Edward F. Snyder has written:

The events of September 11 have challenged us all. One response, which I believe is consistent with a pacifist position, sees law and order as the best nonviolent alternative to war we humans are yet capable of. Most Friends, like William Penn as governor, are not anarchists--even while they recognize there is a "more excellent way" (I Cor. 12:31) and that the rule of law must be infused with compassion and forgiveness as an integral part of justice. ... We cannot know what lay down the road not taken. We have it on good authority (Rom. 12:21) that evil is not overcome by evil; evil is overcome by good. We have been deprived of the energy and creative new directions that could have flowed from a nonviolent response. Edward F. Snyder Friends Journal February 2002 page 5