LA Quaker

"Moral injury": one of the often overlooked psychological effects of war

2012-02-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

One of the highlights the Friday morning meetings of ICUJP (Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace) are the insightful and thought-provoking reflections by members of this remarkable group.

During a recent Friday Rev. Ignacio Castuera, a retired Methodist pastor deeply involved with process theology, gave a reflection connecting the Gospels to recent psychological research relating to war. Alluding to this week's Christian lectionary, which lifts up passages in Mark describing Jesus as a healer and exorcist, Ignacio made the following observations about demonic possession and the psychological and moral damage that war inflicts on soldiers:

Demon possession is understood today by most progressive scholars as a natural reaction of occupied and oppressed peoples. The Palestine of Jesus time experienced the brutal presence of Roman forces and demoniacs often refer to the demons in their heads and hearts as "us" and in a very specific case in Mark 5:9 as "Legion."

What has not been so clearly understood is that demon possession also happens to the occupying forces, be they US soldiers or Israeli forces in Occupied Palestine. Recently we are seeing more interest in the demon possession of the people who have been forced by combinations of personal circumstance and governmental policies to be in living hells, issuing unjust orders and enforcing cruel dictates.

Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini are about to publish a book that gathers years of research on what they now identify as "moral injury."
See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rita-nakashima-brock-ph-d/the-war-is-coming-home-so_b_1027499.html

An article in the Washginton Post describes this syndrome:

Every day brings us new stories of soldiers affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which the VA posits as affecting one in five soldiers. What is less known is that in December 2009 a group of VA clinical psychologists, led by Dr. Brett Litz, identified moral injury as a wound of war, distinct from PTSD, that is rarely addressed.
The groundbreaking study suggested that PTDS does not fully capture the moral and spiritual distress of moral injury, which is especially connected with a sense of transgression of the moral order. While PTSD may accompany it, moral injury is not a medical or pathological condition, but a spiritual and moral issue.

The Litz study defines moral injury as resulting from "perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations." The long-term impact can be devastating at the emotional, psychological, behavioral, spiritual and social level, wounds that can last an entire lifetime. Moral injury can be found in internal conflict and self-condemnation so severe that the burdens become intolerable and lead to suicide. People may lose their core system of beliefs and values and reach a point of not being able to make sense of life and human relationships. What people believed about the world, humanity and themselves no longer rings true. (For more, see http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/11/the_moral_injuries_of_war.html .com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/11/the_moral_injuries_of_war.html

Ignacio Castuera was born in the State of Puebla in Mexico. At 13 was the first member of his family to "convert" to Methodism. Migrated to California in 1960 and holds a doctorate in Religion from the Claremont School of Theology. He is currently the Director of the Latin American Project of the Center for Process Studies in Claremont.

Christian peacemaking: a biblical and practical perspective

2012-02-03T06:21:00.000-08:00

Are you interested in exploring the biblical and spiritual basis of peacemaking from a Christian/Quaker perspective, and how we can put these principles into practice?

Jill and I will be facilitating a Christian peacemaking discussion group at our home during the month of February. Included here are some of the readings for this discussion, all of which are available online. I'd be very interested in your responses to these topics. (If you'd like to take part, please let me know and we'll send you an invitation.)

Some questions we will be considering include: What is the biblical basis for "just" war, "holy" war, and pacifism? What are the alternatives to war? Can the "Golden Rule" be applied to international relations and conflicts? Is it necessary to use violence to combat "evil" in the world, as theologians such as Niebuhr insist? We may also consider specific ethical questions: Is the use of drone warfare justified? Is the killing of Osama Bin Laden and other "terrorists" justified?

We will be joined by Bert Newton, a Mennonite peace activist who (among other things) started the Palm Sunday Peace Parade in Pasadena, where Jill and I met. He is active with the Occupy movement and extremely knowledgeable about the biblical basis for peacemaking. (He has written a book about the Gospel of John which will be published this year.)

Here are some suggested readings. Please feel free to share with me your thoughts about these readings.
Matt Rindge explores the question of "whether — and if so, how — violence can serve as a legitimate instrument of justice. Contemporary debate about this question echoes the diverse and conflicting perspectives within biblical texts regarding the use of violence as a potential force for good. What, if anything, can these texts teach us today?" http://www.redletterchristians.org/troy-davis/#more-4434 Rindge concludes that the killing of Osama bin Laden is "legal" and justified, but the execution of Troy Davis is not. Do you agree?

Glen Stassen, professor of Christian ethics at Fuller Seminary, author of numerous books, and a dedicated peace activist, discusses his concept of "Just Peacemaking"--a biblically based argument calling for all Christians (whether they believe in just war or pacifism) to do their utmost to promote peace. http://justpeacemaking.blogspot.com/p/just-peacemaking.html

Walter Wink, noted theologian and author of numerous books on nonviolence, gives a Gospel perspective on pacifism. Wink is perhaps best known for discussing the "myth of redemptive violence," a topic we will explore in a later session. http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/can-love-save-the-world/485

In response to 9/11, Andrew Gallery provides historical and biblical background about the Quaker Peace Testimony. He also considers peace making from a Buddhist and Muslim viewpoint (a not uncommon approach among Friends who tend to take an interfaith perspective). http://www.friendsjournal.org/peace-testimony

Myron S. Augsburger provides a biblical based view of pacifism in Intervarsity, an Evangelical Christian organization: http://www.intervarsity.org/news/christian-pacifism

President Obama called Reinhold Niebuhr his "favorite philosopher" and Niebuhr called pacifists "heretics." Here's an article that provides some background about this controversial and influential theologian who coined the term "Christian realism" to justify wars against "evils" such as Communism and Fascism. (He did not support ALL wars against communism, however; he opposed the Vietnam War, much to the chagrin of liberal hawks like Lyndon Johnson.) http://spectator.org/archives/2009/01/20/niebuhr-and-obama

Upcoming sessions:

Feb 7: "Blessed are the peacemakers." What the Bible says about peacemaking, and how we can put these lessons into practice in our personal lives and in the world.

Feb 14: "Pray the Devil Back to Hell." This documentary shows the amazing story of how "ordinary" women in Africa were able to overcome a ultra-violent tyrant and war lords using the techniques of nonviolence. In 2011 three of these women were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work." We will discuss how people power, and the power of prayer, can make a difference.

Feb 21: "The Myth of Redemptive Violence, and the Reality of Redemptive Love." We will explore some of the ideas of the theologian Walter Wink about the domination system, and how this system can be transformed through the practice of redemptive love.

Feb 28: Alternatives to violence. What Christians are doing, and what we can do, to promote alternatives to war and violence. AVP, Christian Peace Teams, Compassionate Listening, etc.

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FYI here are some "advices" and "queries" (open-ended questions) used by Quakers to help further deeper reflection about peace. You might find these useful to help prepare spiritually for our discussion group.

peace

Friends (Quakers) oppose all war as inconsistent with God’s will. As every person is a child of God, we recognize God’s Light also in our adversaries. Violence and injustice deny this reality and violate the teachings of Jesus and other prophets.

Friends challenge their governments and take personal risks in the cause of peace.We urge one another to refuse to participate in war as soldiers, or as arms manufacturers.We seek ways to support those who refrain from paying taxes that support war. We work to end violence within our own borders, our homes, our streets, and our communities. We support international order, justice, and understanding.

Become an instrument of peace. At every opportunity, be peacemakers in your homes, workplaces and communities. Steep yourself in the power of the universal Spirit. Examine your actions for the seeds of violence, degradation and destructiveness. Overcome the emotions that lie at the root of violence and nurture instead a spirit of reconciliation and love. Come to know the oneness of all creation and oppose the destruction of the natural world.

Do I live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars?

How do I nourish peace within myself as I work for peace in the world?

Do I confront violence wherever it occurs, even when my personal relationships are involved?

Where there is distrust, injustice, or hatred, how am I an instrument of reconciliation and love?

What are we doing to remove the causes of war and destruction of the planet, and to bring about lasting peace?

Do we reach out to all parties in a conflict with courage and love?

† Some queries are intended for individuals.

Italicized queries are intended for the Meeting collectively.

Are Quakers Christian, or non-Christian, or both?

2012-01-26T16:05:00.000-08:00

I am glad that Pima Friends are exploring these questions, since they are at the heart of our Quaker faith, and also a thorn in our side--a painful reminder we still have a long way to go in our spiritual journey towards unity. My response is colored by the fact that I consider myself both a Universalist and a Christian, and I see elements of both in the history of Quakerism and in Quakers today. I see no contradiction between Universalism and Christianity. If you look in the dictionary, you'll see that the first definition of “Universalism” is a Christian who believes that God will save everyone. Phil Gulley, a Quaker pastor from Indiana, got into trouble among some Christ-centered Friends when he made the case for Christian Universalism in the book If Grace Be True, but he was warmly received when he spoke at the Friends General Conference gathering. I think historical evidence shows that early Friends were both Christ-centered and Universalist.

There is no doubt that early Quakers saw themselves as Christian—in fact, they saw themselves as the only real Christians. Many early Friends argued vociferously in pamphlet wars and in tracts like Barclay’s Apology that their approach to Christianity was the most valid one. And early Friends did not hesitate to evangelize and proselytize.

George Fox wrote a letter to American Friends admonishing them to evangelize among the peoples there. Since this is not a passage you're likely to see in your Faith and Practice, it's worth quoting:

Dear Friends and brethren, ministers, exhorters, and admonishers that are gone into America and the Caribbean islands. Stir up the gift of God in you and the pure mind, and improve your talents; that you may be the light of the world, a city set upon a hill, that cannot be hidden. Let your light shine among the Indians, the blacks and the whites; that you may answer the truth in them, and bring them to the standard and ensign, that God has set up, Christ Jesus. For from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, God's name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every temple, or sanctified heart, "incense shall be offered up to God's name." And have salt in yourselves, that you may be the salt of the earth, that you may salt it; that it may be preserved from corruption and putrefaction; so that all sacrifices offered up to the Lord may be seasoned, and be a good savor to God.... And Friends, be not negligent but keep up your negroes' meetings and your family meetings; and have meetings with the Indian kings, and their councils and subjects everywhere, and with others. Bring them all to the baptizing and circumcising spirit, by which they may know God, and serve and worship him.

It is clear from passages like these that George Fox was not only a Christian, but an Evangelical who believed that Christ was the “way, the truth, and the life.” His reference to “salt” and “light” is one that I’ll come back to, since it is the theme of this year’s World Conference of Friends.

On the other hand, some prominent early Quakers embraced a tolerant view of other forms of Christianity, and even of other religions, as is evident in the writings of William Penn, Isaac Penington, and John Woolman. John Woolman wrote:

”There is a Principle which is pure, placed in the human Mind, which in different Places and Ages hath had different Names; it is, however, pure, and proceeds from God. It is deep, and inward, confined to no Forms of Religion, nor excluded from any, where the Heart stands in perfect Sincerity. In whomsoever this takes Root and grows, of what Nation soever, they become Brethren.”

As you may recall, when John Woolman felt led to go among the Indians, he didn't feel a need to convert them. He simply wanted to share what he knew about God, and to learn from them.

William Penn also saw the Indians as having “that of God” in them, unlike the Puritans who saw them as heathen savages who deserved to be exterminated. William Penn wrote about the Indians with great sympathy. He was a Universalist and believed that there was truth in all religions and in all people:

”The humble, meek, merciful, just, pious, and devout souls are everywhere of one religion; and when death has taken off the mask, they will know one another, though the liveries they wear here make them strangers.”

The issue of whether Quakerism should be inclusive or exclusive—conventionally Christian or faithful to the Inward Light—has long been a divisive one among American Quakers. In the 1820s a split developed between Friends who came to known as “Orthodox” and “Hicksites.” This split was partly because of power—rural Friends felt that wealthy Philadelphia Friends were lording it over them. Urban Friends felt that the rural Friends were out of touch with what was happening in the cities. The Orthodox wanted to become involved in Bible societies and other outreach efforts, like mainstream Christians. Followers of Elias Hicks, a rural Friend from Long Island, wanted to stick with traditional Quaker doctrines, such as the Inward Light, which seemed strange to many mainstream Christians. Elias Hicks was an extremely charismatic and popular preacher who travelled all over the United States and drew huge crowds, including many non-Quakers. The poet Walt Whitman was a big fan of Hicks and had a statue of him in his home in Camden, NJ. You can see glimpses of Hicksite Quakerism in The Leaves of Grass. Perhaps the most controversial teaching of Hicks had to do with the Bible. Hicks totally disapproved of Bible societies and didn't believe that they would do anything to advance “real Christianity.” In a controversial letter Hicks argued that when the Bible was translated into English in the 16th century, and people finally had a chance to read it in their own language, it didn't lead to more Christian love but to religious wars in which huge numbers of people were killed. Therefore, argued Hicks, it isn't the Bible, but the holy spirit that makes you a “real Christian.” As far as Hicks was concerned, only Spirit-led Quakers were “real Christians.”

In the latter part of the 19th century, an Evangelical revival swept through the Western states like a hurricane, bitterly dividing Friends into “real Christians” who were “saved” and the traditional, Inward Light Friends who didn't ascribe to the methods and theology of revivalism, and were therefore “unsaved.”

This revival was a severe trial for Joel and Hannah Bean, weighty Friends who had served as clerks of Iowa Yearly Meeting. The Beans tried to mend fences between these two camps, but they finally became exhausted and retired to San Jose. There they help found a Monthly meeting of the traditional sort, but when they went to get approval from Iowa Yearly Meeting, which had become Evangelical, they were denied. In fact, their recorded ministry status was taken away from them because they failed to answer correctly theological questions given to them in a written test. Never before had such a test been used among Quakers, nor had a recorded ministry status been taken away for doctrinal reasons.. Because the Beans were internationally known and respected, this became a huge issue.

This also led the Beans to do something unprecedented among Friends. They formed an independent monthly meeting, which led to the formation of an independent Quaker association, and finally to an independent Yearly Meeting. As you know, Intermountain Yearly Meeting is an offshoot of this Beanite movement.

All these painful splits were caused by disagreements over theology, over what it means to be a “real Quaker” or a “real Christian.”

Even a broad-minded liberal Friend like Howard Brinton used this divisive language at times. In his memoir Brinton refers to unprogrammed Quakers as “real” Quakers, and implies that pastoral Friends are not so real.

In the 1940s and 50s Howard Brinton worked hard to bring Hicksite and Orthodox Friends together because both practiced unprogrammed worship, but he didn't reach out to pastoral Friends and hardly mentions them in Friends for 300 Years because he felt that programmed worship was not Quakerly.

Given all this divisiveness, I can see why Friends are wary about identifying themselves as Christian or non-Christian. It feels safer, and saner, to keep Christ and God talk to a minimum. I am glad that you are willing to bring up these concerns, however. I think we can be better Quakers if we can be honest and admit our differences and have respectful dialogues about theological issues. We can learn much from each other when we open up and share our beliefs and spiritual experiences. And I think we can communicate with those in the ecumenical and interfaith movement, as well as our neighbors of other faiths, when we feel comfortable talking about theology among ourselves in a Friendly, non-exclusive way.

