…in the September issue of Friends Journal.
So with her cries, the widow is not just making a private complaint—she’s also speaking ancient truth, reminding the Israelite public as well as the judge that there is an authentic, holy tradition of justice in her society, and that it’s being blatantly and shamelessly perverted here. So her cries are also an exposé, a kind of committed feminist journalism. They shine a spotlight, or at least a penlight, of veracity into the fog the judge uses to conceal his dirty deeds.
So writes Chuck Fager, comparing our struggle against government-sponsored and government-approved torture to that of the poor widow whose persistence eventually wore down even an unjust judge (Luke 18).
Our weapons are the weapons of the weak, not of the mighty of this world. Chuck calls them TVA for short: tenacity, veracity, audacity. Read on, for although addressed most especially to Friends, Chuck’s article will nurture all of us whose torture resistance work emanates from a spiritual place.
Chuck, in case you’re unacquainted with him, is a longtime Quaker peace and justice activist. He is the founder of Quaker House, in Fayetteville, NC, where he has done draft counseling and has fought for medical and psychological care for returning veterans.
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