2019/07/16

Statement Regarding Historic Vote in Congress Supporting an End to the Korean War - Korea Peace Now!

Statement Regarding Historic Vote in Congress Supporting an End to the Korean War

Posted on July 15, 2019

The four core partners of the global campaign Korea Peace Now! Women Mobilizing to End the War applaud the recent historic vote in U.S. Congress calling for an end to the Korean War. As part of the National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment by Rep. Ro Khanna declaring that diplomacy is essential with North Korea and calling for an end to the Korean War.

“This vote is a game changer,” said Christine Ahn, executive director of Women Cross DMZ. “It’s a clear sign that the American people want an end to the oldest U.S. conflict, and that ending decades of hostilities with a peace agreement is the only way to resolve the nuclear crisis.”

“While this vote was largely symbolic, it reflects the growing momentum and political space for peace,” said Liz Bernstein, executive director of Nobel Women’s Initiative. “Now we must build on this momentum by including women in the peace process.”

“On behalf of the citizens of South Korea, I want to thank U.S. lawmakers for taking their courageous stand for the peace and security of millions of people on the Korean Peninsula,” said Youngmi Cho, executive director of the Korean Women’s Movement for Peace. “Ending the war will help North and South Korea improve relations and allow more inter-economic cooperation.”

“Now President Trump should follow through and take steps to build trust,” said YouKyoung Ko, a consultant for Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. “It’s time to formally declare an end to the Korean War and work toward a peace agreement.”

Read the Korean version of this statement here.

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10 James Baldwin Books to Read Right Now - James Baldwin Book List

10 James Baldwin Books to Read Right Now - James Baldwin Book List

10 James Baldwin Books to Read in Your Lifetime

More from the literary legend behind If Beale Street Could Talk.

By McKenzie Jean-PhilippeJan 26, 2019

ULF ANDERSENGETTY IMAGES

James Baldwin is an iconic author for our time, a writer who gave the world countless poignant essays, shorts stories, novels, plays, and poems during his 63 years.

As a gay Black man coming to terms with his identity in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, Baldwin—who died on December 1, 1987—used his distinct perspective and lyrical writing to shed light on issues of race, homosexuality, and religion in a way that placed him ahead of his time when it came to social commentary.
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From Go Tell It on the Mountain to Giovanni's Room and the newly-adapted for the big screen If Beale Street Could Talk, we've gathered some of Baldwin's most popular texts, all of which are still essential reading today. And don't worry: we've included a complete list of his life's work, too—because they're all worthy of praise.

Go Tell It on the Mountain

SHOP NOWGo Tell It on the Mountain (1953)

In his first novel, Baldwin penned a semi-autobiographical story about a boy named John Grimes, a teen growing up in 1930s Harlem who struggles with self-identity as the stepson of a strict Pentecostal minister. The story mirrors the author's own life; Baldwin, too was raised by a stepfather who served as a Baptist pastor.

"Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else,'' he told The New York Times is 1985. ''I had to deal with what hurt me most. I had to deal, above all, with my father."

Notes of a Native Son

SHOP NOWNotes of a Native Son (1955)

In this collection of essays, the writer captured the complexities of being Black in America during the first rumblings of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. Throughout his observations, Baldwin both lamented the injustices in the African American community and showed empathy for the oppressor, establishing himself as a key voice in the movement.

In a 1958 New York Times review of Notes of a Native Son, African American poet Langston Hughes said this of Baldwin's words: "America and the world might as well have a major contemporary commentator."
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Giovanni's Room
amazon.com
SHOP NOWGiovanni's Room (1956)

A landmark novel in American literature, Giovanni's Room follows an American man living in Paris who struggles with understanding his sexuality as he deals with the societal pressures of masculinity—all as he begins an affair with an Italian bartender named Giovanni.

The book, which is widely considered essential reading in the LGBTQ community, was a finalist for the National Book Awards' fiction category in 1957.

Nobody Knows My Name

SHOP NOWNobody Knows My Name: More Notes From a Native Son (1961)

In another collection of 23 culturally reflective essays, Baldwin highlights the complexity of discriminatory tensions in our society with words that are still just as poignant and relevant today. A selection of Baldwin's new and revised works, many of the titles originally appeared in publications like Esquire and The New York Times Magazine.

The essays earned him another spot as a finalist in the National Book Awards in 1962—this time in the nonfiction category.

Another Country

SHOP NOWAnother Country (1962)

Set in New York City's Greenwich Village in the 1950s, Another Country explores themes of mental health, interracial relationships, love, and bisexuality as the story follows the lives of a group of friends in the wake of a suicide.

After its release, many critics had mixed responses, with Paul Goodman for the New York Times writing that while the story was "personal, sinuous yet definite" it was also "strained [and] sometimes journalistic or noisy." He did, however, acknowledge that his harsher review was as a result of Baldwin's previous work, which caused for a higher standard of criticism.
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The Fire Next Time

SHOP NOWThe Fire Next Time (1963)

Comprised of two essays that were originally published in The New Yorker—"My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation" and "Down At The Cross: Letter from a Region of My Mind"—in The Fire Next Time, Baldwin explains the place of both race and racism in society, while also examining and criticizing Christianity's role in American beliefs.