Until the 1960s or so (I don’t have any data to prove this, but this is my impression), most unprogrammed Quakers identified with being Christian, at least publicly. But many questioned the dogmas of traditional Christianity, and some were drawn to other religious practices, such as Buddhism.

It was for this reason that in the 1980s a group was formed called Quaker Universalist Fellowship to create a space for Quakers who didn’t identify with Christianity per se, but felt that Quakerism could and indeed should embrace people with a variety of faith perspectives. I belong to this group and am grateful to them for publishing my pamphlet “Islam from a Quaker Perspective” and Quakers and the Interfaith Movement. I also manage their blog at quakeruniversalist.org.

This Universalist approach was controversial at first, and some feared it might create new divisions. But the Universalist perspective met a deeply felt need and has become increasingly popular as people have come to unprogrammed meetings who are “refugees” from Christian denominations where they didn’t feel comfortable, or where they felt spiritually abused. Others have come from other faiths, such as Judaism and Buddhism, and are grateful to find a religious community that is non-dogmatic and welcoming. And a growing number of Friends proclaim themselves non-theists. Among the 50 thousand or so unprogrammed Friends in Britain and the United States, I would guess that probably a minority identify with being Christian in the traditional sense. Most espouse a theology closer to Unitarian Universalism.

This theological diversity has enriched Quakerism in many ways, but it has also led to questions like the one we are considering this morning. Are Quakers Christian? If not, what binds us together? What makes Quakerism distinctive?

Here in the United States, the majority of Quakers are Christian. One third belong to Friends United Meeting and another third are Evangelicals. Worldwide, the vast majority of Friends living in Africa and Latin America are Evangelicals. This is a fact I am being obliged to take more seriously and personally since I plan to attend the World Conference of Friends in Kenya, where Friends are almost all Evangelical. Kenya has 133,000 Quakers, far more than the number of Quakers here in the United States.

Two years ago, I felt a leading to reach out to Evangelical Quakers. This came about when I heard the theologian Marcus Borg speak at the Friends General Conference gathering. I asked him, “What is the biggest challenge for interfaith dialogue.” His response startled me. “The real challenge is not interfaith dialogue, but intra-faith dialogue.” He went on to say that some of the bitterest misunderstandings are among people within a faith tradition. That insight spoke to my condition. It was far easier for me to reach out to Muslims than to Evangelical Quakers.

Something seemed wrong with this picture, so I offered to become a representative to Friends World Committee for Consultation, the umbrella group started by Rufus Jones in the 1930s to enable Friends of different theological persuasions to come together and dialogue.

I believe it is crucially important for Friends to take part in the ecumenical and interfaith movement, and to have friendly relations with Evangelicals and even fundamentalists. To do so, we must be able to articulate our theology as clearly as we can, and we must learn to be compassionate listeners.

One reason I believe that God has led me to this work is because eight months ago I met a remarkable woman at a Peace Parade that took place in Pasadena on Palm Sunday. I went to this parade because the main speaker was Jim Loney, a Christian Peace Team member who was kidnapped along with Tom Fox in Iraq. Tom is one of my heroes and I wanted to honor him.

Meeting Jill was a major turning point in my life. She is an Evangelical Christian who defies media stereotypes. She believes passionately in the Bible as the Word of God and Jesus Christ as her savior, and she also believes passionately in social justice and peace. She moved into a low-income neighborhood in Pasadena to be a good neighbor and serve the poor. She started tutoring programs, a gang prevention program, and worked for affordable housing.

Jill opened me up to a world of Evangelical Christians who share many of our Quaker values. For example, Professor Glen Stassen of Fuller Seminary has written powerful books arguing for “Just Peacemaking” and he is also a peace activist. He is part of an Evangelical group called the Matthew 5 project that advocates the abolition of nuclear weapons and the use of diplomacy rather than arms to resolve international conflicts. Jill also knows Jim Wallis, the founder of Sojourners—an ardent advocate for progressive social change. And finally, Jill introduced me to a young countercultural Evangelical named Shane Claiborne who believes that Jesus is a revolutionary who calls us to work for economic justice. Shane started an intentional community called “The Simple Way” in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Philadelphia. He was also asked to be the keynote speaker at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

Jill has made me realize that many Evangelicals are open to many of our Quaker theological beliefs, as long as we can justify them biblically. Some, like Ron Mock, a professor of Political Science and Peace Studies at George Fox University, have a keen interest in the theory as well as practice of Christian peacemaking.

Other Evangelical Friends are taking active steps to promote peace. For example, Evangelical Friends in Rwanda founded Friends Peace House in 2000 because of the genocide that took place in 1994 in which estimated 800,000 people, about 20% of the total population, were killed. The surviving Rwandese were traumatized and destabilized. The young Friends Church of Rwanda, only founded 8 years previously, accepted the challenge this posed, and has taken an active part in the rehabilitation of Rwandese society ever since.

In Kenya, where I plan to attend the World Conference, Evangelical Friends are active in trying to insure that violence doesn’t break out during the next election. They are enlisting Friends to help do trainings in AVP. Jill and I hosted in our home a Quaker couple named Joe and Kathy Ossman who are planning to go to Kenya to help with this peacemaking effort.

Ever since 2000 Evangelical and liberal Friends have been working together in the African Great Lakes Initiative to do a variety of peacemaking efforts: trauma healing, conflict resolution training, compassionate listening.

I quoted George Fox at the beginning of my talk who said we need to be “salt” and “light”—which is the theme of this year’s World Conference of Friends. Jesus spoke often about the Light and urged us to a “Light to the world.” He also spoke about salt, which is a preservative and also essential to life (in small doses). How can we, as a world-wide community of Friends, show that we can indeed be a Light to the world, as well as a preservative that prevents the world from sinking into decay and corruption?

To be “salt” and light,” we need to transcend our differences, as Marge Abbott and the Quaker women in the Pacific Northwest have shown by their example. Thanks in part to the trust-building work of these women, Northwest Yearly Meeting joined FWCC. What these Quaker women have shown us is that we need to share our stories, listen to those we disagree with, and be open to a change of heart. We also need to seek common ground wherein we can put our faith into practice. One important lesson I have learned from my marriage to an Evangelical: we don’t have to agree about everything in order to love each other.

This afternoon I will task about spiritual experience and the Inward Light, what many Friends consider the most important aspect of our faith. For now I will leave you with this question: What do YOU think are the most important characteristics of Quakerism?

“This I knew experimentally”: Friends and the Inward Light/Voice

2012-01-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

This is the text of a message I have been asked to share at Pima Meeting in Tucson, AZ, this weekend for a workshop entitled "Quakers and Christianity: Personal Experience Vs. Religious Affiliation." This is the second half of my presentation. The first half was posted at quakeruniversalist.org under the title: "Are Quakers Christian, or non-Christian, or both, in the historical perspective of 400 years."

“This I knew experimentally.” With these words Fox summed up his “enlightenment experience,” his realization that only the Inward Christ could “speak to his condition” and guide him along the spiritual path he needed to follow. The word “experimentally” meant “experientially” in the 16th century, and Quakerism has been an experiential religion ever since.

What was the spiritual experience of early Friends and how can it speak to us today? I’d like to look at two famous passages in which Friends finds their inner voice. In his Journal, Fox writes about his struggles to find answers to deep spiritual questions, and how he finally hit rock bottom and was “saved” by an inward voice.

But as I had forsaken the priests, so I left the separate preachers also, and those esteemed the most experienced people; for I saw there was none among them all that could speak to my condition. And when all my hopes in them and in all men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, nor could tell what to do, then, oh, then, I heard a voice which said, 'There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to your condition;' and when I heard it my heart did leap for joy. Then the Lord let me see why there was none upon the earth that could speak to my condition, namely, that I might give Him all the glory; for all are concluded under sin, and shut up in unbelief as I had been, that Jesus Christ might have the pre-eminence who enlightens, and gives grace, and faith, and power. Thus when God doth work, who shall let (hinder) it? and this I knew experimentally (through experience)."

Fox realized that he could not find the meaning and purpose of his life by going to “experts.” Nor could he find the answers in books or through other outward means. He had to wait upon the Invisible God and listen for the Inward Voice. He had to put all his trust in the experience of God and Christ.

This realization was tremendously liberating for Fox and for his followers. No longer would they be bound by dogmas, or rituals, or paid clergy who spoke of spiritual matters they themselves had never experienced.

Fox realized that most people are “concluded under sin, and shut up in unbelief.” Let’s unpack what he meant by this. By “unbelief” Fox meant that many people pretend to believe what the church and the Bible teaches, when in fact they act like unbelievers. For example, they claim to be followers of Christ, but engage in war, accumulate riches, discriminate against the poor, etc. This disconnect between faith and action is what Fox meant by sin. We might call it “lack of integrity.”

The point of Quaker worship is to enable us to get in touch with our Inward Guide and to live a life of integrity, a life in harmony with what we know to be true and honest and real.

Margaret Fell captures the power of George Fox’s message in her journal. She was the wife of a prominent judge and led a conventionally religious life, dutifully going to church and listening to sermons. During one of these church services, a young man named George Fox stood up, boldly walked up to the pulpit and began to preach. Like Jesus, he “spoke with authority,” not like the paid priests she was used to hearing. Unlike these “hireling,” Fox spoke of a religion that was spiritual and heart-felt, not bound by outward forms. Fox affirmed that

“Christ was the Light of the world, and lighteth every man that cometh into the world; and that by this light they might be gathered to God, etc.”

Margaret Fell was so amazed by Fox’s utter confidence that she stood up in her pew and “wondered at his doctrine for I had never heard such before.” She described how Fox’s teachings rocked the foundation of her faith and brought her to tears:

“He went on, and opened the Scriptures, and said, "the Scriptures were the prophets' words, and Christ's and the apostles' words, and what, as they spoke, they enjoyed and possessed, and had if from the Lord": and said, "then what had any to do with the Scriptures, but as they came to the Spirit that gave them forth? You will say, Christ saith this, and the apostles say this; but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of Light, and hast thou walked in the Light, and what thou speakest, is it inwardly from God?" etc.

This opened me so, that it cut me to the heart; and then I saw clearly we were all wrong. So I sat down in my pew again, and cried bitterly: and I cried in my spirit, to the Lord, "We are all thieves, we are all thieves; we have taken the Scriptures in words, and know nothing of them in ourselves."

For Margaret Fox, this was a life-changing realization. No longer would she be a passive “consumer” of sermons. She actively sought to find the truth within herself and this led her to become a religious leader and inspired preacher. As we moderns would say, she found her voice. She even wrote a pamphlet justifying women preaching—an idea that seemed utterly radical at this time, or for the next two centuries. Like Fox and other early Friends, Fell had the courage of her convictions and went to prison for her beliefs.

For the past 350 years, Quakers have been pioneers and leaders in religious movements because we have not relied on second-hand opinions and beliefs. We have tried to discover the truth “experimentally.” For this reason, Quakers rejected interpretations of the Bible that justified slavery or the oppression of women.

Not all Quakers have been comfortable with a creed-less religion, however. Some Friends worry that if there is no creed, Friends might lose their way and Quakerism might lose its Christian identity. This fear has led Friends to formulate the Richmond Declaration, a theological statement that affirms the basic truths of Christianity. It was adopted by Friends United Meeting in 1887. Evangelical Friends have similar statements of faith.

Creeds have value in that they can unite people and provide a sense of identity. But creeds can also be divisive. Rufus Jones and Howard Brinton were both adamantly opposed to creeds and creedal statements.

This morning, I asked you to think about what it means to be Quaker and to have a creed-less religion. What are the defining characteristics of our faith?

Historically, the basis of our faith has been the experience of the Inward Light. Although this experience can’t be reduced to words, it can be said to have at least two distinctive characteristics. First, the Inward Light reveals our shortcomings (sins) and second, it guides us towards a better life. Many liberals don’t feel comfortable with the word “sin” so I’d like to suggest a definition that is both biblical and compatible with our modern Quaker ideas. “Sin” in the Bible is not primarily about morality; it is about ethics. Jesus didn’t condemn the adulterer; he lambasted religious hypocrites and those in power, especially the 1%. The prophets of the Hebrew Bible were more concerned with justice than with personal morality. Prophets condemned the rich, lifted the concerns of the poor, and called on God’s people to live lives of justice and truth.

James, who was supposedly the brother of Jesus, defined sin as “partiality.” In his letter, which was a favorite text for early Friends, James wrote: “Whenever we show favoritism, it is a sin.” This teaching of James is the basis of our equality testimony. Whenever we discriminate based on class, race, or gender, we are hurting ourselves as well as others. James says that such sin can lead to deadly results. Racism, sexism, and economic injustice (capitalism) are all deadly “sins” because these “isms” keep us from experiencing our deep interconnectedness with our fellow human beings and with Spirit. Carried to the extreme, theses isms lead to violence and war. When we “see the Light,” we can no longer rationalize our hurtful behavior or attitudes. It was this Inward Light that revealed to John Woolman it was wrong to notarize a document authorizing a man to bequeath a slave in a will.

The Inward Light is also a source of joy and peace. George Fox’s heart “leapt for joy” when he heard an inward voice telling him “There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to your condition.” Fox realized he didn’t need to go to priests, pastors, or other “experts” to solve life’s problems; the answers were within him, if he lived a life faithful to the Inward Light. What a liberating realization! This liberating Light is identified with the Logos, the Creative Word of God, described by John as the “the Light that shines in the darkness.” John also said that this Light is the Spirit that created and sustains the universe.

Universalist. The Light shines on and in everyone, regardless of sex, nationality or religious persuasion. “The Light that enlightens everyone was coming in the world” (John 1:9). This Light, which Quakers believed was fully embodied in Jesus Christ, is a universal light, the source of wisdom, inner peace, and just/righteous living for everyone. Those who turn away from the Light are doomed to a life of darkness and misery since this Light is the loving energy that created and sustains us and the universe. Those who turn towards the Light find peace, joy, and fulfillment (what some Christians call “salvation” or “holiness” and others call simply “wholeness.”).

Spirit-guided. Quakers believed that the holy spirit is more authoritative than written scripture (though the Bible is inspired and therefore deserving of study) or tradition. “The letter killeth, the Spirit giveth life.” This is what distinguishes Quakers from traditional Protestants and Catholics. Quakers are “Spirit-led,” not literalistic or tradition-bound.

Prophetic. Quakers are called to speak truth to power, just like the prophets of old. Our social testimonies about equality, peace, economic justice, etc. spring from this prophetic tradition which calls us to live up to our highest ideals. George Fox and William Penn along with other early Friend met with, and challenged, those in power to practice justice and truthfulness, and to be concerned for the marginalized and the oppressed.

