Product details
- ISBN 9781963511451
- Dimensions: 139 x 215mm
- Publication Date: 07 Apr 2026
- Publisher: Catalyst Books
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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In 1995, after hearing Madeleine Albright say on national television that she felt sacrificing 500,000 children to punish Saddam Hussein was “worth it,” Quaker pacifist Joseph Olejak became a political activist. As a form of civil disobedience, he refused to pay income tax, since his tax dollars would go to fund a war he opposed. This was the beginning of a twenty-year journey towards peace–initially by non-compliance with the military industrial complex. Sentenced to 26 weekends in the county jail for failure to pay income taxes, Olejak kept a journal and wrote about his experiences, as well as his growing awareness of peace, justice, and the U.S. prison system.
Joseph Olejak is a convinced Quaker who chose not to participate in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by willfully refusing to pay income tax. Having come to the understanding that there is that of God in all people, it became impossible to lend support for the Middle East wars by paying income tax. After serving time for his peace witness, Joseph Olejak now works on peace and justice issues within the Old Chatham Quaker Meeting.