At the time, critics saw this collection as a way for white Americans to (finally) get a look inside life was like as a Black citizen in this country.

Going to Meet the Man: Stories

SHOP NOWGoing to Meet the Man (1965)

A collection of eight short stories, this book delves into yet another set of cultural themes through its varied characters: a struggling jazz musician, an angry father, and a racist cop to name a few. Popular titles included are Sonny's Blues; This Morning, This Evening, So Soon; and The Man Child.

Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone

SHOP NOWTell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (1968)

In this Baldwin novel, a fictional noted actor Leo Proudhammer nearly dies after suffering from a heart attack on stage. Throughout the rest of the novel, he reflects on the events of his life—both those that led him to fame, and those that revealed his weaknesses.

If Beale Street Could Talk

SHOP NOWIf Beale Street Could Talk(1974)

Now a Golden Globe-nominated film directed by Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk follows young couple Fonny and Tish as they deal with the trial and jailing of Fonny, who is falsely accused of rape. In the big screen version, the title characters are played by up-and-comers Stephan James and Kiki Layne.

When speaking to The Atlantic about what lead him to take the story to the big screen, Jenkins said, "Baldwin had a few voices that he wrote in, and one of those voices was just deeply sensual, innately in touch with human emotions... I think this book is the perfect fusion of the more essayistic protest novel and somebody who deeply believed in sensuality and love."

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I Am Not Your Negro

SHOP NOWI Am Not Your Negro (2017)

In the years before his death, Baldwin envisioned a book about his friends Martin Luther King, Malcom X, and Medgar Evers—but never finished it. By combining an unpublished manuscript called Remember This House and varied excerpts from Baldwin's book, notes, interviews, and letters, Raul Peck edited and published the story that the literary great never got to see come to life. Peck also directed the 2017 Oscar-nominated documentary of the same name.
A Complete List of James Baldwin Works

Essays
A Talk to Teachers
Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son
No Name in the Street
Notes of a Native Son
The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings
The Devil Finds Work
The Evidence of Things Not Found
The Price of the Ticket

Novels
Another Country
Giovanni's Room
Go Tell It on the Mountain
If Beale Street Could Talk
Just Above My Head
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone

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Plays
Blues for Mister Charlie
The Amen Corner

Poems
Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems

Short Stories
Come Out the Wilderness
Going to Meet the Man
Previous Condition
Sonny's Blues
This Morning, This Evening, So Soon
The Man Child
The Outing
The Rockpile

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2019/07/15

Origins: 5 Things That Led to Development of Quaker Protestant Christian Denomination | Newsmax.com

Origins: 5 Things That Led to Development of Quaker Protestant Christian Denomination | Newsmax.com

Quaker Origins: 5 Things That Led to Development of Protestant Christian Denomination

By Karen Ridder | Tuesday, 03 February 2015 02:17 PM

The Quaker Protestant denomination came out of a tumultuous time in the history of the English Church. The church formally known as the Religious Society of Friends was founded in the middle of the 17th century and is marked by a lack of hierarchical structure.

Here are five things that led to the development of the Quaker Protestant Christian denomination in the country today:

ALERT: When Do You Think Christ Is Returning? Vote Now

1. The ideas of George Fox - George Fox believed that the faithful could have contact directly with the Holy Spirit and did not need the intercession of a priest or church leader. This was a radical idea for the English environment in which he lived, that had been vacillating between the authorities of the Catholic Church in Rome and the Church of England.

2. Becoming outlaws in England - In England, religious practices of Quakers and other small Christian sects were outlawed by Parliament. Quakers were persecuted for not participating in the Church of England.

3. Freedoms available in North America - Many Quakers left England and headed to North America to escape attacks on their faith. The first arrived as early as 1656. They still found persecution in the colonies, most notably Massachusetts.

VOTE NOW: Is Christ Returning?

4. The founding of Pennsylvania - The British Colony of Pennsylvania was founded as a safe haven for Quakers by William Penn. Penn had acquired a land grant from King Charles II. He set up a colony in 1681 with the land that guaranteed religious freedom and safety for all, including Native Americans.

5. The Great Separation - Beginning in a Philadelphia yearly meeting in the 1820's, the Quaker Protestant group was divided into two main groups: those who wanted to stick with an emphasis on the authority of the Bible and those who wanted to focus on the "inner light." Similar splits occurred in several other meetings.

Read Newsmax: Origins: 5 Things That Led to Development of Quaker Protestant Christian Denomination | Newsmax.com

Evolution: 6 Key Events for Quaker Protestant Christian Denomination Since It Began | Newsmax.com

Quaker Evolution: 6 Key Events for Protestant Christian Denomination Since It Began

By Karen Ridder | Tuesday, 03 February 2015 02:46 PM

The Quaker Protestant denomination has about 350,000 supporters worldwide. The movement, which started during the strife of the 17th century English debates about Christianity and faith practices, is associated with the founding of Pennsylvania as a colony. The group focuses on pacifism, equality and the "light" within each person.