Evangelistic. I know many liberals are uncomfortable with the word “evangelism” but we cannot deny that early Friends traveled far and wide to share their message with others, and won many over to what they called “the Truth.” I believe Quakers are still called to share the good news of the Inward Light with others, to “walk cheerfully on the earth, answering that of God in everyone.” As Fox wisely pointed out, the best way to share the Truth is by example. He urges us to live a Spirit-centered life, and to see “that of God” in others and respond to it.

Peaceful. Quakers are Pre-Constantinian Christians. That is, they reject empire and the worldly power associated with the Emperor Constantine, who converted to Christianity in the 4th century CE and used the cross as a talisman to wage war. Quakers reject this perversion of Christianity and call for a new order of society based on what Jesus and the prophets said about peace/shalom. Peace is not simply the absence of war. It is state of society in which every person can live a life of dignity and hope. This is sometimes called “the kingdom of God,” or “the beloved community.” Each of us carries a vision of this ideal society within us, and we cannot find true peace within until we are working to make this vision a reality in the world. Jesus expressed it beautifully: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be filled” and “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.”

I am ending this talk by focusing on peace because I feel peace is the heart of our Quaker faith, and of Christianity. Peace doesn’t mean the absence of conflict. The Hebrew word for peace, “shalom,” means wholeness, health, well-being. When we experience shalom, we can face conflict in a spirit of love because we aren’t afraid to be honest, to share what we know to be true “experimentally.” Friends have sometimes shied away from theological discussions because they fear it can be divisive. But if we listen respectfully to each when we share our beliefs and spiritual experiences, it can bring us closer together.

I know this not only from my 25 years of taking part in Quaker worship sharing groups, but also because I have helped to organize “interfaith cafes.” These cafes are a lot like our worship sharing groups and were developed by a woman named Kay Lindahl who wrote books about “Sacred Listening.” The interfaith organization I belong to in Long Beach, CA, uses this model and invites people from various faith traditions to come together and sit around a table in groups of eight and reflect on open-ended questions, like, “What does prayer/meditation mean to you?” “How does your faith help you to make decisions?” “What does your faith teach about justice and peace.” People take turns speaking from their own experience and don’t argue or try to proselytize. These interfaith cafes draw 40-50 people and are helping to build a community of people in Long Beach who are learning how to get along with their neighbors at a deeply spiritual level. They are also deepening their own faith by learning to listen sympathetically to others. They also work together to address vital community needs, like homelessness and environmental concerns.

As a Quaker, I am grateful to practice a religion that emphasizes experience rather than dogma, and integrity rather than conformity. It may be hard to put into words what Quakers believe, or to fit us into a theological pigeon-hole, but I appreciate the freedom I have as a Quaker to “experiment with Truth,” to use Gandhi’s phrase. This freedom has allowed me to explore other religious practices, such as Zen meditation and Muslim prayer and fasting, and still feel rooted in my Quaker faith and my commitment to Christ. I know by experience that there is a Light within that can help me to see my weaknesses and guide me towards a better life. And I know that this Light is present in every person I encounter, and therefore every one can be my teacher as well as my friend. This realization has filled my life with joy and hope, and has enabled me to do things I never imagined possible. The Spirit is always full of surprises, as unpredictable as the wind, the holy breath of God….

Thank you for letting me share with you some of my experiences with this Spirit….

What we learned from our trip to Germany...

2012-01-25T16:22:00.000-08:00

Toasting with "Quaker vodka" (i.e. water)

Jill and I are back from a two-week family vacation in Germany and here are a few things we learned:

1) Germany is a carnivore's heaven, with bratwurst and sausages filling the winter air with sumptious aromas, tempting even the most committed vegetarian. However, Germany also is a vegetarian's delight, with beautiful organic produce available in farmer's markets in every city we visited.

2) Germans can be extraordinarily friendly and helpful. A couple of times, when we were lost driving our rented car (a bad decision since public transport is excellent and private cars unnecessary in most cases), Germans often to show us the way to our destination by leading us there in their cars. This happened three times, and each time we thanked God for our German guides!

3) On the other hand, Germans aren't hesitant to scold you in public if you do something wrong. For example, when we sample some freebies at a farmer's market and didn't use the folks provided, a man in a truck (not the owner) chided us. We've been told this is not unusual.

4) Germans are orderly and disciplined folk, except on New Year's eve and Oktoberfest, when they go crazy. (See below)

5) Germans prove that people can change dramatically if they are willing to admit their mistakes. We were impressed that the Germans ackowledged the evils of Nazism and the Holocaust so openly. In Germany you have to pay for everything, including going to the public toilets, but admission to Dachau was free. The tour was an unforgettable experience. German children are taken to the camps as part of their education. The message "Never again" comes through loud and clear. And Germans no longer idolized warriors, as we Americans still do. We went to a church in a German village that had a war memorial for the "fallen heroes" of the Great War. But German soldiers who died in WWII are simply referred to as "the fallen." In contrast, we Americans constantly refer to all our troops as heroes, even though some of them commit atrocities. If the Germans have gotten over the cult of the warrior, there is hope we Americans can do likewise. For the sake of world peace, and our nation's soul, the sooner we get over our warrior worship, the better!

6) Germans have a green economy and prosperity, thereby disproving the conservative canard that environmental laws are "job-killers." See http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/981

7) Germans have good policies regarding affordable housing, including rent control. Overall, middle class Germans have a quality of life that is superior to that of most middle class Americans, and the poverty rate is much lower than ours.

Some of our impressions of Germany:

We thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Christmas in Heidelberg with Jill's family. It was fun going to the Christmas market, playing games and "lip synching" (a family tradition).

We also enjoyed wandering through the old city of Heidelberg with its cobblestone streets and its ancient castle, and taking part in the Christmas eve service at the local Protestant church, where the hymns were of course sung in German. Hearing "Stille Nacht" ("Silent Night") and other familiar hymns in German is somehow very moving. And I had learned just enough German to be able to sing along...

We had a delightful family excursion through the beautiful snow-dusted Black Forest region, where we visited quaint towns such as Frieberg and Triberg, and also Auger, the village where the Heirendt family originated. There Dwight read us the stories of family members dating back to the early 19th century.

After our family visit, Jill and I went on a trek through southern Germany. We stopped off at the ancient walled city of Rothenberg and then went to Munich, where we spent two nights in this amazing city, the heart of Bavaria. We visited museums, the beautiful Marienplatz, dined in an ancient ratskeller (and learned that "rat" has nothing to do with "rats"--it means "council," so a "rathaus" means a "city hall" and a "ratskeller" is a restaurant under a city hall). Speaking of halls, we went to a genuine Munich beer hall (or hofbrau), even though we don't drink, and had a great time conversing with some Mexican students who were studying English in England and were vacationing in Germany. We were also moved by some Russian Jewish street musicians and bought their albums--jazz and klezmer music full of Jewish soul. (Today around 10,000 Jews live in Munich, the same number as before WWII.)

We then went to Nurnberg, where we stayed in the old walled city in a hotel called the Elch that's been in business for 650 years! (Yes, it was first recorded as an inn in 1343!).

Along with seeing the beauties of German art and architecture (and the glorious landscapes of the Black Forest and Franconia), we went to Dachau and the Jewish museum in Berlin--very powerful experiences that will forever be etched in our memories.

Russian Jews playing Klesmer in Munich

Anthony and Marga Zimmerman, a Mannheim Quaker

Jill and Giselda Faust, a Berlin Quaker

Anthony and Donna, Jill's mom

The lowpoint of our trip were the fireworks in Berlin on New Year's eve. We expected to see the kind of beautiful, and controlled, fireworks you see in the states, but in Berlin, there are no safety laws and people go crazy. They shoot off fireworks everywhere, even in the metro cars! The city became like a war zone, with a haze of sulphurous smoke everywhere, and we became terrified, especially when we heard the ominous sound of ambulances making noises like the ones you hear in old movies about the Nazis. Even when we returned to our hotel, we could barely sleep for the cacophony.

The next day we went to meeting for worship with the Berlin Quakers and were grateful for the peace and quiet that prevailed. Because of the time (Jan 1), only four Friends took part--all elderly folk in their 80s and 90s. But they were very kind and made us feel welcome.

We were esp. grateful for a delighted 88-year-old Quaker nurse named Giselda Faust who escorted us to interesting places in the city. She told us about the role of Quakers in the "kindertransport" that saved the lives of 10,000 Jewish children. See http://www.quaker.org.uk/category/tags/kindertransport She also took us to the "raum der stille" (quiet room) in the Brandenberg gate, which Quakers helped to start: http://www.raum-der-stille-im-brandenburger-tor.de/english/brandenburggate.htm

Anthony and Michael Seltzer

Along with visiting Quakers in Berlin and Mannheim, we visited with an old friend of Anthony's from high school named Michael Seltzer who runs a kite shop in Berlin. We had a delightful lunch with him and learned a lot about the political and social world of American ex pats living in Germany. He is a past president of the Progressive Democrats of Berlin. Who knew such an organization existed, or that it had 1,500 members, and held the biggest Obama victory party outside of the USA?

We could go on and on, but I think you get the picture: Germany is a fascinating place, and we are glad we had a chance to explore some of its many facets.

Holiday greetings!

2011-12-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

Jill and I want to wish you a joyful holiday as we experience our first Christmas as a married couple. We are incredibly grateful for the miracle of love and how God has brought us and our family and friends together. Since meeting on Palm Sunday April 17th, 2011, we've had amazingly rich experiences: our whirlwind courtship, our mega wedding, our fabulous honeymoon in Hawaii (where we co-spoke on each of our books!) connecting with Anthony’s Quaker roots in Philadelphia, with Jill’s Missions Door colleagues in New York and with Anthony’s sister and her family in Princeton, where he grew up. We are greatly enriched by each other’s friends and spiritual traditions. It feels we are living out what Jesus said: “I have come to bring life, and bring it abundantly!”

Jill’s family—her Mom Donna and sister Jana and brother-in-law Dwight and their two sons Joey and Peter—came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. We had a blast! We loved Anthony's idea of offering thanks for the various foods that our Native American brothers and sisters bestowed on us: corn, tomatoes, cactus, beans, squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, pumpkin, wild rice, and of course, the greatest gift of all, chocolate!

The Advent season began with wonderful news. A couple with seven kids contacted us a few weeks ago, telling us that they were being evicted from their apartment due to the landlord going into foreclosure. Jill spent hours on the phone trying to help this family—we prayed—and our prayers were answered: they were accepted into the Family Promise! They entered the program on Dec. 4th--the very day they had to be out of their apartment and the day the network opened--after 3 years of organizing! Jill helped to recruit many of the 14 churches now part of the San Gabriel Valley network--the local expression of this nationwide program, whereby 2-4 homeless families are hosted by a congregation for a week, and are then rotated to the next congregation. Daily families seek jobs and housing at the Family Promise Resource Center. A full-time social worker works with them. We were blown away when 101 people came to the volunteer training Dec. 8th! We are thrilled to see such interest and how this family and others will now have a chance for a new life.

We are also grateful that the homeless survey we helped to conduct last summer has yielded good results. Twenty of the most at-risk homeless people in Pasadena have now been housed!

We are grateful that we have a warm and cozy home, and that it didn’t suffer much damage when winds up to 65 mph roared through our area on November 30. The shingles on our back roof were blown off, but they were old and needed to be replaced, and insurance will cover most of it. Anthony says: “It’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow somebody some good.”

During this unusually violent storm we offered Jill’s back house to a man who recently became homeless and was living in his car when the shelter where he was staying closed down.

Everywhere we turn, we see people who lack adequate shelter. That’s why we feel it’s important to revise Jill’s book on affordable housing. The need is huge, and churches are playing an important role to in realizing the goal of early Christians: "There was no poverty among them, because people who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need." (Acts 4:34-35). Jill book will continue to encourage people to follow this example and do what it takes to “make housing happen” with the desperate need. At the Christian Community Development Association’s annual gathering this fall, Jill was humbled to learn that a young woman discovered her book in the office at Sojourner’s magazine and upon reading it decided to switch careers. She is now developing affordable housing for homeless youth in Minneapolis.

Jill published a feature article called “Seven Ways Home” in the December issue of Sojourners magazine. Anthony was very proud when Jim Wallis saw us both in an elevator and said, “Oh, you’re Jill Shook. You’re famous!” (You can read it online at http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2011/12/seven-ways-home)

Anthony has continued to be involved in his various peacemaking efforts. This year he published a book called Quakers and the Interfaith Movement and has given talks at various churches and other venues. During the summer he gave a workshop at the national Quaker gathering, Friends General Conference. One of our goals as a married couple is to host a weekly discussion series in Feb 2012 to look at biblical underpinnings of peacemaking. We will consider alternatives to war in the Bible, and how the church has been on both sides of this issue, both supporting it and playing a significant role in ending it.

On Oct 7 Anthony was arrested at a rally in front of the Los Angeles Federal Building along with 14 other religious leaders on the 10th anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan, the longest war in US history. He and the other religious leaders spent the afternoon in jail. When asked about this experience, Anthony said: “I used to wonder why early Christians and early Quakers were so cheerful when they were taken to jail, or worse, for their beliefs. When I was taken to jail with my good friends, I had a taste of that joy that comes when we follow our conscience, no matter what.”

For the past few weeks, Anthony has been working with various religious leaders in the LA area to have a sharing circle and worship opportunities at Occupy LA. Anthony believes that the nonviolent approach of Dr. Martin Luther King is needed at this time in order to turn America from a culture of greed to a culture of compassion and mutual accountability.

It feels as if America, and the world, is going through a time of rebirth, a process that is painful and messy as well as beautiful. (Kind of like a marriage!) We are feeling the drama of birth in other ways, too. Jill had planned to work on the revised version of her book throughout 2011, but due our meeting and wedding, we are now facing the pressure of a January deadline. Jill is deeply grateful for Anthony's many hours of help in editing and for his appreciation of the value and great need for this book at this time of the foreclosure crisis. It feels as if giving birth to a book is our first child!

During this time of Advent, we are seeing the rebirth of the One who was born to show us how to live and love with grace. We hope and pray that all of you will experience once again this amazing grace and have a truly blessed holiday!

Love, Anthony and Jill

PS. The picture below shows us when we gave a presentation together about our respective books at Honolulu Meeting. We plan to speak together at One Voice, Jill’s church, on Sunday, Dec 18, about how the birth of Jesus challenged the existing social order. You’ll be able to access this talk at Anthony’s blog at laquaker.blogspot.com.

Where would you want your child to be born?

2011-12-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

Jill and I are grateful to Paul Kim, pastor of One Voice church in Pasadena, for inviting us to share this Christmas message. I am also thankful to this church for being so hospitable and welcoming me into its community.

The question I posed for this congregation (and for you) to think about was:

"If you had a choice about where your child would be born, so your child could realize its potential and have a good life, what place would you choose?”

Most people would probably say, “I’d like my child to be born in a good, peaceful neighborhood, with good schools, so he or she will be safe and get a good education.”

