Other religious groups who went through experiences comparable to those of the Friends came to similar conclusions. The Church of the Brethren, founded in 1709 in Germany, took as one of its leading principles that "there shall be no force in religion," and carried it out so faithfully that they would not baptize children, on the ground that this act would coerce them into membership in the church before they could decide to join of their own free will. The Brethren have refused to take part in war not only because it is contrary to the spirit of Christian love, and destroys sacred human life, but also because it is coercive and interferes with the free rights of others.[119] For the person who believes in the practice of positive goodwill towards all men, the refusal to use coercion arises from its incompatibility with the spirit of positive regard for every member of the human family, rather than being a separate value in itself. In social situations this regard may express itself in various ways. It may have a desirable result from the point of view of the practitioner, but again we must emphasize that he does what he does on the basis of principle; the result is a secondary consideration. FOOTNOTES: [117] Barclay, _Apology_, Prop. XIV, Sec. IV, 470. [118] Fry, _Quaker Ways_. 59-60. [119] D. W. Kurtz, _Ideals of the Church of the Brethren_, leaflet (Elgin, Ill.: General Mission Board, 1934?); Martin G. Brumbaugh in _Studies in the Doctrine of Peace_ (Elgin, Ill.: Board of Christian Education, Church of the Brethren, 1939), 56; the statement of the Goshen Conference of 1918 and other statements of the position of the church in L. W. Shultz (ed.), _Minutes of the Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren on War and Peace_, mimeo (Elgin: Bd. of Chr. Ed., Church of the Brethren, 1935); and the pamphlet by Robert Henry Miller, _The Christian Philosophy of Peace_ (Elgin: Bd. of Chr. Ed., Church of the Brethren, 1935). Ministering to Groups in Conflict One expression of this philosophy may be abstention from partisanship in conflicts between other groups, in order to administer impartially to the human need of both parties to the conflict.