Here are 6 events that have shaped the denomination since it began:

ALERT: When Do You Think Christ Is Returning? Vote Now

1. George Fox’s vision in 1652 - The Preacher George Fox had been teaching at Puritan meetings in England – telling followers to listen to the voice of Christ that is within every person. It was not until he had a vision at the top of Pendle Hill in 1652, where he believed God told him to proclaim Christ’s power over sin. That became known and the Quaker movement started.

2. The Clarendon Code - In 1662 and 1664, the Clarendon Code resulted in thousands of Quakers facing prison for "illegal assembly" and refusing to take oaths. A statue of Mary Dyer sits today in Boston Common as a testimony to this time. She was hanged during this time for her religious beliefs.

3. The Toleration Act of 1689 - After facing persecution in England and seeking refuge in the American colonies, the English parliament offered some freedoms to the Quakers alongside other dissenting Protestant denominations. The Toleration Act of 1689 allowed "nonconformists," like the Quakers, to openly practice their faith as long as they took a loyalty oath.

VOTE NOW: Is Christ Returning?

4. The Great Awakening - In the 1700's, a movement of revival swept the American colonies affecting the Quaker movement. The Awakening polarized colonists and many turned to Quaker ideas as a more moderate alternative. The ideas also paved the way for a split in the Quaker Protestant movement.

5. The Great Separation - In the 1820's, the Quaker Protestant denomination experienced a split between those who wanted to maintain a connection with the more traditional denominational approach, recognizing biblical authority above all else and those who wanted to focus on the "inward light" which guides the conscience of the believer. The traditional group became known as "Orthodox." The other group became known as "Hicksite."

6. Disputes between Gurney and Wilbur - Joseph John Gurney was a minister from England in the 1800's who emphasized on Quaker teachings that focused on a more mainline view of the importance of the Bible and the acceptance of Jesus for salvation. He advocated total abstinence from alcohol and campaigned against slavery. Those who followed these conservative ideas became known as Gurneyite Quakers. John Wilbur was another minister in the Religious Society of Friends who taught Quakers to focus on the "new light" and was concerned about the changes he saw in early 1800's Quaker practices. He believed in the importance of the Bible, but said that the "inward light" took precedence over scriptural text.

Read Newsmax: Evolution: 6 Key Events for Quaker Protestant Christian Denomination Since It Began | Newsmax.com

5 Beliefs That Set Quakers Apart From Other Protestant Christians

5 Beliefs That Set Quakers Apart From Other Protestant Christians | Newsmax.com

5 Beliefs That Set Quakers Apart From Other Protestant Christians | Newsmax.com

5 Beliefs That Set Quakers Apart From Other Protestant Christians
By Cindy Hicks | Wednesday, 01 April 2015 03:50 PM
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Of all of the Protestant Christian denominations, that of Quakers is probably set apart the most. "Friends," as they call themselves, believe in the Trinity of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit like other Christians, but the roles that each person plays varies widely among Quakers.

Below are five beliefs that set Quakers apart from other Protestant Christians:

1. Meetings: Quaker meetings, or a meeting of friends, may differ considerably, based on whether the individual group is liberal or conservative. Because of this there are basically two types of Quaker meetings. Meetings of meditation are mostly silent, with expectant waiting for an answer of some sort from the Holy Spirit.

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Individuals may speak in these meetings if they feel led to do so. Pastoral meetings can be much like an evangelical Protestant worship service, with prayer, readings from the Bible, hymns, music, and a sermon. Some branches of Quakerism have pastors, others do not.

2. Personal Communication: In order to communicate with each other and with God, Quakers often sit in a circle or square. This allows people to see and be aware of each other, but no single person is raised in status above the others. Some Friends describe their faith as an "Alternative Christianity," which relies heavily on personal communion and revelation from God rather than adherence to a creed and doctrinal beliefs. Early Quakers called their buildings steeple-houses or meeting houses, not churches.

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3. Continuing Revelation: Most Friends believe in the religious belief that truth is continuously revealed to individuals directly from God. Quakers are taught that Christ comes to teach the people himself. Friends often focus on trying to hear God. Because of this, Quakers reject the idea of priests, believing in the priesthood of all believers.

4. Equality: From its beginning, the Religious Society of Friends taught equality of all persons, including women. Some conservative meetings are divided over the issue of homosexuality.

5. Sacraments: Most Quakers believe that how a person lives their life is a sacrament, and that formal observances are not necessary. Quakers hold that baptism is an inward, not outward, act. And when it comes to communion, instead of the Lord’s Supper, Friends subscribe to the theory of spiritual communion with God, experienced during silent meditation.