The place were Jesus was born was not at all what you or I would necessarily choose. God had a different plan. God’s child was born in a country under foreign occupation, wracked by war and uprisings, in an impoverished village far from centers of power. His parents came from a town with such a bad reputation that when good-hearted Nathaniel was told Jesus came from Nazareth, he said: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Nazareth was clearly not prime real estate It was in the northern part of what is today Israel. It was filled with many non-Jews, mostly Syrians, who had been conquered in a bloody war a hundred years before Jesus’ birth. Bethlehem was also war-torn and poor, a suburb of Jerusalem controlled by a ruthless Roman army. Today the inhabitants of Bethlehem are still under the control of a ruthless army; they can’t come or go without permission of the Israelis. That’s the kind of place that God chose for God’s son to be born into. Why would God want his child to be born in this kind of place under these circumstances?

The Bible teaches us that many great leaders were born in desperate circumstances. Moses was born a slave in Egypt, under conditions so oppressive his parents had to put him into a wicker basket and set him afloat on the Nile to prevent him from being killed by Pharaoh. David was born a humble shepherd during a time when the Israelites were at war with the Canaanites.

Why did God choose for the savior of the world to be born among poor and outcast? In every way Jesus, even at his birth, identifies with the marginalized. That is what gave him authority to speak truth to power on behalf of the powerless. And that is what gives you and I that authority. Jill would not be powerful in what she says at the city council if she didn’t know firsthand those who are being affected by the systemic issues and are not being heard or know how to speak to those who allocate the resources.

According to the Hebrew prophecies, a great Liberator would be born in Bethlehem to give folks the grace and power to speak, to free his people from oppression and to end war. Zech 9: 9-10 says,

Rejoice, O people of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!
Look, your king is coming to you.
He is righteous and victorious
yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—
riding on a donkey’s colt.

I will remove the battle chariots from Israel
and the warhorses from Jerusalem.
I will destroy all the weapons used in battle,
and your king will bring peace to the nations.
His realm will stretch from sea to sea
and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

This was joyous news for the poor, but bad news for those who live by the sword. When King Herod heard rumors that a Messiah, a King of the Jews, was born in Bethlehem, he felt so threatened he sent his soldiers to kill all the babies. Fear and lust for power controlled him and led him to violence.

Such a bloody, ruthless act revealed the oppressive system that the Jews were living under. The theologian Walter Wink calls this "the domination system," and it's still with us. Whenever the domination system is threatened, it responds with violence: arrests, imprisonment, torture, and eventually the killing of innocent people. We see this around the world today with people rising up in Syria, Egypt, Tunisia. We even see it in our own country with the our police dressed in full riot gear, to clear out unarmed Occupiers exercising their Constitutional rights.

I felt personally connected to the story of the “slaughter of the innocents” when I went to Israel/Palestine in 2005 as part of the Compassionate Listening project. The intifada or uprising of 2000 had just ended. Over 1,400 Palestinian children and 125 Jewish children had been killed—an enormous number given the small size of this country. I met Jewish and Palestinian parents whose children had been killed during this period and it was heartbreaking to listen to them. One of them was a rabbi whose son was murdered by Arabs and found in a cave near his kibbutz. Another was a Palestinian mother whose 16-year-old son was shot in the head at point blank range by an Israeli soldier during a peaceful demonstration. I can't begin to describe the pain of these grieving families.

During this trip I went to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born and was appalled to see it riddled with bullet holes. Inside the church, I found a shrine dedicated to the “slaughter of the innocents." . This was not just a story that happened 2000 years ago. It's still happening today. While there I felt empty and sad. I grieved for the children who had been killed in Israel/Palestine. I prayed for all the children being killed by war, by terrorism, by drones, by airplanes. On average two children a day died in Afghanistan in 2010. Over 500 Palestinian children were killed during the Gaza massacre in 2009.

I have vowed to do everything in my power to end this senseless slaughter. Jill and I both believe there are biblical alternatives to war and violence. God chose to have his son born in the midst of an oppressive system to show us the way.

I had come to Israel/Palestine as part of a nonviolent conflict resolution group called the Compassionate Listening Project. This group was inspired by a Quaker named Gene Hoffman who was my mentor and friend. The idea of Compassionate Listening is to teach people listening skills in places where people have been traumatized by violence. People learn to listen to their “enemies” without judging, to listen from the heart, and this builds trust and hope. While I was in Bethlehem, we did Compassionate Listening training in a school, and nearly 100 Palestinians and Israeli Jews took part. This was very inspiring since Jews were not allowed to go to Bethlehem to talk with Palestinians at this time. It was illegal! But many Jews were willing to break the law in order to build bridges of understanding with their Palestinian neighbors. When so-called “enemies” come together and listen to each other’s stories from the heart, they can become friends.

A couple of years ago, I interviewed a Palestinian boy named Yousef Bashir who lived under Israeli occupation in Gaza. When Yousef was only 12, he was shot in the back by an Israeli soldier as he was walking out of his house. He was critically hurt and almost died. Because the hospitals in Gaza are short on crucial medical supplies, his father somehow managed to get him to a first-rate Jewish hospital where Yousef spent several months recovering. Up to this time, Yousef had never encountered a Jew who wasn’t armed and threatening. In the hospital he met kind Jewish doctors and nurses, and gradually overcame his prejudices and fears. He went on to become an ardent peace maker and even persuaded an Israeli soldier to accept a t-shirt for a camp called “The Seeds of Peace.” After hearing Yousef’s story, the soldier said he would like to become a counselor at this camp after finishing his obligatory military service. Yousef’s story, titled “The Power of Forgiveness,” is being published in a book for children in Russia and Chechnya showing that there are alternatives to violence. (See http://fil.quaker.org/story_forgive_is_devine.html)

Closer to home, Jill and I witnessed examples of what compassionate listening can accomplish when we traveled together this summer to places in our own country where there is poverty and violence. We went to the slums of Washington, DC, and Philadelphia and we saw Christians who had moved into these at-risk communities and listened, deeply listened, to what the community needs and what it has to offer. These Christians had partnered with their urban neighbors to help the community to rebuild itself. Jim Dickerson, this small church has been involved in rehabbing and selling 1000 homes to low income families with an extremely low foreclosure rate. In this work, I saw signs of hope, signs that Christ was being reborn.

Many people today are being kicked out of their homes due to foreclosures, or are finding it impossible to afford a home because of our unjust economic system, where the rich get bailouts and the poor get sold out. Many young people have taken to the streets to protest the economic injustices of Wall Street. As you know, I was part of a religious group that got arrested to protest the war in Afghanistan and also went to Occupy LA to be in solidarity with the protesters. It was amazing to see hundreds of people living in tents around our City Hall. Some of them had come from Skid Row where they were already living on the streets. It was the first time in my life I have seen middle class and poor people living together in tents. What drew them together was the hunger and thirst for justice. I felt as if I was witnessing the rebirth of hope, the rebirth of the Christ spirit.

What about here in Pasadena? Where is Christ being reborn here? How can we be part of this rebirth? Jill can tell you more about this than I can. I am grateful that many of you in this church are helping with programs like Family Promise and are doing what you can to help families like Theresa's family whose children will be living in a church instead of on the street this Christmas. Jill and I are inviting you to join us in a discussion group focusing on justice and peace from a biblical perspective, and discover together the meaning of peace in ourselves, our community and world today.

We’d like to end with a beautiful song about the birth of the Prince of Peace by the great Quaker African-American activist mystic teacher Howard Thurman, who taught at my Alma mater, Boston University. Here's what Howard Thurman says about the message of Christmas:
"When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among others, To make music in the heart."

What did the angels mean by “Peace on earth?”

2011-12-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”--Luke 2:14, King James version.

This Christmas I was asked to speak about the birth of the one who has been called the “Prince of Peace.” As many of you know, my wife Jill and I met at a peace parade in Pasadena that took place on Palm Sunday, and we are both peacemakers at heart. In fact, we affirmed at our wedding that “the Prince of Peace brought us together for purpose larger than either of us can imagine.”

Peacemaking is at the heart of the Gospel. When Jesus made his triumphant march in Jerusalem on a donkey, he was fulfilling a prophesy by Zachariah which said that the Messiah would come and end all war. Just before his death, Jesus told his disciples, “My peace I leave you, not as the world gives you peace” (John 12:27).

Today we are hear to celebrate the birth of this Prince of Peace. But what Jesus mean by peace? How does the peace of Jesus differ from the “world's” notion of peace?

When the angels announced the birth of the Savior by proclaiming “Peace on earth,” they were expressing a vision of peace and of society that was totally at odds with the views of the Roman empire, and of many people today. The Roman word for peace, PAX, is related to the word “pact,” a peace treaty. For the empire, peace is simply about the cessation of war. As the Roman historian Tacitus said, “The Romans create desolation and call it peace.” The same could be said for every empire, including our own. The Hebrew word for peace SHALOM is much deeper and richer than this imperial notion of a peace treaty. Shalom comes from the root meaning wholeness and implies health, well-being, and social harmony. Peace is usually coupled with justice. In the Beatitudes Jesus says: “Blessed are the shalom-makers” and also “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after justice.” In the Bible, shalom and justice go hand-in-hand.

So when the angels announce that the birth of Jesus will bring “shalom,” it means a world of justice, peace, and reconciliation.

There are basically two aspects of peace—inward and outward. Inner peace means more than just feeling good. You can feel good and still not have true inner peace. Many Germans felt peaceful inwardly during the Nazi period. They were going to church, doing their jobs, and being “good Germans.” But they weren’t at peace with God.

To be truly peaceful inwardly means living in harmony with God’s will. The Italian poet Dante said it beautifully: “En su voluntad esta nuestra paz.” “In Your Will, O God, is our peace.” When we live in harmony with God’s will, we are living a life of love, service, and joy. We aren’t thinking about ourselves. We aren’t resentful or angry. We feel a sense of “rightness,” of being where we are supposed to be, doing what we are supposed to be doing, with people we love.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus talks about this inward peace when he says: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.” Those who are pure in heart are free from mixed motives, from the kind of selfishness that leads to conflict and war.

In his epistle, James explains that wars are caused by our selfish desires. “You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it.” (James 4:2)

James goes on to say we don’t know how to pray for what is truly good for us, like wisdom. To learn how to pray rightly, we need to take time to be still and listen to our hearts, to what Quakers call the Inward Light. When we take time to be in holy silence, and let go of our desires and agenda, we allow space for the Christ child, the spirit of compassion, to be reborn in our hearts. This leads to what Paul calls “the peace that passeth understanding.” This spirit of peace is beautifully conveyed in the song, “Silent night.” I love the words: “All is calm. All is bright.” That’s what inner peace feels like.

Peace is more than a good feeling, however. As Pastor Paul Kim explained last week, Jesus commands us to be ethical. And he gave us two ethical commands that relate to peace: LOVE YOUR ENEMY and PRAY FOR THOSE WHO WRONG YOU.

If we follow these two commandments, it would seem we couldn't possibly go to war. In fact, we have no choice but to pursue peace actively.

These commandments seem clear, though by no means easy to follow, but many Christians have felt differently about applying them. Augustine made the argument that some wars are just, and thereby opened the door for endless “defensive” wars. Other Christians like Reinhold Niebuhr argued these commandments are intended for individuals, not for nations. According to these so-called Christian realists, Jesus’ commandments regarding peace are impossible to follow in this fallen world. They are simply ideals to be aspired to.

This is not the way early Christians interpreted these commandments, however. Until the time of Constantine in 300 AD, most Christians refused to serve in the Roman army. They refused to light incense at the altar of Caesar or the war gods. And they paid a heavy price for not pledging allegiance to the Roman empire. Many went to prison, or worse, were tortured and killed. One of my favorite stories is about St Martin, the patron saint of pacifists.

While Martin was still a soldier in the Roman army and deployed in Gaul (modern day France), he experienced the vision that became the most-repeated story about his life. One day as he was approaching the gates of the city of Amiens he met a scantily clad beggar. He impulsively cut his own military cloak in half and shared it with the beggar. That night, Martin dreamed of Jesus wearing the half-cloak he had given away. He heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized; he has clad me." (Sulpicius, ch 2).

After having a conversion experience and being baptised, Martin determined that his faith prohibited him from fighting, saying, "I am a soldier of Christ. I cannot fight." He was charged with cowardice and jailed, but in response to the charge, he volunteered to go unarmed to the front of the troops. His superiors planned to take him up on the offer, but before they could, the invaders sued for peace, the battle never occurred, and Martin was released from military service.[5]

As you know, I went to jail along with 14 others who oppose the endless “defensive” wars we are fighting throughout the world. When I was arrested, I had a taste of what it was like when early Christians and early Quakers went to prison cheerfully, singing hymns of praise to God. When I was handcuffed and taken to jail, surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, I felt a sense of joy, of peace, because I was following my conscience, no matter what.

There are many ways to create peace or shalom. We create shalom when we visit the sick, help the needy, comfort the afflicted, and work for justice. I hope that each of you finds your own way to bring peace and reconciliation to your family, to your community, and to the world. This is how we can best celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace.

I'd like to end with a beautiful song by the great Quaker African-American activist mystic teacher Howard Thurman, who taught at my alma mater, Boston Univesity. Here is how Thurman sums up the message of Christmas:

"When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among others, To make music in the heart."

ICUJP CONDEMNS "MILITARIZED" RAID ON OCCUPY LA AND CALLS FOR PEOPLE'S TRIBUNAL

2011-12-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (icujp.org), on whose board of directors I serve, issued the following statement condemning the police raid on Occupy LA. The Jewish Journal published an excellent account of what happened from an interreligious viewpoint. See http://www.jewishjournal.com/los_angeles/article/clergy_object_to_lapds_methods_of_clearing_occupy_la_20111207/

*******

Ever since 9/11, when Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace ("ICUJP") was founded, we have called on religious communities to "stop blessing war and violence" and have urged our elected officials to seek peaceful solutions to conflict at home and abroad.

We believe that Occupy LA had a right to protest peacefully and should not have been evicted. In a time in which we often hear laments that no one cares and no one gets involved, the Occupy LA movement should be commended for getting involved and peacefully protesting a government that has become completely beholden to the interests of the rich, the military, banks, and corporations. Their involvement also inspired others to get involved, which should be celebrated as well.

Since the Occupy LA encampment was endorsed the Los Angeles City Council and its goals has the support of the majority of California voters, we feel Mayor had no legal authority to unilaterally order the LAPD to shut it down.

As religious leaders who personally observed the police crackdown have testified, protesters at Occupy LA were peacefully exercising their constitutional rights when 1400 police in riot gear descended upon them, arrested almost 300 and brutally dispersed the rest. Although the police allegedly did not use the outrageous and illegal level of violence evident in other such crackdowns, observers described the behavior of the LAPD as "violent" and "brutal," leading to abuses and injuries, which have been ignored.

