Business Relations and Civic Relations

Friends are urged in all their business and professional relations to make the motive of service superior to that of profit, and to endeavor by the application of both religious and economic principles to give full value for a fair compensation.

Industrial Relations

Friends involved in all fields of endeavor are urged to work in the spirit of service and to avoid exploitation of others.

Those who are employers or supervisors of other people will find that recognition of and respect for each employee as an individual will smooth relations between management and labor. They are responsible for seeing that everyone's work load is equitable, that each one has reasonable working hours, and that pay be in accord with the work performed. In setting wage levels it is essential that employers consider the needs of employees and their families. These needs include necessary health and unemployment protection.

It is important for the worker to give a full day's work for a full day's pay and to maintain a high standard of work quality while being sensitive to problems faced by the employer and other employees.

Individuals should practice thrift and take thought for the future to be prepared for retirement.

When manifest injustice exists in a place of employment, each person should conscientiously examine the possibility of non-violent methods to remedy that injustice.

Cooperation

Recognizing that in the proper conduct of trade and industry the highest interests of employers and employees are mutual and interdependent, adequate means should be provided for understanding and cooperation. Having faith that only fairness and good-will provide the means for the permanent settlement of economic differences, we urge Friends to place their dependence upon these principles and to be willing to act as mediators in bringing these methods before others as a better way than force and violence.

Corporations

Friends, in their relations with corporations, whether as stockholders or otherwise, should be governed by the same high standards as in their relations with individuals. If the conduct of a corporation is inconsistent with high standards of individual conduct, it should be the duty of Friends, if protests do not avail, to refuse to retain ownership of stock, or to work for, or to purchase products from such a corporation.

Trust Funds

When Friends are placed in positions of trust, whether as trustee, assignee, treasurer or other fiduciary capacity in which they are responsible for the administration of property of others, they should exercise great care to discharge their duties with diligence, good judgment and the strictest integrity. For this purpose it is advised that any such moneys be kept strictly apart from their own, that separate accounts be maintained, and that a careful audit be made at least yearly of all accounts, including the verification of all investment securities.

Wills

Friends are urged to make their wills in time of health and strength of judgment in order to prevent the inconvenience, loss and trouble to their beneficiaries of dying intestate. Wills should be made with strict regard to justice and equity, with proper provision for dependents and in accordance with legal statutes.

Promises

Friends are urged to be scrupulous in abiding by the spirit as well as the letter of their promises, contracts and agreements, in buying and selling and in all other matters.

Debts

Friends are earnestly advised to make prompt payment of just debts at the time agreed, and to avoid undue delay in payment when no time is stipulated. They should recognize it as a moral duty to avoid incurring debts beyond their ability to pay, and even when legally discharged of any debt should feel that the obligation remains.

Accounts

By means of clear and accurate accounts of their business transactions, Friends will be the better able to keep themselves well acquainted with their resources and to arrange their expenditures with due regard to their income. Frequent inspection of business affairs and a balancing of accounts at least once a year are recommended.

Engaging in Business

It is the duty of every person to select some form of useful occupation. Care should be exercised in making this selection and the advice of those of mature judgment should be obtained. Friends should be cautious in starting in business without requisite capital and experience, and engaging in hazardous ventures because of prospective abnormal profits.

Accumulation of Wealth

Habits of industry and thrift, important as they are, sometimes tend, unless carefully watched, to degenerate into habits of love for wealth and its accumulation.

Friends should seek to discern how much of their income or property can be spared, and in what manner it may be wisely distributed, for the benefit of others. It should not be a burden but a privilege to be able to contribute when appeals are made to us for the support of our Religious Society and for worthy educational and philanthropic work.

Civic Relations

Duties of Citizenship

Believing that the Kingdom of God on earth is advanced by those who devote themselves with unselfish public spirit to the building of a high national character, and to the shaping of a righteous policy of government both at home and abroad, we urge Friends to be active in the performance of all duties of good citizenship.

Voting and Public Office

Every opportunity for participation in decisions of public matters by ballot should be used, and when exercising their duties as individual voters, Friends are urged to maintain a clearness of judgment which will enable them to act upon principle.

By the participation of men and women of intelligence, calm judgment and high principle in the direct responsibilities of government, much may be done to form a healthy public opinion which will lead to purity of administration and to a wise solution of the many problems of city, state and national government. When called to serve in public office, Friends should consider the public good, and having accepted such office, they should serve with diligence and integrity. Public office should not be used for the gratification of personal ambition or for pecuniary gain.

Voluntary Public Service

While the number of those who are able to serve in public office may be comparatively small, there is a wide field for voluntary public service in the several agencies and organizations which exist for civic betterment. Friends are urged to be faithful to their responsibilities as citizens by taking part in such service.

Treatment of Civic Offenders

Enlightened treatment of civic offenders by constructive methods rather than by merely punitive action is a reform challenging those who endeavor to follow Christian principles. While condemning unrighteous acts, we should at the same time seek to have offenders treated in a manner conducive to the strengthening of their moral character, the maintenance of their self-respect, and their reclamation as useful members of society.

Early and recent experiences of Friends, as well as expert opinion and statistical analysis, indicate a failure of the U.S. prison and rehabilitation systems. The rate of recidivism (return to prison) continues at greater than 50% as a national average. For most offenders, incarceration means further training in crime; for their families, it means social disgrace and economic insecurity. It should be considered only when the individual is a real danger to society. Friends should be counted among those who actively seek and support alternative methods to incarceration in our criminal justice system.

Friends are opposed to capital punishment because it is contrary to the Divine law of love. The application of the death penalty is brutalizing and degrading to the public mind. It leaves no room for the reformation of character, nor for the revision of the sentence in the event of a miscarriage of justice.

Obedience to Law

Our first allegiance is to the will of God. It should, therefore, be the endeavor of every Friend to influence the making and changing of secular laws so that they may more nearly accord with Divine laws. It is the duty of all citizens to uphold and obey all legal enactments, unless they directly violate their deep convictions of the dictates of God. If conditions arise in which national or civil laws appear to be absolutely at variance with Divine law, Friends should take prayerful counsel to arrive at a decision in accordance with God's will. They should also sustain and uphold with spiritual encouragement those who are impelled by allegiance to Divine law to take a difficult stand. Special care should be given in such instances to make clear that the action is not taken in disrespect of the laws of society nor with intent to evade them, but in accordance with the dictates of the higher law. Those who act on the principle of obedience to God must be prepared to suffer for the sake of their convictions.