SPECIAL: Can Prayer Heal You? Dr. Crandall Discovered the Truth

Related Stories:
Quaker Origins: 5 Things That Led to Development of Protestant Christian Denomination
Quaker Evolution: 6 Key Events for Protestant Christian Denominations Since It Began

Read Newsmax: 5 Beliefs That Set Quakers Apart From Other Protestant Christians | Newsmax.com

Quaker Theology in Brief | The Postmodern Quaker

Quaker Theology in Brief | The Postmodern Quaker

Quaker Theology in Brief
George Amoss Jr. / April 8, 2013

Owning Our Theology

“Quaker theology” is sometimes said to be an oxymoron. But the belief that we have no theology is naïve. At least in our cultural context, to be involved in religion or spirituality is to hold a theology. To insist that one doesn’t is, therefore, to convey an unwillingness to acknowledge one’s own belief system qua belief system. Implicit in that is resistance to examining one’s world-view contextually and critically; ironically, such resistance is reminiscent of the rigid religion we thought we’d left behind. And of course denial does not alter reality.

The reality is that, although we’re not all theologians, we all do theology: each of us, even if not a theist of any sort, has ideas about what the word “God” means. And we each know what we accept and reject with regard to theistic belief. To believe in1 a God — or “Spirit,” “Light,” “Source,” “Ultimate Reality,” “the Absolute,” “the Divine,” “the Infinite,” etc. — is to affirm that a particular set of mental formations accurately represents the nature of reality; not to believe is to doubt or deny that given concepts convey correct information. Those ideas and non/beliefs are our theo-logy, our God-reasoning.

In flight from owning our theology, we may seek refuge in what has been called experientialism, the belief that individuals may obtain meaningful but ineffable Truth directly through nonverbal, or “pure,” experience.2 But “Truth,” too, is a mental formation, and a capitalized, sacralized one at that: it is already an interpretive concept. Even if “pure experience” exists, it cannot remain pure, devoid of interpretation, if it is to have meaning. Consequently, as a future essay will argue in detail, the notion of religious/spiritual experience that is wholly beyond language appears to be absurd.3 Further, a doctrine that truth is a matter of purely subjective revelation ignores the influence of culture — of the other — on our psyches and is akin to solipsism if not psychosis.4We do better, with respect to honesty and clarity, to confess our “sin of theology”5 and commit to the work of enunciating and struggling with it. To that end, I will offer here a succinct theological foundation statement for present-day Quakerism, a statement that respects the nature and power of the faith of our founders while being informed by contemporary thought.

A Faithful Contemporary Foundation

Primitive Quakerism constituted a radical simplification of Christian religion; it was hyperfocused on the power for/of living righteously. To bring that vision into the 21st century requires no elaboration but, on the contrary, invites further simplification: mythic scriptural elements that carried the message can be (not discarded but) bracketed as we focus on the message’s existential core. Setting aside, too, the more modern, norm-limned self-caricature that produces “the testimony of simplicity” and other focal displacements,6 we find that Quakerism can be, so to speak, simplicity itself. A foundational Quaker theology for today needs but four brief points.
“God” signifies “love” — in biblical Greek, agapē.7
“Love/agapē” signifies behavior, empathetic encounter with and response to the actual otherin her actual need.8
Each of us has, here and now, a degree (“measure”) of the power of agapē.
That agapē-power will shape our lives if we allow it to do so — if, that is, we commit ourselves to it, discern how we are impeding it, and get out of its way.

The essential Quaker message is, then, not only simple but also practical: commit yourself to God/love as that which moves you to respond justly and generously to the other, even at cost to you, and then pay attention to that love’s movement in your heart and allow it to guide and empower you; anything else is distraction and therefore anti-religion, anti-spirituality. In keeping with that, the first Friends announced the end of religion-as-we-know-it, emphatically including the end of teachers, techniques, and speculations. Their theology, like the biblical exegesis supporting it, served their belief that God-who-is-love had come to guide his people himself: it was a sign directing human beings to the motive power of agapē within. In our contemporary distillation of their theology, we follow in that spirit.

Faith and Practice

Because Quaker theology points directly to the working of agapē in the heart, there should be no question of translating theory into action. As the apostle James reminds us, faith and practice cannot be separated. To be a believer, said George Fox, is to be — actually, not forensically — “passed from death [i.e., sinfulness, or living harmfully] to life [i.e., righteousness, or living justly].” The apostle John (recalling the story of Cain and Abel) says, “And we are aware that we have passed out of death into life because we love our brothers; whoever is not loving their brother is remaining in death.”9 In traditional terms, “believers,” those who put their faith in God-who-is-agapē‘s guidance and power, enter into the divine life of love, become “partakers of the divine nature,” as they are made just through that faith: love is their resurrection and their life.10 In contemporary terms, it is through faith, commitment to agapē as supreme value and trust in its continuing guidance, that we are saved from the darkness of destructive narcissism. A properly Quaker theology simply points to the possibility and nature of such faith.

Quaker theology is realized in the fidelity of individual Friends to the continuing influence of agapē, in the fidelity of the community gathered in that love, and in the responsive work of agapē in the world. Always, this faith-and-practice is one. And always, because of that oneness, it is simple, simplicity itself — as are our lives when we embrace it.