This police overreaction could have been avoided. Religious leaders had made an agreement with the police department that they would be given an opportunity to meet with the protesters prior to arrests to help defuse tension. According to reliable sources, only 50 protesters had planned to commit civil disobedience. The rest were willing to disperse when requested to do so. These religious mediators were deliberately taken aside and deceptively told they were being briefed while police initiated their raid without observation. This betrayal of trust by law enforcement violates deeply held democratic values.

ICUJP also regrets that the local media, including the Los Angeles Times, betrayed the ideals of a Free Press, by failing to unflinchingly report what actually happened during the police raid on Occupy LA. A free society depends on a free press independently exposing government abuse rather than uncritically republishing the official story.

The Mayor and others have boasted that this police action was peaceful, compared with the pepper spraying and other violent behavior that has taken place throughout the United States. We also object to the use of excessive bail and jail time to intimidate the protesters.

We believe City should not only permit, but encourage its citizens to exercise their right to protest peacefully if we are to preserve our democracy.

Finally, we condemn the growing use of paramilitary tactics to suppress the exercise of First Amendment rights, including freedom of peaceful and non-violent assembly, here in the United States. A democracy cannot survive if it treats protesters as if they are "the enemy." We are appalled that the Department of Homeland Security has been advising mayors throughout the country on how to suppress the Occupy movement, thereby equating American citizens exercising their constitutional rights with terrorists.

We fully concur with former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper who has severely criticized the police for adopting a militaristic approach to dealing with demonstrators. Stamper urges the police and elected officials to remember "they are dealing with fellow Americans" and notes that the Occupy protesters are raising "issues that are vital to the entire country, and certainly to the middle class and those who have been marginalized, especially by poverty or by discrimination."

We are committed to Speaking Truth to Power. ICUJP calls for an independent People's Tribunal to fully investigate the events surrounding the raid on Occupy LA and to publicly expose the whole truth.

Remembering Dora Stein.....

2011-12-05T14:57:00.000-08:00

A year ago I went caroling with members of Santa Monica Meeting to shut-ins, and we ended up at the apartment of Dora Stein, a beloved member of our meeting who passed away last month at age 84. I was also asked to give a "eulogy" at Dora's memorial, so I am including it along with pictures we took last year when we went caroling... I realize how precious such moments are, and how caring for Dora brought us together as Friends....and brought us together to the One whose birth we celebrate this season.

*****

It is a great honor to be asked to give a eulogy about Dora Stein, a beloved member of our Meeting. During her final years she suffered from constant health problems, and needed lots of care. Many of us visited her, took her to the hospital and to doctor’s appointments, took her to the bank and shopping, and performed other needed services. It was not always easy to be her caregiver, but I am grateful I had the opportunity to know and love this amazing woman. During one of her emotional outbursts in the hospital this past year, Dora referred to me as her son. When I heard this, I felt it was a great honor. Dora was born the same year as my mother, and she was like my mother in many ways: a gifted storyteller, a lover of people, and a colorful character you couldn’t help loving even if at times she drove you crazy.

And I am reminded of the words of Elizabeth Watson, a Friend who wrote a beautiful book about grieving called “Guests in my House.” Elizabeth wrote:

“This we owe to our beloved dead, whether young or old: to wipe from our memories all that was less than their best, and to carry them in our hearts at their wisest, most compassionate, most creative moments.”

Today we are here to remember Dora at her best, and to be thankful for what she gave of herself to us.

Dora loved this Meeting and she never ceased to express her gratitude to all of you. She never married, and she was not close to her siblings, so this Meeting was her family. I know that if she were here, she would want to thank each one of you for the care and love you have showed her. Especially deserving of thanks are those who served on Dora’s care committee: Donna and Fred Buell, Sue Richter, Nancy Fuller, Diane Manning, and Celia Carroll. Many others in this Meeting also deserve thanks for visiting her in the hospital, for helping with this memorial meeting, and for other acts of kindess.

This week Dora would have celebrated her 84th birthday. She was in Boston on Dec. 2, 1927. Her parents Samuel and Rachel Fisher Stein were Jewish and were born in Poland. She had three sisters: Rose, Annette and Ida. She attended Simmons College, and took occupational therapy training at LA City College. She worked as an editor for Sunset magazine and had many other free-lance jobs

She was the adopted grandmother of Dahlins: Bob, Suzy, and Lucas.

She loved parties, gardening, and her neighborhood.

And she loved being a Quaker.

I’m sure all of us have stories to share about Dora, so I will limit myself to only one. This story meant so much to me I posted it on my blog, and I will remember it for the rest of my life. I hope you will remember it whenever you are tempted to feel sorry for yourself.

In January of 2010, Dora had to go to ICU for an extended stay. Her lungs were ailing, and she had to be placed on a breathing tube. This was a huge stresser for Dora since she loved to talk, and for several weeks she couldn’t communicate except through writing. She wrote constantly, filling up page after page with her careful scrawl, trying to share her thoughts and feelings.

One afternoon, she shared words I will never forget. First, she wrote: “Jesus Christ is my teacher. I am trying to follow his example.”

Then she wrote: “I am the luckiest woman in the world.”

Then she wrote these words: “I am luckiest woman in the world because I have friends.”

I was staggered. What could Dora possibly mean? Here she was, a tiny woman, lying in a bed of pain, on the verge of dying, unable to speak, yet she said she was the luckiest woman in the world. What could she possibly mean?

At that moment, I felt I had a glimpse of Dora’s heart, and it was beautiful. Money and success didn’t matter to Dora. What mattered above all else was friendship. Dora was a true Friend.

I’d like to close with the words of William Penn. Written while Penn was in prison, these words beautifully describe the kind of friendship that never dies, the kind of friendship that Dora valued and embodied:
“They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it.

Death cannot kill what never dies.

Nor can spirits ever be divided, that love and live in the same divine principle, the root and record of their friendship.

If absence be not death, neither is theirs.

Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still.

For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent.

In this divine glass they see face to face; and their converse is free, as well as pure.

This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are, in the best sense, ever present, because immortal.”

********

Stan Searl, clerk of our Meeting, wrote this amazing poem that captures the essence of Dora and her relationship to our Meeting:

So,
Dora,
Why couldn't you be reasonable like me and all these other Quakers?
Why couldn't you be rational
And full of perspicacity and even common sense?

Besides,
Why couldn't you have a real job
And an income
And be good,
To love your neighbors and be like us these perfect Quakers?

Really,
Dora,
To me,
Knowing you is like
Feeling myself in the midst of a rock and roll song
Where the beat goes on beneath everything
Thumping and bumping
As we drum our hearts together,
Beating onto our bodies
Pushing ourselves,
Singing and dancing
With the drums echoing
On our skins
Saying,
Look at me,
I am here
And alive just the same as you.

After all,
As Quakers together
We don't know what we're doing either
Leading with our noses
And smelling our way together
As you interrupted our precious silent worship once again,
Insistent and determined
And so angry that you threatened to blow up our carefully scrupled
edifice of calm

Challenging us to be present to the Divine in the midst of such intense anger.

Dora,
I must admit that I never understood your righteous, Jewish anger
As you limped into our worship with your inner truth.

Today,
Reflecting upon your intense presence in our worshipping community,
I dream of you
Sitting on your couch in your tiny Montana Street apartment,
Looking up at your visitors
As you became an illuminated painting,

Radiant,
As if the Inner Light had entered you
And spewed out its Truth into Santa Monica and flowed right into the
Pacific Ocean itself.

Occupy movement to occupy foreclosed homes!

2011-12-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled to learn that the Occupy movement is trying to address the problem of foreclosure with "Occupy Our Homes Day" (Dec 6). We need to remind our fellow Americans that the banks (with the complicity of the government, who deregulated them) caused the housing bubble and crash, and now want to profit from the misery they caused. Peter Kuhn's analysis is spot on!

I urge you to watch the award-winning film "Inside Job" and "Maxed Out," which you can watch for free at http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/maxed-out. I also recommend "The One Percent," a psychologically insightful documentary about the super-rich by Jame Johnson, heir to the Johnson and Johnson family fortune. See http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-one-percent/index.html

I am glad that the OWS movement is taking on the banksters and their crimes. Locally, they helped prevent the eviction of Rose Gudiel, who was the victim of a predatory bank called OneWest. Jill and I have been trying to help a woman with 7 kids who was recently evicted from her home due to foreclosure. We can and must control the corrupt banking system and expose their lies. Si, se puede!

*** NEWS ADVISORY ***

For Immediate Release Contact: Peter Kuhns (213) 272-1141

December 1, 2011 pkuhns@calorganize.org

“Occupy Our Homes” Day, Tuesday, Dec. 6, to Launch National Campaign

Actions in LA and Other Cities Spotlight How Wall Street Crashed the Economy, Drove Families from Homes, and Ripped Off Communities

Supporters Will “Reclaim” Vacant Houses and Engage in “Home Defense” to Keep Families in Foreclosed Homes

Communities in LA and across America will take direct action on Tuesday, Dec. 6, to challenge Wall Street profiteering that has created a housing crisis for millions of families.

Actions will include “reclaiming” houses that banks are leaving vacant and “home defense” to stop banks from foreclosing and profiting further from the economic crash they created.

Other cities where direct action will be taken include New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Portland (OR), and many more.

Homeowners and renters facing foreclosure-related evictions will be backed locally by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and a national network of organizations such as The New Bottom Line and its local affiliates; ReFund California; New York Communities for Change; Occupy Wall Street; Take Back the Land; and SOUL (Chicago).

These actions build on a number of recent successes in community resistance to foreclosures and evictions.

The national Occupy Our Homes campaign challenges a deliberate Wall Street strategy that has made billions for those at the top while devastating the 99%:

· Banks created a housing bubble, deliberately designing predatory loans with balloon payments, variable rates, and other features that would yield short-term profits while preying on families least able to pay.

· They knew that many of these loans could not be repaid, but they didn’t care because they planned to package and re-sell the mortgages to investors who then were left holding the bag.

· The economy crashed as a result of this bank-created house of cards, putting tens of millions of Americans out of work. Unemployment is overwhelmingly the primary cause of foreclosures, not over-extended consumers.

· More than 6 million Americans have lost their homes, often through illegal foreclosures, and another 5 million are at risk. Many homeowners were told that if they stopped making payments, they could qualify for a lower rate. When they did so, the banks put them in default and initiated foreclosure.

· The 99% bailed out Wall Street, while Wall Street bailed on our communities, taking our money for outrageous executive salaries and bonuses and massive profits. We gave Wall Street $700 billion in taxpayer money through TARP, and another $7.7 trillion in nearly interest-free loans of taxpayer money through the Federal Reserve. Bank profits in the third quarter of 2011 were more than $35 billion – higher than they were before the crash.

· The bank-induced crash devastated home values and life savings for all homeowners.

· Yet, the banks claim that they should be able to collect mortgage payments based on the value of homes before the crash they caused, rather than current value. At least one in four homeowners is now “underwater” – meaning the bank wants them to make payments on a higher mortgage than what the house is worth.

· Wall Street is draining hundreds of billions of dollars from communities by demanding artificially inflated mortgage payments -- money that is needed to support local jobs and small businesses and get the economy working again for the 99%.

Please contact us if you would like to be kept informed as Occupy Our Homes actions unfold.

Response of the interfaith community to police crackdown on Occupy LA

2011-11-30T19:29:00.000-08:00

Along with many other leaders and members of the interfaith community, I am appalled by the overreaction of the police here in LA and elsewhere to the Occupy movement. I have signed on to a letter of protest to Mayor Villaraigosa that is being sent to him by the Interfaith Sanctuary group at Occupy LA.

What happened at Occupy LA last night is a little unclear because the religious leaders who were supposed to observe the police behavior were taken aside when the police initially invaded the camp.

This is a report from Shakeel Syed, the Exec Director of the Shura Council of So Ca: a person whose integrity and veracity I can attest to. I should also add that he and I were among the 14 arrested on Oct 7 during an ICUJP action opposing the US invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. At that time, the police behaved appropriately, with professionalism and politeness.

Last night the following religious leaders were present at City Hal: Rabbi Jonathan Klein (Exec Dir of CLUE); Rev. Peter Laarman (Exec Dir of Progressive Christians United); Rabbi Yohan, Shakeel Syed, and Stacie Chiaken (a Jewish lay leader). These leaders were not allowed into the camp after almost more than an hour of LAPD's invasion of the camp - contrary to a prior agreement with the Mayor and Chief Beck.

Here are Shakeel's observations:

It's more than obscene to invade a peaceful camp of less than 200 peaceful people with a force 7 times more (1400 by Beck's own admission) armed to teeth in riot & military type gear. Not ONE person resisted arrest. Not ONE person engaged in any verbal or physical abuse of any police officers. Not ONE ounce of any drug or intoxicant was found inside the camp. Not ONE witness - neither reps of National Lawyers Guild nor we the clergy & laity observers were allowed inside the camp at the time of invasion. In fact the LAPD sent a word to us for a conversation with their commander on site (Chief Perez) re: observer rules/ protocols, etc & while we're pulled outside the camp for a meeting with Chief Perez at the base of the LAPD building, the invasion started. We're also guaranteed that "sufficient" notice will be given to us to work with the campers to avoid arrest and "sufficient" notice will also be given to the campers to decide between getting arrested and leaving voluntarily. Both of these commitments were reneged and through deception. So to the extent that we were able to observe from more than 500 feet away in darkness was - extensive use of batons in suppressing the campers, mayhem style breaking down tents, kicking and screaming at the peaceful campers. Even we - the "official & approved" observers were yelled at by several of their officers & at one point I had to get into the face of an officer cautioning them to watch himself who he's talking to. subsequent intervention by their other more sane colleagues calmed this stupid officer down. they were on an obscene display of hyper testasterone ...

We complained to LAPD that had they given us the time guaranteed earlier - we'd have gotten out many of the campers without arrest. In fact in less than first 10 mins of our getting into the camp - we're able to convince two campers to avoid rest and leave the camp. had we had an hour or two - we're very sure we'd have been a great help to LAPD in avoiding many arrests. one of the campers said "we love you for standing up with us but where were you guys when LAPD raided us?" this tells us that our neutrality and integrity was compromised because of LAPD's deceptive way of inviting us to a meeting outside the camp and then immediately raiding the camp.

I think the best commentary on the behavior of police towards protesters has come from former Seattle police chief Stamper, who said one of the worst decision he ever made in his life was to unleash the Seattle police on demonstrators during the WTO gathering in Seattle in 2000.

In an interview on MPR, Stamper said:

We dress as if the protesters are the enemy. We are equipped with tools and weaponry that suggest that the protesters are an enemy and that our mission is a military one. And it's very important, obviously, that your police officers be made as safe as they can in terms of their training, their equipment and so forth. But it's also vitally important to remember that they are dealing with fellow Americans and, particularly in the case of the Occupy movement, you know, I don't know any police officer who's part of the one percent. These are issues that are vital to the entire country, and certainly to the middle class and those who have been marginalized, especially by poverty or by discrimination. And I think police officers, on one level, really get that. But they find themselves lined up as the enemy."

