Hence as a measure of sound policy--of safety to property,
life, and liberty--of public quietude and private enjoyment--as
well as on the ground of allegiance to Him who is King of kings
and Lord of lords, we cordially adopt the non-resistance
principle, being confident that it provides for all possible
consequences, is armed with omnipotent power, and must
ultimately triumph over every assailing force.
"We advocate no Jacobinical doctrines. The spirit of
Jacobinism is the spirit of retaliation, violence, and murder.
It neither fears God nor regards man. We would be filled with
the spirit of Christ. If we abide evil by our fundamental
principle of not opposing evil by evil we cannot participate in
sedition, treason, or violence. We shall submit to every
ordinance and every requirement of government, except such as
are contrary to the commands of the Gospel, and in no case
resist the operation of law, except by meekly submitting to the
penalty of disobedience.
"But while we shall adhere to the doctrine of non-resistance
and passive submission to enemies, we purpose, in a moral and
spiritual sense, to assail iniquity in high places and in low
places, to apply our principles to all existing evil,
political, legal, and ecclesiastical institutions, and to
hasten the time when the kingdoms of this world will have
become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. It appears to us
a self-evident truth that whatever the Gospel is designed to
destroy at any period of the world, being contrary to it, ought
now to be abandoned. If, then, the time is predicted when
swords shall be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning
hooks, and men shall not learn the art of war any more, it
follows that all who manufacture, sell, or wield these deadly
weapons do thus array themselves against the peaceful dominion
of the Son of God on earth.
"