______________________________

NOTES for Quaker Theology in Brief

[1] “Believe” is polysemous, so the phrase “believe in” has multiple possible meanings. It can indicate that I accept the facticity of something; for example, that I believe in a god in the sense of accepting that the god exists. It can indicate trust, as in, “I know that you’ll come through for me; I believe in you.” It can indicate that I approve of something, as in, “I believe in the separation of church and state.” Tellingly, “believe” can also indicate uncertainty, as in, “I believe that her sister’s name is Mary, but I’ll have to check.” In this post, I am using the phrase “believe in” primarily in the first sense, but I recognize that multiple senses of “believe” may be present in a person’s thinking about God.

[2] Experientialism has become de facto doctrine in some liberal Quaker circles, supporting an individualistic religion which meshes well with the contemporary consumerist mindset, at least in the U.S.A. For an example of that approach, see the 2012 draft Faith and Practice of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, pp. 19-21: “Certainly, each of us is encouraged to follow our individual spiritual path. […] Your Truth informs my own, and I am not constrained to accept your Truth as my own, but I am encouraged to listen to your testimony, to discern the value of your approach and how it affects my own path.” (The capitalization is in the original.) Not surprisingly, the book offers an impoverished understanding of Quaker community and worship as a “safe … environment” for “individualistic search,” for speaking about our own experiences, and for patiently listening to others speak about theirs in hopes of getting something for ourselves (see p. 24) — a safe environment, one might fear, for self-indulgence and grasping under the guise of spirituality.

[3] Fuller discussion of ideas such as “pure experience” must await future essays. For now, I simply note that to feel that an experience is religious, spiritual, or mystical involves ascribing that quality or meaning to it. Such ascription, even if done subconsciously, is interpretation, shaped by culture and language. (Acknowledging those facts, by the way, we can stand aside from the seemingly endless debate over whether “pure experience” is even possible.) For an excellent introduction to critical thinking about, and application of attribution/ascription theory to, the idea of religious experience, see Religious Experience Reconsidered by Ann Taves.

[4] “Impairment of reality testing [– an ego function that enables one to differentiate between external reality and an inner imaginative world –] is indicative of a disturbance in ego functioning that may lead to psychosis,” which is is characterized by inability “to distinguish personal subjective experience from the reality of the external world.” (Source: articles on reality testing and psychosis at http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com).

[5] That felicitous phrase was recently used by a Friend when quitting, apparently in frustration at the group’s negativity, an online Quaker theology discussion group.

[6] When Quakerism is defined, as it sometimes is by liberal Friends, in terms of shared practices and values, then it has devolved — exaltation of subjective experience notwithstanding — into a religion of externals and of law. Becoming thereby the very opposite of what it was while claiming to be the same, it now qualifies for the epithet “Anti-Quakerism.”

[7] See the letters of John; e.g., 1 Jn. 4:8b: ho theos agapē estin. On love as the nature of God, see Isaac Penington’s “Concerning Love.” That doctrine is taught as well by traditional Christian writers such as Augustine of Hippo, who wrote in his On the Trinity that “Love … is of God and is God….”

[8] That divine love means beneficial action for the other, even the enemy, is amply documented in the Christian scriptures; see, for example, Matthew 5:38-48. Note that this is where traditional Quakerism — unlike the cult of the individual and his personal “Truth” — may break free of solipsism and linguistic regression as well: agapē is not simply an inner feeling or a linguistic signified which becomes yet another signifier in a circle; it is empathetic action in the world, arising responsively in interpersonal encounter.

[9] On faith and works, see James 2. On what makes a “true believer,” see the Journal of George Fox, page 6 in the Penney edition. The quotation from John is 1 Jn. 3:14.

[10] “Partakers of the divine nature” is from 2 Peter 1:4. In the Quaker version of salvation by faith, when we trust in the Light, the guiding and empowering work of the spirit of Christ in the heart, we are incorporated into Christ here and now, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21), for “now the justice/righteousness of God apart from the law has been made to appear … through Jesus Christ’s faith into all and upon all the ones having faith, for there is no distinction” (Romans 3:21-22). My final reference in the paragraph is to John 11:25, in which Christ the divine Logos, the visible form of God-who-is-love into whom believers are incorporated, says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he were dead, shall live….”

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April 8, 2013 in Faith and Practice, Primitive Quakerism, Quaker convergence, Quakerism. Tags: God is love, Quaker theology, spirituality

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21 thoughts on “Quaker Theology in Brief”

Steven Davison
April 8, 2013 at 8:47 pm

George, you are right that we seem again to be moving on parallel tracks. I haven’t had a chance to read and respond to your comment on my blog on this topic, so this is just a comment on yours. As usual, I find your authoritative and somewhat technical tone both exhilarating and a bit off-putting—I feel a temptation to adopt a similar voice. But the substance of what you’re saying is exciting.