The protesters made it clear they did not regard the police as the enemy--indeed, I saw signs supporting the police--but clearly the 1% and elected officials who represent them are treating the protesters as if they are the enemy.

That's why it's important for the religious community to be a witness to what is happening and to speak the truth to those in power.

Dear Mayor Villaraigosa:

We, representatives of the faith and labor communities, are writing to follow up on our previous letter to you and meeting with you and Chief Beck, regarding Tuesday night’s forced eviction of the Occupiers at City Hall.

While we are grateful that there were no major physical injuries, we are distressed by the level of violence and brutality witnessed by the members of the clergy who were present at the eviction. After two months of a peaceful occupation it is unacceptable that this level of violence was deployed. Occupiers were pushed and hit and corralled and hunted down by police in a military fashion. The police invaded the park without sufficient warning in a manner that was designed to create the greatest amount of terror and trauma. Despite the media impression that the eviction went off skillfully and without a hitch, in reality there was psychological and spiritual violence in as well as physical violence.

In addition, the interfaith clergy had obtained an agreement from the incident commander that they would be allowed entry to the City Hall grounds as witnesses in order to support the occupiers in their decisions to stay or leave. This agreement was not honored and clergy were not allowed entrance to the park during the crucial period in which they could have been helpful to occupiers who had not previously decided to be arrested.

Finally, it is unacceptable that the arrested occupiers, who are nonviolent and not a flight risk, are being held on $5,000 bail. They must be released on their own recognizance.

This letter is being circulated among religious leaders in LA, and I am pleased that Dan Strickland, the Clerk of Southern California Quarterly Meeting, has signed it. I also support this letter and urge our Mayor to take more seriously our First Amendment right to assemble peacefully to petition our government for a redress of grievances.

Thanking our Native American brothers and sisters

2011-11-20T08:19:00.000-08:00

How can we thank the Native people this Thanksgiving for all they have given us? That's the question I have been asking myself this year. In the past I have deplored the fact that Euro-Americans mythologize and sanitize what happened when the Pilgrims arrived on territory belonging to the Massasoit people. I have contrasted the Pilgrims (whose descendants massacred Native people) with the Quakers, who tried to keep their treaties and never took up arms against the First people. See http://laquaker.blogspot.com/2010/11/william-penn-and-indians.html

But this year I want to stress the positive. I want to thank my Native American brothers and sisters for what they have given to us and the world. Many years ago, I was inspired by Jack Weatherford's marvelous book "Indian Givers" to lead a Methodist worship service in which we thanked the Indians on Native American awareness Sunday. I handed out a list of what the Native people have given us, from avocados to zucchini, including such things as chocolate, beans, tomatos, wild rice, rubber, lima beans, corn, etc. People then expressed gratitude to Native people for items on this list. It was an especially moving service since several Native Americans were present.

This year I am going to include as many Native American foods as possible on our Thanksgiving menu and remind our family to say "thank you" not only to God, but to the Native people who gave us these foods. We will have squash, succotash, corn bread, and of course chocolate--the greatest gift of all!

As I reflect on I owed the native people, including the land on which I live, I think of all the marvelous native people I have met and known, beginning with Jake Swamp, an Iroquois elder who came to Princeton Meeting when I first became a Friend in the early 1980s. Jake conducted a "tree of peace" ceremony at our Meetinghouse, and I later had a chance to visit him and his people at their reservation in Upper New York state during an FGC gathering. I learned about many of the things that the Iroquois Confederacy contributed to our nation, including ideas for our Constitution.

Over the years I have been enriched by the writings and spirituality of Native people--their concern for the land, for their elders, and for the Creator. I could easily write a book on what I have learned from my indigenous brothers and sisters.

This month a Native American elder, Sylvia Salazar, spoke to our Parliament of the World's Religion group and shared something I will never forget. Asked if the Indians celebrate Thanksgiving, she responded, "Our people celebrate Thanksgiving every day. Our prayers are almost always prayers of thanks for what the Creator has given us."

To which I can only say, "This Friend speaks my mind!"

Spiritual sharing circle at Occupy LA

2011-11-14T08:43:00.000-08:00

Our first spiritual sharing circle took place yesterday at OLA and was truly awesome. Over 35 people took part, including people of diverse faiths: Jewish, Vedantist, Christian, humanist, etc. Several people from the Parliament of the World's Religion showed up, along with lots of Friends. By the end of our sharing time, we were all friends.

Members of OLA took part and appreciated our presence. The site is very noisy, but our inward silence was deep, the sharing profound, and the messages moving.

Some spoke of social injustices, others of spiritual concerns. Included below is a message combining both concerns, shared by Gene Rothman, a Jewish member of the Parliament of the World's Religions. His words speak to my heart as a Friend. (Full disclosure: Gene was one of the groomsmen at my wedding!)

People of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds spoke and offered prayers. Many passersby stopped to observe and recognized the sacredness of what we were about.

We agreed to have another sharing circle next Sunday at 2 PM. Some expressed the hope there would be daily worship opportunities.

We were blessed to have access to a large and comfortable tent owned by Carlos Marrroquin, who has a concern about foreclosure prevention. See no2housingcrime.org
We Quakers formed an affinity group to explore how we can continue to have sharing circles like this. We felt we needed a large and sturdy tent like the Carlos' for our interfaith worship and peacemaking workshops in a more quiet location, preferably the north end of the encampment--the people's university area. We raised $101 for this purpose. We would like to cooperate with the Interfaith Sanctuary and hope that other religious groups will raise an additional $600 so we can all have a decent-sized and quality tent for our interfaith activities.

A Methodist pastor named Paige Eaves provided several bags of wonderful bread, which was much appreciated by the Occupiers and became our informal communion loaf.

Here is the message shared by Gene Rothman:

Peace, Shalom, Salaam, Shanti:

My name is Gene and I am a Jewish member of the Southern California Committee of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

I want to say something about two kinds of silence.

I want to note that the same letters are in the world “silent” and the word “listen.”

Holy silence is when we listen each other, when we listen to that small, still voice within, and when we allow ourselves to hear the sweet sounds of nature.

Unholy silence is being silent and staying at home in the face of injustice. You [members of Occupy L.A]. prayed with your feet, as Rabbi A.J. Heschel said, in coming here.

A Japanese-American poet, Mitsuye Yamada, wrote about silence after listening to her father tell her that silence would keep her safe. But she and her family were still taken to a Japanese internment camp. She ends her poem, Warning, by saying: “My silences had not protected me.”

I want to conclude by thanking you all for raising your voices and putting your bodies on the line. It allowed others to find the courage to break their unholy silence and this has already changed the country. I feel especially grateful and blessed to be with you accompanied by my interfaith sisters and brothers, including those who may be secular, agnostic, or atheist: for they, too, have kept the faith in their own way.

With your claim of the public square, you have reminded our sleeping citizens and the bought-and-paid for political class that we will not be silent while democracy is buried by bankers and billionaires. My prayer is that our blessed, non-violent unrest will continue to multiply until justice rolls down like a mighty stream.

Please repeat after me:

Baruch A-ta Adonai E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech Ha’olam, m’sha-neh ha-b ri-ot

Blessed be the Eternal, our G-d, Ruler of space and time, Who makes every people and every person unique

Keeping hope alive at OLA, with some help from interfaith friends

2011-11-11T16:02:00.000-08:00

Jesse Jackson came to Occupy LA this week and I caught the end of this speech as I walked over to the encampment from my parking spot. His passionate refrain “Keep hope alive” echoed for blocks.

Hope is a very elusive thing. Emily Dickinson says “hope is a thing with feathers that perches on the soul.” On my car there’s a bumper sticker that says “Got hope?’ but the bumper sticker along with the feelings that inspired it has largely faded. The Occupy movement has revived my hopes, and the hopes of many other progressive people. But this “thing with feathers” is very precariously perched.

Ever since I attended meeting for worship at Occupy Philadelphia last week, I have been convinced that God is nudging us religious folk to become more deeply involved with Occupy LA. It isn’t helpful simply to sit on the sidelines and study and criticize their performance. If we want to keep hope alive, we need to go to their encampment and be in dialogue with them. The Occupiers have been at City Hall for nearly 40 days, individual religious people have shown up, but so far the interfaith peace movement has not been actively supportive.

This weekend I got the support of Southern California Quakers and the local chapter of the Parliament of the World’s Religions to establish an interfaith presence at OLA.

While I was doing this, others in the interfaith movement were following their leading to become involved with OLA.

On Wednesday, a group of religious leaders came to OLA: Sandie Richards (Methodist Minister at LA United Methodist Church), Peter Laarman (exec dir of Progressive Christians Uniting), Shakeel Syed (exec dir of the Islamic Shura Council of So Cal), and Rabbi Jonathan Klein (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice). They met with Scott Shuster, one of the OLA “facilitators,” listened to his concerns and came up with some plans to provide a religious presence at OLA.

They are calling themselves the “Interfaith Sanctuary.” Their goal is to help coordinate a religious community response. They have established an interfaith tent, using a Sukka that Jewish supporters of OLA had put up. And they have hoisted a banner that says “Interfaith Sanctuary”

They also have a blog: http://occupylasanctuary.blogspot.com/ as well as a facebook page and google listserv.

There will be another planning meeting for religious folk next Wednesday morning at 10 am.

Why is there a need for the religious community to be involved?

Anyone who reads OLA's "Declaration of Occupation" or has been following the Occupy movement knows that the grievances they express are those that the Progressive religious has been articulating for many years: opposition to corporate greed, the war machine, environmental destruction, etc.

What OLA needs are the following:

Food and other supplies. Many of the Occupiers are unemployed, some are homeless, they need all the help we can provide.

Pastoral care/compassionate listening. Most of the Occupiers are wonderful, intelligent and idealistic, but some have serious emotional and psychological issues.

Witness in case of police crack down. So far, the LA police have been benign, especially compared to places like Oakland, but this could change. And if it does, it is important that there are credible witnesses to describe what happens.

Inspiration and support. Living in tents, exposed to the elements and to some of the most desperate people in the city, can be very demoralizing. The Occupiers have inspired us with their courage and faithfulness. We in the religious community need to do likewise and show that we care and are with them (even if we don't live in tents).

Conflict resolution, mediation, consensus decision-making. The Occupiers are making a valiant effort to deal with conflicts that arise and to engage in participatory democracy, but they are feeling overwhelmed by the extent of the problems they are encountering. More will be said later.

Education. Many of the Occupiers are young and want to learn from seasoned political activists how to effect the changes they yearn for.

There is a huge problem with drugs, crime, etc. That’s because the OLA is essentially a lawless zone, where the police have been told not to intervene. Homeless and mentally ill people, and drug dealers and users, are being drawn to this place where they know they will not be hassled. The vast majority of Occupiers who are sane and don't use drugs are being overwhelmed. There is even the feeling that the benign neglect on the part of the police may be intentional: “Give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves.” The Occupiers are asking for help from those with skills and knowledge in how to deal with those who have chemical abuse and other problems.

Despite these problems, OLA and the Occupy movement have accomplished a great deal. They are moving the political debate away from blaming the government and cutting programs that help the people, and focusing on the problem: predatory bankers and capitalists that have ripped off the middle class and poor.

The Occupiers have been big supporters of the Moveyourmoneyproject, which has inspired tends of thousands of Americans (myself included) to move our money out of predatory commercial banks into credit unions and socially responsible local banks.

Amy Goodman today had a wonderful segment about how Occupiers are supporting the anti-foreclosure movement.

Many of us are rallying in support of Richard Alarcon’s measure for Responsible Banking. Come to City Hall on Monday, Nov 21, at 1 PM to show your support for this measure.

What is the big picture? What is the future of this movement? How can it become long-term and sustainable? Will this movement help to jumpstart a movement that will transform (not simply reform) the System, as Chris Hedges and David Swanson are arguing?

These are questions that the interfaith religious community needs to take seriously. More to follow.....

Occupy LA: crying out for Quakers and people of faith who can model and teach nonviolent resistance

2011-11-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

Last night the mood at Occupy LA was tense. Thousands of protesters had converged in Oakland, closed down the harbor, and wrecked havoc at an building that had once sheltered homeless people, but now was shut down due to budget cuts. LA Occupiers staged a peaceful but edgy solidarity protest in front of the Police Station across from City Hall. Several hundred young people were there, along with a sizable contingent of police, mostly dressed in shorts and trying to look friendly. Cop cars lined the street, their lights flashing, adding a festive or ominous air, depending on your attitude towards the police. It was the Dias de los muertos, the day of the dead, and many young people were in costume, looking spectral and ghoulish. Young men with bull horns orated for an hour or more, and then the crowd dispersed back to the encampment in front of City Hall.

As I wandered about, I had flashbacks to the 1960s. Long-haired, bearded young men and lovely young women camping out, talking earnestly, and the occasional scent of pot. A potpouri of LA’s amazing diversity: diverse races, ethnicities and social backgrounds getting together for an all-night party that was both social and political, and never boring.

The General Assembly was cancelled because of the rally. In its place a group of ukulele players gathered and played lively Mexico music while a man did a rhythmic foot-stomping dance on a small wooden platform. A little Anglo girl with blond hair danced joyously. A group of African-Americans were having a political discussion nearby.

As I wondered around, I encountered Communists, socialists, vegetarians, hippies, seekers, and an earnest young Evangelical Christian who called out from his tent and asked passersby if they believed in God. When I responded “Yes,” he asked me if Jesus was my Lord and Savior. I bent down, looked him in the eye and replied, smiling, “Jesus is my Friend, my guide and my Savior.” The young man seemed relieved.

I kept thinking of the story that Jesus tells in Matthew 23 about how we are to respect the Law, but not those who profess the Law without practicing it. Jesus says: “Call no one your teacher, or father, or leader, for we are all brothers and sisters and only Christ/God is our leader.”

The Occupies get the “no-leader” part of Jesus’ teaching. They realize that you can’t trust the authorities; they are mostly liars and hypocrites. But many of the Occupiers haven’t yet connected with or submitted to their Inward Teacher. They have learned to resist unjust authority, but haven’t learned the spiritual discipline (and the inward peace) that comes from Holy Obedience. In the signs and art and conversations I sensed a deep yearning for a spiritual as well as political transformation.

I didn't see a religious presence at Occupy LA, like the interfaith tent I saw at Occupy Philadelphia, but there is openness to the idea of having such a tent, as I discovered when I spoke to some of the Occupiers. [It turns out there was a sukka, and a Hindu meditation tent, and a sacred indigenous space. As of Nov 11, there is an interfaith tent.]

