newton takes the fundamental message of Christianity from the Temptations of Jesus, "I want you to consider that it does not matter by whom Jesus is tempted, and that he must overcome the temptations just because of what is offered to him...We might then say that it is the integrity of the soul and its relations with other souls that belongs to God, and that the skills to change the world in which we live - politics, economics, law, engineering, medicine, social work, education and so on - are among what belongs to Caesar and should be rendered to Caesar...To deny that religion and politics lie in separate domains therefore seems to involve a denial of the example of Jesus."

From an analysis of Thomas Jefferson's writings, Newton observes that "Optimism suppresses creativity because the redoubled energy it contributes to the project at hand detracts from the search for alternative solutions...Jefferson's hope is based not on knowledge, not on scientifically proven facts, but on insight or something akin to faith."

Those interpretations lead Newton to consider the tasks of Friends: "Our tasks are founded on vision and faith rather than documentation. Our tasks are founded on hope, not fear. Our tasks are founded not on hate - and not even on justice or reform but on love. Our tasks are founded on conscience, not authorization or approval. Finally, our tasks are founded on witness, not results."

"Our first task is to love one another, to be valiant for the truth upon the earth, and to remain attentive to the true spirit in all that we do. The second task is to minister to the suffering: the hungry, the poor, the lonely, the naked, the bruised and battered victims of all sorts of violence. A third task is that of listening to others. A fourth task is to delimit the domain of politics. A fifth task is to nurture hope in these times of darkness."

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