I want to share four essentials (plus one) that I’ve been carrying around since I attended a consultation in Richmond, Indiana, on “What do we hold in common as Quaker treasure?”—basically, what are the common Quaker essentials. I think they match up pretty well with yours. Here’s what happened:

Each participant was asked to write up answers to queries on what they felt were the Quaker essentials. Then in small groups we worked on creating a testimony that all of us in the group could affirm. On Saturday night in plenary, all the groups reported and then we all tried to arrive at a common sense of the meeting. This was the most gathered meeting of Friends I believe I ever attended (though I must add that I met a couple of Friends years later who had attended and who felt that the meeting had been possessed by Satan—literally; so there you are).

While the groups reported I kept a running list of “beliefs” and began connecting the common statements. In the end, I found four things that all groups had agreed upon:

That God calls each of us into a direct, unmediated relationship with God: “There is one, even Christ Jesus, who could speak to my condition.” “There is that of God in everyone.”

That the meeting as a worshipping community is collectively also called to a direct, unmediated relationship with God: “Christ has come to teach his people himself.” Quaker process.

Continuing revelation: passages from John 14 and 15, the origins of our name as the Religious Society of Friends, and from elsewhere in Christian scripture.

That we are called to live our outward lives as testimonies to the truth that has been inwardly revealed to us: “Let your lives speak.” The testimonies.

On Sunday morning, our clerk Jan Wood gave a sermon in our only programmed meeting for worship that unpacked how we had lived the commandment of love, and I added love (your agapē) to the original list of four essentials. Her message brought us back into the covered state we had enjoyed (most of us, anyway) the night before.
Reply

George Amoss Jr.
April 8, 2013 at 10:24 pm

Steven, thanks for your comments. Tone is an individual matter, I think, and at least partially related to topic; I trust you to adopt whatever feels appropriate here. I hope that the tone of my comments on your blog doesn’t put you off, but, again, I trust that you’ll read and consider. If you find qualities such as disappointment and even impatience there, please consider those as efforts at communication as well.

I don’t know how I would feel about each of those points of agreement you’ve listed. For example, as the last section of this post indicates, I don’t find it useful to think in terms of putting principles into practice — but maybe that’s not what you have in mind when you mention testimonies. We’d need to go into detail about what each of the ideas seems to signify. Maybe we can do that sometime; I’m sure it would be helpful.
Reply

Clem
April 10, 2013 at 5:30 am

Friend, what is the purpose of theology, as of love, if not putting particular principles(whether “agapē”, as opposed to other Greek/contemporary meanings for love, and “simplicity”) into practice? Augustine’s love and do what you will led to a lot of regretful( dare I say “un-Friend-ly”) associations in the 60’s while following your four principles(with or without Notes).
Reply

George Amoss Jr.
April 10, 2013 at 7:58 am

The fact that Augustine recognized the Johannine theology of the nature of God does not mean that he understood love and discipleship as a Quaker might many centuries later. Augustine’s “love and do what you will” is a principle, and it produced some ugly results (such as support for physical punishment of heretics) when he put it into practice in his own life. But love as presented in this post is neither license nor ideology but the binding of wounds of the stranger.

I don’t know where you were in the ‘sixties, but where I was, we were quite explicit about rejecting the tradition of which Augustine was a most influential “father,” and those of us who knew of Augustine knew that he was no exponent of libertinism. But Augustine is a minor reference in an endnote here. Whether in the ‘sixties or now, no one could legitimately use this post’s definition of love, as empathetic addressing of the needs of the other, as a basis for a self-absorbed lifestyle. I wonder if you have been able to read the post without looking through lenses of worrisome associations. It may be helpful, too, to read previous posts on the topic (e.g., “Judged by Jesus”), in which the definition of love is more detailed: the current one is presented in that context.
Reply

Robert F
April 13, 2013 at 9:33 pm

Regarding step 4: part of what you’re saying about getting out of the way sounds like the wu wei of Taoist teaching, and the other part involving commitment sounds like it involves a decision (once for all? repeated?) made by an act of will. How are the two elements, the commitment and the getting out of the way, balanced, and how would one know if balance has been attained? Or does one ever know?
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George Amoss Jr.
April 13, 2013 at 10:35 pm

I’ve learned to be quite cautious about attempts to syncretize traditions, Robert, but it’s an interesting question.

In the approach I describe, the Quaker makes a commitment to allowing agapē to work in her and then learns to discern when she is blocking, interfering in, its workings. In order to do that, she must learn to “stand still” from her “own thoughts, searching, seeking, desires, and imaginations” (G. Fox). By doing so, she gets out of love’s way, because her own thoughts, desires, etc. are naturally unloving: that’s the traditional view, on which I’ll elaborate a little below.