My guide was a young Quaker from Orange Grove Meeting named Sergei whom I ran into by “chance.” Sergei is in his early 30s and has a long, anarchic beard, a jovial, bear-like appearance and a thick accent. He is articulate and thoughtful, and has been coming to Occupy LA on a regular basis for several weeks. (In case you're wondering, he has a job: he is self-employed and fixes restaurant equipment). Sergei sees his mission as helping to calm down people who are agitated. Some are mentally ill. Others are simply enraged by the system. Some are both, like the Mexican man named Juan who used to be a school teacher, and then lost everything, including his wits. Juan wanders around shirtless, making loud and sometimes inappropriate political commentary. Sergei treat him and others like him with great kindness. Sergei explained that he is part of a group of Occupies inspired by Gandhi’s Shanti Seva (Peace Army).

Sergei introduced me to several of the young people who are helping to bring some measure of order to this colorful, vibrant but somewhat chaotic group. A young Latino named Anthony and an Anglo named Casey who help to convene the People’s Assembly (an unstructured alternative to the General Assembly) were very pleased that a Quaker had arrived.

“We need the Quakers!” they told me.

Casey had heard about the Quakers through Tolstoy’s book “The Kingdom of God is Within You.” He sensed that the Occupy movement needed Tolstoyan and Quaker wisdom.

Others I spoke to acknowledged the need for people who can teach and model nonviolent resistance and conflict resolution skills. When I spoke to them about ICUJP, the Parliament of the World’s Religions, and the interfaith community, they were eager for us to come down and share our experience and insights with them.

One of the important elements of Occupy LA is educational. On the north side of City Hall there is a “people’s university” where informal classes and workshops are being offered. On Saturday and Sunday this week, there will be a teach-in with notables such as Robert Reich, Kent Wong, William Black and David DeGraw.

Those I spoke to were also very receptive to the idea of having an interfaith tent, and an interfaith worship service like the one I attended at Occupy Philadelphia. Such a service, I suggested, could be held in the manner of Friends, with silence and opportunities for everyone to share messages and listen deeply. Such a service could include people of all faiths, as well as humanists and atheists.

Those I spoke to loved this idea. There is a deep need for opportunities to become "centered."

I am proposing that we try to have such a gathering on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 13. I’d like to invite people from UDC, ICUJP, the Parliament, the Westside Interfaith Alliance and other interfaith groups to come and be a friendly presence. The important thing is to be open to listening.

It is also important to spend time at Occupy LA and get to know the people there. The more interaction we have with them and vice versa, the more likely it is that we will grow into a movement that can bring about the kind of change many of us dreamed about when Obama was elected.

Jesus was right: you should not expect our leaders to be our saviors. We have to be re-build our fallen society from the ground up, guided by the Spirit and committed to peace, justice, and egalitarianism. This is the only way to stop the war machine and the Domination System.

You can see LA Occupy with live feeds at http://occupylosangeles.org/

What would Jesus say about our economic crisis?

2011-10-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

As I have been reflecting on the current economic crisis, caused by the greed of Wall Street financiers and bankers, and abetted by America's addiction to debt, I can't help thinking about the story of the unforgiving servant from Matthew 18. When Jesus is asked how often we should forgive others, he tells a story grounded in the harsh economic realities of his day. Jesus' society, like ours, was divided into the very rich and the very poor. And the main cause of impoverishment was debt.

The Torah makes clear that it is wrong to extract interest from the poor, including those who are aliens and guest workers in our country:

"If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you. Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you.” Lev. 25: 35-36

The Hebrew prophets rail against leaders who defraud the poor, driving them from their homes:

“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Quit robbing and cheating my people out of their land. Stop expelling them from their homes, says the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 45:9-10

The Bible calls for "Jubilee economics," the forgiveness of debts every 7 years and the redistribution of land every 50 years.

Following this prophetic tradition, Jesus made debt forgiveness the center of his teaching. The Lord's prayer says: "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." In the Beatitudes, Jesus says: "If anyone asks for money, give him what he asks for, expecting nothing in return."

The parable of the unforgiving servant has to be understood in an economic as well as spiritual context. In this story a servant to a super rich master has run up a stupendous debt: ten thousand talents.

To appreciate this extent of this debt, you need to know that a talent in the time of Jesus weighed 130 pounds and was worth around $3,106,413 at today's exchange rate for gold or $59,520 for silver. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talent_(measurement)

Looked at another way, a single silver talent would take a day laborer at least five years to earn, and a gold talent would exceed the lifetime wages of several day laborers. See notes at http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18%3A21-35&version=NIV)

The unforgiving servant lost not one but 10,000 talents, which would be worth over several billion of today's dollars.

To go into such debt, the servant must have been working for someone equivalent to Bill Gates or Warren Buffet; and he must have been engaged in financial speculation on a scale similar to that of Wall Street financiers!

According to Jesus, his boss was understandably outraged and threatened to throw this incompetent and probably shady financial advisor in jail, along with his entire family. But when the servant begs for mercy, the master feels pity and forgives his debt.

Here's what happens next:

“When that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii."
(A day laborer was usually paid around one denarius a day, so the debt would be around $5,000 in today's dollars.)

The servant grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

*************

This dramatic story has often been interpreted in a purely spiritual sense, but I don't think the economic implications can or should be ignored. Jesus announced the beginning of his ministry by alluding to "the acceptable year of the Lord," i.e. the year of Jubilee. He also repeatedly made clear his ministry was to preach "good news to the poor" and freedom to captives.

For over a thousand years, Christians believed it was a sin to lend money and demand interest. This was considered usury, a sin which some Christians, including Dante, considered worse than murder.

Reading Jesus' story about the unforgiving financial speculator, one can't help thinking of the Wall Street bailout. Trillions of dollars were given to Wall Street speculators and bankers to prevent them from going bankrupt, and causing incalculable damage to the world economy and wrecking countless lives.
Now that these bankers and speculators are back on their feet, they are stepping on the backs of the poor and foreclosing homes on the flimsiest of pretexts.
Here in Pasadena a woman named Rose Gudiel has been fighting for three years to prevent her home from being foreclosed. Her fight has become a cause celebre and is encouraging others to do likewise. She has been compared to Rosa Parks. See http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_19141174

People are finally waking up the reality that bankers are not acting responsibly or morally. They are acting like the unforgiving servant in Jesus' parable and they need to be challenged for their immoral behavior.

That's why many of us are withdrawing our money from predatory commercial banks like Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, and placing our funds in credit unions that engage in responsible banking practices.

See http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/

This is a small, but necessary first step in restructuring our financial system so it serves the needs of people, not the greed of the fabulously wealthy 1%.

In conclusion, I must say that not only Christians, but Jews and Muslims also have a prophetic tradition condemning usury, predatory lending, and the exploitation of the poor.

For those who would like to read more about prophetic economic justice, I recommend Walter Wink's "Engaging the Powers," Lowell Noble's "From Oppression to Jubilee Justice," and Ched Myers' "Sabbath Economics."

Actions you can take to help end the endless wars

2011-10-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

Steve Rohde, president of ICUJP, gives this advice, with which I concur: Devote at least one dollar, and/or one hour, per day to promoting peace. If you really want to abolish war, then you need to give generous support to your favorite peace organization, such as ICUJP or AFSC or FCNL.

Take part in peace events. Chris Hedges argues that the only way to bring about meaningful change is for vast numbers of people to take to the streets. This is a lesson of history that we need to take to heart.

Send a letter to an elected official, or better yet, pay a visit. If you are part of a religious community, encourage your its leaders to take a stand against torture and war, and in favor of economic justice and social betterment.

Pray. The power of prayer cannot be underestimated, as Gandhi made clear. Your prayers/meditations for peace are crucial if you want to overcome the inner conflicts that our Domination System have created in most of us. We need to cultivate inner peace and then radiate that peace in all our relationships.

ICUJP is recommending we contact Rep Xavier Becessa, who in the the so-called Super Committee on budget deficits, and urge him to cut at least a trillion dollars from the Pentagon budget over the next decade.

You can find contact info for him and other elected officials at fcnl.org.

During this time of fiscal belt tightening, FCNL recommends that you urge Congress to cut $1 trillion from the Pentagon budget over the next ten years.

In August, Congress took a big step when it called for cuts in Pentagon spending. The Secretary of Defense is even acknowledging that core military spending may have to go down by at least $350 billion over the next ten years. But, given the significant build-up of the Pentagon's budget in the last decade, billions more can be cut. The military contractors and high-paid corporate lobbyists are pushing back with an expensive and aggressive lobbying campaign against any military cuts. You have something these lobbyists don't—you are a constituent.

Please ask your senators to support cutting $1 trillion from the Pentagon budget over the next decade. Specifically, ask them to speak with their colleagues on the 12-member congressional "supercommittee" in favor of this $1 trillion cut. By late November, the supercommittee will propose a way to get the nation's budget back on track.

Right now, we have an opportunity to refocus government priorities—to make sure our country is not sacrificing programs our communities depend on in order to support the ballooning Pentagon budget and to prepare to fight more wars.

Let your senators know that in these tough times, slashing programs that our communities depend on is not the way to repair the economy and bring down deficit spending. Urge your senators to cut the deficit by cutting $1 trillion from the Pentagon budget in the next ten years.

A final suggestion: find like-minded people to work with and enjoy yourself. Peace-making can be fun if you are led by the Spirit and are motivated by Love, and not simply by anger. Even getting arrested can be a joyful experience!

Getting arrested cheerfully: protesting war the Quaker way

2011-10-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

I used to marvel reading about how early Quakers went to prison cheerfully, often singing hymns of praise to God. I now have a sense of how they felt, after being arrested in front of the Federal Building in downtown LA on Oct 7, the 10th anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan.To protest what is now the longest war in US history, 14 religious leaders in LA (including myself) committed civil disobedience and were arrested. I had the honor of being among them.

As the police placed handcuffs on me in front of a crowd of witnesses that included some of the most dedicated peace activists in the city, I felt a surge of joy, as if the gates of heaven were opening up.

Unlike the Quakers of old, I didn't have to go to a dismal dungeon where there was a chance I would end up dead or seriously ill. The police were very kind--they even called us the "clergy council"--and the company of 7 women and 7 men was delightful.

I spent the afternoon in the tank with some of the best people I know--Rev George Regas, intrepid rector emeritus of All Saints, Pasadena; Shakeel Syed, the executive director of the Islam Shura Council of So Cal (and a best man at my wedding); Ralph Fertig, former freedom rider and colleague of MLK (and currently professor at the USC School of Social Work); Friar Tom, a flamboyant Catholic priest; Father Chris Ponnett of Pax Christi; and a gentleman named John who has just published a book on the "History of Peanut Butter."

The holding tank was cold and sterile, the processing long and tedious, but the company heart-warming and delightful.

We ended up spending 6 hours together in a holding tank until we were released on our own recognizance. During that time, we shared stories about our lives, discussed politics, and enjoyed each other company. Thoreau was right. When the system is corrupt, the best place for a free person is in the slammer.

On November 4, we must appear in court to be sentenced. We will probably receive a year's probation.

This small act of disobdience set an example for the young people who now see that we old guard peace activists support them. We hope our action will awaken people in the religious community to their power and encourage them to resist the domination system that has taken over our country (and is taking over the world).

The response from friends has been very encouraging, and includes people of all theological persuasions, from liberal to conservative evangelical. One thing we can agree about: we are tired of theoligarchs and plutocrats running all over us. We want the wars to end, and our tax dollars to be used for education, health care, and other vital social needs.

To achieve these goals, we stand up for ourselves and demand justice. We have to be just as bodacious, creative and determined at the Tea partyers. And if we exert enough pressure, we can make a difference.

As more and more people follow the example of the "Arab spring" and reclaim their power, the powers that be will no doubt become increasingly fearful and respond inappropriatedly, as they did when they ordered police to arrest 700 demonstrators on the Brooklyn Bridge. Such overreactions can cause a backlash that will help to strengthen the resolve of those who want to take back the country from the banksters and the Wall Street elite. So far, there are signs this is happening.The Occupy Wallstreet movement has grown exponenientally, from 70 to 700 actions in one week. The City Council of LA is considering endorsing this movement.

Early Quakers had a great name for a similar struggle that went on in the 16th century. They called it the "Lamb's War." By this term they were referring to the Book of Revelation--a work that has been coopted by fundamentalists, but is really an anti-imperialist tract calling for nonviolent resistance to the demonic domination system. For the past 350 years, real Quakes have been fighting this Lamb's War, using nonviolent, spiritual weapons. This is a subject for another post at another time.

For now, let me conclude by saying the media gave us excellent coverage for which I am grateful:

http://news.yahoo.com/video/losangelescbs2-15750780/downtown-protesters-unite-on-opposition-to-war-in-afghanistan-26860776.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Flosangelescbs2-15750780%252Fdowntown-protesters-unite-on-opposition-to-war-in-afghanistan-26860776.html

ABC-Ch. 7 --- ((http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8383332)

NBC-Ch. 4 --- ((http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Activists-Arrested-in-Downtown-LA-March-Afghanistan-War-131353223.html)

KCAL-Ch. 9 --- (

KPCC 89.3 --- (http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/10/07/29306/occupy-la-demonstrators-decry-cost-afghanistan-war/)

***********************

My friend Gene Rothman, a member of the local chapter of the Parliament of the World's Religions, wrote this piece which beautifully captures the spirit of this rally. My only disagreement with Gene is over the the size of the rally--a subject of endless dispute among activists. At 9 AM we filled La Placita Church with what I estimate to be have been been 200-300 people. I would guess that around fifty to a hundred young people from Occupy LA joined us. Others came just for the noon arrest. By noon the crowd had thinned out to perhaps a 100-120, but over the course of the morning I would estimate that at least 300-400 people took part.

It was not a huge rally, but it brought together a very diverse group, as Gene rightly notes: young people, veteran activists, and labor activists. This is how democratic movements are created, one step at a time.

**********************

“Stop Funding Wars! Fund Jobs and Schools!!” was the theme of a peaceful demonstration , drawing a crowd of some one hundred or so demonstrators under the auspices of the Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP). A wide range of faith groups, secular organizations, and labor unions were also represented by their clergy or other leaders. The march passed by the encampment of Occupy L.A. demonstrating our solidarity with them. (Occupy L.A. voted last evening to endorse our march and some of their members also joined our march).

Some fourteen religious activists volunteered to commit an act of non-violent civil disobedience for which they were arrested. [Full disclosure: I personally know four of those who did so.]

Apart from speeches from religious leaders, other notable speakers included Maria Elena Durazo from the AFL-CIO and Black activist Cornel West, each of whom drew sustained cheers from those present. Durazo said that what she learned from her activism is that some government officials may have their hearts in the right place, but they will not do the right thing until and unless there is massive pressure from the streets to do so.

Cornel West—who is on a tour with Tavis Smiley visiting cities with “Occupy” movements—at one point addressed the police who encircled all of us and said that they, like nurses, teachers, and others were part of the 99% of America who are hard-working and who are not getting nearly what they deserve. Addressing the religious participants, he cited the importance of welcoming and including secular leaders, explicitly including humanists, agnostics and atheists as well.

