Conversation peace: Bob Johnson on the pathology of violence

‘The fifty murderers I worked with confirmed for me the validity of the Peace Testimony.’

‘Human beings are never born violent. They have violence thrust upon them.’ | Photo: Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0

I knew little of violence. Certainly I’d never been to prison before I went to Parkhurst. Even then I was only hit once during five years there – and that was entirely due to my own inadvertence. I did know something of peace. I was brought up in a Quaker family. My aunt worked in Friends House during world war two and it was expected that I would register as a conscientious objector – though the decision was exclusively mine.

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