The Taoist notion of wu wei, or non-action, is a different animal, a child of a philosophy focused not on agapē but on Tao. In the Taoist doctrine, Tao is the way of nature. The human being, by what is called “non-acting,” acts in accord with it. If we want to add a Zen flavor, we might say that in wu wei the adept spontaneously acts according to his true nature. But in the Christian system (as we just saw in the first paragraph), agapē is not the way of nature: it is counter to the way of nature, which is the way of selfishness, of sin and death. Nor is agapē the true if hidden nature of the human being as such; as is noted in the post, it is the nature of God, into whom human beings may be reborn through the grace of faith. It is present in them, “unless they be reprobate,” but as something alien to their nature, as a seed which they, by nature, despise and crush. The Taoist may go with the flow, but the Quaker goes against it: she “stands still,” stopping the natural flow in order that agapē, rather than Tao, may move her.

So it seems to me that the Quaker’s “standing still in the light”, traditionally conceived, differs from the Taoist’s non-action. I can understand seeing some similarity in the mechanism, and, again, I think it’s an interesting perception. But I think that the two approaches differ fundamentally, even if technique may appear similar in some ways.

That probably obviates the question of balance, but to clarify: it is not the idea or ideal of agapē to which the Friend is committed, but the actuality, its working in the heart. So there shouldn’t be any conflict, or need for balancing, between the Quaker’s commitment to love and her standing still from her “natural” inclinations: the latter is an expression of the former.

I know that I haven’t been able to do justice to your question, but I hope that this offers a point of departure.
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Robert F
April 14, 2013 at 4:08 am

Then what makes for the difference in what the Quaker finds in getting out of the way from what the Taoist finds is the commitment each undertakes when they start? Their different ends then are shaped by their different intents and motivations? Given the fact that their getting out of the way does not land them in the same place, there must be a high level of importance to the difference of that with which they are filling their getting out of the way.
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George Amoss Jr.
April 14, 2013 at 7:27 am

That makes sense to me, Robert. By their fruits you shall know what motivates them. Tao and God are not the same.
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rengajim
April 17, 2013 at 4:50 pm

Good Afternoon George:

I’m not convinced that Quakers engage in theology in the manner that you describe, or that it is inherent in Quaker Discourse even when such discourse is not explicitly theologica. I tend to think that the relationship of theology to religious experience is similar to the relationship between music theory and listening to music. Lots of people sing songs while walking, driving to work, gardening,etc., without engaging in music theory. I would like to suggest that it similarly possible to be engaged with, to experience, God and not be engaged with theology.

Partly it depends on what one means by ‘theology’. I tend to gloss the word as ‘systematic theology’, like what one finds in Aquinas or Calvin. The only Quaker work I know of that falls into this kind of theology is Barclay’s ‘Apology’. On the other hand, if Journaling can be theology, then the concept broadens. I’d be interested in your take on the extent of the term as you are using it.

Finally, I’m not convinced as to your view that ‘pure experience’ is impossible. Again, it depends on what one means by pure experience. I think human beings have a lot of non-conceptual experiences, but those may still be mediated by non-conceptual habits and tendencies. But, on the other hand, I do think it is possible to enter into a realm of mind where conceptualization is absent in the sense of having meaning centered on the conceptual understanding of the experience. This is a subtle and difficult area to discuss and I look forward to what you might have to say on this in further posts.

Jim
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George Amoss Jr.
April 17, 2013 at 5:35 pm

Jim, the post considers theology in the very basic sense of what one thinks the word “God” means. When a Quaker uses the word “God” or a cognate, presumably the word has some meaning for her, points to some referent for her — otherwise, she is only pronouncing a nonsense syllable. To say that Quakers don’t engage in theology in that minimal but essential way is to assert, it seems to me, that when Quakers say “God” they don’t know what they mean — or they mean nothing. As fuzzy as Quaker thinking can be, I don’t think that’s the case.

When speaking of experience, the opposite of “pure” is not “conceptualized” but “interpreted.” Explicit conceptualization appears to be a final stage in the process of interpretation. Like William James, I strongly suspect that adult, fully functional humans are unable to have completely uninterpreted experience (try seeing the world “directly,” as your eyes see it, without interpretation by the brain: can’t be done), but that’s not the point that was made in the post. Whether such experience is possible or not is not at issue here: the argument is that uninterpreted experience has — by definition — no meaning, and that “spiritual” experience is, therefore, interpreted experience.

As always, thanks for your comments.
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Vail Palmer
April 8, 2017 at 11:22 pm

Bingo! As Whitehead wrote, “If you want a record of uninterpreted experience, you must ask a stone to record its autobiography.” I think we are very much headed the same direction.
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Robert F
April 19, 2013 at 9:00 pm

“Like James, I strongly suspect that adult, fully functional humans are unable to have completely uninterpreted experience…..” Yes; it would be the same as having no experience.
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Chris Attaway
May 22, 2013 at 2:14 pm

I find a lot of your sentiments echo pieces of my own, though I have been trying to think of what it means to love. I’ve found some success — though I have not written about it to any significant degree — in conceiving of love as somehow related to what I call “being-with-others,” as opposed to other existentialist notions like “being-for-others.” While still in rough formulation, the notion is that love is relating yourself to others in a way which promotes their being in general. I do not mean to say that it promotes their pleasure or diminishes their suffering; rather, I mean the promotion of their fundamental being (perhaps their “dasein,” though I don’t fully understand what Heidegger means by the term).
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Gerard Guiton
August 7, 2017 at 10:18 pm

George, Hi. What are your views on spiritual direction?–some, as you know, call it spiritual counselling. companionship.friendship.
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George Amoss Jr.
August 7, 2017 at 11:13 pm

Outside of my boyhood in the Catholic Church, Gerard, I have no experience with that. If it is restricted to what we sometimes refer to as taking people to the Inward Teacher and leaving them there (directing people to the Spirit’s direction, so to speak), then it would seem to be a good thing. If it goes beyond that, then I’d be wary. (I’m reminded of a cartoon in which Heraclitus laments that he directed people to listen not to him but to the Logos, but they didn’t listen to him:http://existentialcomics.com/comic/97)
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Gerard Guiton
September 6, 2017 at 7:54 am

The modern form is not directive as say in the 17th C; I’m thinking here of Isaac Penington but also of Francois de Sales, Jeanne de Chantal and the like. The modern form accompanies another person along their spiritual path, the aim being an ever closer relationship with God. The process is supposed to be theirs.
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Quaker Socialist Anarchist
April 25, 2018 at 3:02 pm

“’Love/agapē’ signifies behavior, empathetic encounter with and response to the actual other in her actual need”

Given this, how would you account for people with really bad ASPD (“sociopath”) and/or Psychopathy? I’m not trying to put you or your theology on the spot or anything, this is an issue I have been trying to address myself.
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Quaker Socialist Anarchist
April 25, 2018 at 3:03 pm

What I am concerned about is the ability of the psychopath to experience the Event in compassion.
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George Amoss Jr.
April 25, 2018 at 7:37 pm

It seems to me that if someone is not capable of compassion, then he or she cannot be expected to live in the light of Christ. But it also seems to me that the important question is not “what about certain other persons” but “what can you feel?”

Quaker theology does not need to assert that everyone is always capable of life in Christ. For earlier Friends, who lacked our understanding of psychological phenomena, such incapacity was likely deemed to be willful up to a point: if one remained incalcitrant past one’s “day of visitation,” God’s offer, so to speak, would be withdrawn. A saying of Paul that Fox liked to quote, “Christ is within except ye be reprobates,” seems to convey that. (I suspect, however, that there is more in Fox’s use of that than I have yet sussed.) From either perspective, the end result is the same: even if there was once hope of conversion of heart for that person, now there is none.
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Quaker Socialist Anarchist
May 8, 2018 at 11:11 am

What does this mean for “answering that of God within everyone”?
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George Amoss Jr.
May 8, 2018 at 1:11 pm

We do it in a manner that is appropriate for the unique individual with whom we’re interacting.

The first Quakers’ interactions with various people can be illuminating as examples.

2019/07/14

US Quakers and Indians relations Dale Hess

1. Kelsey, Rayner Wickersham, Friends and the Indians, 1655 – 1917, Philadelphia: The Associated Executive Committee of Friends on Indian Affairs, 1917, (reprinted by Forgotten Books, London, 2015), 291 pp.

2. Hartikka, Sally Curtis, Sing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land: The Story of Elizabeth Hanson, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015, 278 pp.; Bownas, Samuel, The Captivity of Elizabeth Hanson: A Quaker Kidnapped by Native Americans in 1725. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015, 64 pp.

3. Swatzler, David, A Friend Among the Senecas: The Quaker Mission to
Cornplanter's People, Stackpole Books, 2000, 272 pp.; Elkington, Joseph, Quaker mission among the Indians of New York state, Cornell University Library, 2014, 26 pp.

4. Barton, Lois, A Quaker Promise Kept. Spencer Butte Press, 1990, 111 pp.

5. Battey, Thomas C. The Life and Adventures of a Quaker Among the Indians,
University of Oklahoma Press, 1968; 355 pp., Corner House Publishers, 1825/1972.

6. Mathews, John Joseph, Wah’Kon-Tah: The Osage and the White Man’s Road,
Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1932, 360 pp. Hixson, Robert, Lawrie Tatum, Indian Agent: Quaker Values and Hard Choices, Pendle Hill Pamphlet 238, Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill, 1981, 28 pp.

7. Marsh, Dawn G., A Lenape among the Quakers: The Life of Hannah Freeman.
University of Nebraska Press, 2017, 230 pp.

8. Milner, Clyde A., With Good Intentions: Quaker Work among the Pawnees, Otos, and Omahas in the 1870s, University of Nebraska Press, 1982, 246 pp.

9. Gulley, Philip, Living the Quaker Way: Discover the Hidden Happiness in the Simple Life, New York: Convergent Books, 2013, 213 pp.

10. Gwyn, Douglas, A Sustainable Life: Quaker Faith and Practice in the Renewal of Creation, Philadelphia: Quaker Press of Friends General Conference, 2014, 178 pp.