One popular theme in speeches, comments and elsewhere was summarized in a picket sign that read: “Prosecute the Greedy, Feed the Needy.”

Folk singer/activist Ross Altman did his best to encourage the reactivation of the labor movement by citing anecdotes and singing songs by Woody Guthrie. Guthrie was once taken to a hospital where he was asked to indicate his religion. He checked an open-ended item and wrote: “All.” The clerk said she was a workingwoman and asked him to give her a break to be more specific—to select SOME religion. Woody wrote next the word “All”—“or NONE. “

Guthrie was also once accused of being a Communist. He replied: “Well, I don’t know about that but I’ve been in the red my whole life.” Finally, Altman urged a revival of the song “The Banks Are Made of Marble” for today’s times to help workers and ordinary folks. The crowd sang it with gusto. [See lyrics at the end].

http://www.ultimate.com/altman/songfighter.html

Impressions from Your Intrepid Reporter: [Opinion].

Protests are building around the “occupy “ movement city by city and around the world. In L.A., however, there are different streams with little coordination as yet. Although “Occupy L.A.” endorsed the interfaith march, they are a younger crowd and the interfaith group was largely older folks with civil rights and peace activist backgrounds. Veterans who also oppose the war elected to do their own separate demonstration at 4:30 p.m. Today. Similarly, ANSWER chose to do its own separate march.

Some organizers said they had hoped for a better turnout but added that the diversity of participants and the better than expected representation of labor groups were very positive developments.

- GR

Banks of Marble-lyrics- (Woody Guthrie)

I've traveled 'round this country
from shore to shining shore
It really made me wonder
the things I heard and saw

I saw the weary farmer
plowing sod and loam
l heard the auction hammer
just a-knocking down his home

But the banks are made of marble
with a guard at every door
and the vaults are stuffed with silver
that the farmer sweated for

I've seen the weary miner
scrubbing coal dust from his back
I heard his children cryin'
"Got no coal to heat the shack"

But the banks are made of marble
with a guard at every door
and the vaults are stuffed with silver
that the miner sweated for

I've seen my brothers working
throughout this mighty land
l prayed we'd get together
and together make a stand

Then we might own those banks of marble
with a guard at every door
and we might share those vaults of silver
hat we have sweated for

Blessed are the poor in Spirit during Ramadan...

2011-08-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

It's the last day of Ramadan, and I am asking myself: what have I learned from fasting for the past 30 days?

First of all, how difficult it is to fast during the summer, when days are long and hot. It's especially hard when you have a busy life, as mine has been, with a big wedding coming up. Trying to move out of my apartment during the hottest day of the summer, with helpers but no water, was not pretty. But God gave me the strength to persevere, just barely.

The physical stress of fasting has been huge, but there has also been psychological stress. My fiancee has been supportive of my fasting, but this is the first time she has been with someone who refrains from eating and drinking liquids during the daylight hours, and it's been a big adjustment for her. I rise before dawn for breakfast, and we don't have dinner together until nearly 8:00 PM--much later than usual. I am pretty perky in the morning, but my energy level declines in the afternoon. I am not as vigorous or as clear-minded as I am when I am well-fed, and to her I seem like a different person. This has exasperated my fiancee, who is usually very compassionate.

"I guess I'd have to get used to your being limited like this," she says, trying to adjust to this new normal.

Her sometimes patronizing attitude has been rather painful for me--I am all too aware of my limitations--my inability to be as physically active as I'd like to be, my inability to concentrate when thirst and hunger kick in--and don't like to be reminded of these deficits. But finally it dawned on me: that's what it's like to be poor and hungry. People treat you as if something is wrong with you because you don't act "normally."

I am also reminded of how Jesus "emptied himself of Godhead" and took on human limitations, and how humbling that must have been for someone who had seen the face of the Divine. Even though he was the Christ, Jesus was not omniscient or omnipotent--he felt pain, uncertainty, and weakness, just like us. Even though he had it in his power to be rich beyond measure, he choose to be poor, hungry, and thirsty.

This, I believe, is at the heart of the discipline of fasting: to become "poor in Spirit," to feel in one's gut what it means to lack the essentials that most people take for granted.

During meeting for worship yesterday, I shared the message that when we make a sacrifice or suffer for love's sake, we experience joy. I was inspired by a message that someone gave about C.S. Lewis, who discovered real love late in life when he married Joy Gresham, a writer who had cancer and died soon after their marriage. By marrying Joy, Lewis, an aged academic set in his ways, found new life through love and suffering.

What led me to undertake my Ramadan fast ten years ago was John Woolman would have called "a motion of love." After 9/11, I felt tremendous anxiety--I was fearful not only of terrorism, but also of our misguided response to it. The phrase "perfect love drives out fear" came to mind, and became my mantra. I was led to fast to Ramadan as a way to put into practice Jesus' injunction to "love your neighbor" and "love your enemy." As a result of fasting during Ramadan, I was warmly embraced by the Muslim community and eventually came to love as well as appreciate my Muslim brothers and sisters as if they were my family. I was also led into interfaith work that transformed my life and made me feel part of what ML King called "the beloved community." Even though fasting was and continues to be a demanding discipline, through it I experienced incredible joy.

Fasting also deepened my relationship with the poor and homeless. During this Ramadan, I have been drawn more closely to this much misunderstood and maligned segment of our community. During Ramadan Jill and I took part in a homeless survey and walked the pre-dawn streets of Pasadena to find the most vulnerable and at-risk homeless people. We got to know and appreciate many of them, and even invited one homeless vet named Caesar to our wedding.

Yesterday, after I shared my message about Ramadan at my Quaker meeting, a homeless father named Robert showed up with his two kids--a 6-year-old girl named Daniela and an 8-year-old boy named Robert Jr. Robert was looking for a place to stay for the night since he had been asked to leave a nearly homeless shelter. I began asking Friends for help, and was able to raise $20--barely enough for a cheap motel room. Another Friend offered to provide hospitality for Robert his kids in her home, but needed her husband's permission to do so.

While waiting for her to get permission, I drove Robert and his kids around Pasadena. We went to a homeless service center at a church where we spoke to an attendant via an intercom. He never actually came out to see us in person. Like the wizard of Oz, he hid behind a curtain and told us to "come back tomorrow to be processed."

Robert was very apolegetic and humble when turned down this way. He seemed resigned to rejection. I thanked the disembodied voice, but left feeling very dissatisfied with the encounter. Is this the way Jesus would have responded?

I ended up spending two hours with Robert and his two kids, and enjoyed every minute. Robert and Daniela were bright, charming children, eager to learn and to share what they were learning in school. We had fun doing math together, and I felt like an uncle.

I took them to an In-and-Out Burger and they ate their meal in shady spot next to my car under a cottonwood tree while I watched. It was blazingly hot, and I was incredibly hungry and thirsty, but I felt joyful and at peace hanging out with this little family.

Daniela had a great sense of humor. When I asked her how old I was, she smiled and responded, "100." There was a twinkle in her eye as she took in my bemused reaction.

When Daniela told me that In-and-Out-Burgers are the "goodest" in the world. I gently corrected her and said, "Don't you mean 'the best'?"

Her father (who was born in Pasadena but had a distinctly Spanish accident) said, "I don't speak English too good, and they learned from me."

"I love you, Papa," Daniela said sweetly. And her brother chimed in, "I love you, too."

I was moved almost to tears by this good man and his loving children, whose mother had left them two years earlier.

When we sat down for our meal, I asked if they'd like to say "grace." The father encouraged the son to say a prayer and then he added words of his own. Daniela clearly wasn't interested in this ritual.

Afterwards, I asked her what she knew about God and Jesus.

"Jesus is the most wonderful person in the world," she said. "One time, when someone didn't pray, he sent out an army after him."

Amused and amazed by this reply, I said that Jesus was all about love, and I don't think this was something he did.

"Then they lied about him at the church," Daniela said with great certitude.

It was fun hanging out with these kids who reminded me of the kids that Kathleen and I had taught at Vacation Bible School. It felt like a blessing, a gift from God, to spend my last Sunday in Ramadan with them.

My being with Robert and his family did not solve their problems, nor did I solve the problem of homelessness in our society. But it did deepen my commitment to do what I can to make sure that everyone is housed--a concern that was raised by my dear friend Lucia van Diepen during our recent Pacific Yearly Meeting session. Such heart connections are incredibly important when we undertake this kind of work.

I also felt I understood a little more clearly what Jesus meant when he said: "Blessed are the poor" and "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after justice." He knew whereof he spoke from personal experience, and now so do I.

Speaking a message of peace at a Swedenborgian chapel

2011-08-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

This Sunday at 10 AM I will be giving a message at Wayfarers’ Chapel, a beautiful all-glass church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's son, in Palos Verde. It's one of the most beautiful spiritual venues I've ever seen, with vistas that are unbelievable. See http://www.wayfarerschapel.org/ I will be speaking there along with my dear Jewish friend Roni Love, who is a teacher, and Tony Lee, a Bahai college professor who writes poetry and teaches African American Studies. It should be a lovely time of interfaith fellowship. In the afternoon, I will help facilitate an interfaith cafe at St Margaret's Catholic Church in Lomita from 2-5 PM.

Here's what I plan to share at the Wayfarer's Chapel:

Thank you for inviting me to speak about peace, a subject that is dear to my heart. For the past 25 years I have been a Quaker peace activist and have been involved in numerous peace projects and several peace organizations, including the American Friends Service Committee and, most recently, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace. I firmly believe that war is not only morally wrong but it should also be abolished, like slavery.

I am convinced that war is a social disease, one that destroys the soul as well as the body. It has been estimated that between 100 and 150 million people were killed in the 20th century due to war. (See http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat8.htm) In addition to war’s physical death toll, hundreds of millions of survivors of war have been left psychologically traumatized. Suicide, chemical addiction, spousal abuse and similar signs of post-traumatic stress disorder are the fruits of war.

Even though we know how destructive and evil war is, many people continue to harbor the delusion that we can somehow end war by increasing our military budget. This is like a drug addict thinking he can solve his problems simply by using more and more drugs.

For those who imagine that there is a good war, or good excuse for war, I recommend a book by David Swanson called “War is a Lie.” In this book, Swanson brilliantly exposes the myths used by war-makers to justify their deadly trade.

If war is a disease more dangerous than drug addiction or any natural plague, is there a cure, and what is it?

I believer our addiction to war is curable, but we must be willing to devote the same kind of attention to ending war that we do to ending AIDs or cancer. Just as we have war colleges, we need peace colleges. We need young men and women trained in the arts of peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. We need to make a serious commitment to the United Nations and to the international court of justice: we can’t be the “exceptional nation” that ignores international law while requiring others to follow it. We need to slash our military budget and devote our resources to nonviolent ways to promote peace and end conflict.

As you can see, I am passionate about peace, and that’s what drew me to Quakerism. Quakers have been consistently opposed to war during their 350-year history. Quakers have sought both practical and spiritual ways to promote peace. William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, came up with the idea of a United Nations of Europe to resolve conflicts in the 17th century and Quakers have supported organizations like the League of Nations and the United Nations ever since. Quakers started organizations like the American Friends Service Committee to provide an alternative to military service. Many Quakers, like Elise Boulding, have been on the forefront of peace studies.

The Quaker peace testimony derives from the teachings of Christ, who says: “Love your enemy.” Most Christians feel this is a worthwhile goal, but not necessarily practical when we are confronted with men like Adolph Hitler or Saddam Hussein or others deemed to be evil. A movement called “Christian realism” rose up in the 20th century to argue that we cannot really put into practice the hard teachings of Jesus because this is a fallen world—a world of moral ambiguity as well as of evil.

Many people of faith still believe that war is part of human nature (even though most psychologists say otherwise) and therefore war will always be with us. But evidence shows that war is a man-made institution, like slavery, and therefore it can be unmade by those who have the determination to end it.

Ending war won’t be easy, but it is possible, even in the most difficult of situations.

If you have any doubts about whether nonviolent resistance can work to end war, I urge you to see a documentary called “Pray the Devil Back to Hell.” This amazing film was produced by the grand daughter of Walt Disney and documents the struggles of women in Liberia to end the bloody conflict that plague their nation for almost a decade. War lords not only fought amongst themselves, they trained young boys to rape and pillage and use drugs. The situation was so horrific that Christian and Muslim women banded together and declared, “We want peace, no more war.” They used Gandhian techniques, plus some creative ideas of their own. When the war lords refused to take peace negotiations seriously, the women barricaded the doors of their hotel rooms and wouldn’t let the men leave until they agreed to bargain in good faith. When the men continued, one of the leaders of the women threatened to take off her clothes—which would have disgraced the men according to African custom. So the war lords finally agreed to make peace. The women helped the boy soldiers to reintegrate into society. And when a democratic election was held, a woman named Sirleaf was elected president of Liberia. She is a brilliant woman---Harvard-educated—and she’s still in office. This amazingf story has received very little attention in the media, perhaps because it shows the power of the people, especially religious people. It also shows what can happen when Christians and Muslims work together for peace.

If the women of Liberia could end war in their country, surely we Americans could end war here in the United States.

So if ending war is possible, how do we become peace-makers?

There are two aspects of peace: inner peace and peace in the world.

For Friends, inner peace comes when we put aside worldly distractions and seek to discern and do the Divine Will. Our spiritual practice is to sit in silence, without any prearranged sermon or order of worship, and to wait for Divine Guidance. Sometimes someone is led to give vocal ministry out of the silence. Sometimes we simply sit and feel the Divine Presence. Our worship practice has been been called “group mysticism.” The goal of our worship is summed up in the Psalm that says: “Be still and know that I am God.”

The Psalmist goes on to say that if we are still and know God, war will cease.

Quakers apply the principle of “waiting upon the Lord” to our decision-making process. When we gather together for a business meeting, we begin with silent worship and seek to do our business in a contemplative spirit. We don’t vote. We don’t argue with each other. We speak our truth from the heart, and we try to hear the truth in others. Through the practice of compassionate listening, we seek to come to unity in the Spirit.

This, I believe, is the basis of true Peace. When we experience a measure of inner peace, when we live a life based on peaceful principles, we become empowered to work for peace in the world. That’s why many Quakers have become committed and effective peace activists.

My hope and prayer is that more and more people will gather together in contemplative silence and listen to that “still, small voice” that spoke to the prophets of old. If we truly listen, and are faithful to the Spirit, we can realize the dream of the prophets: a world without war, a world of justice and peace.

Meeting for Grief and Hope in response to Norway attacks

2011-08-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

I was pleased to learn that Seattle Quakers helped organize a "meeting for healing and hope" in response to the hate crime committed in Norway by a deranged Islamophobe named Anders Behring Brevik. I was also pleased that one of the participants in this Quaker gathering was Jamal Rahman, a Sufi interfaith minister whom I invited to take part in a panelt discussion at Friends General Conference gathering in Tacoma, WA, a few years ago. Raham often works in a trio that include a rabbi and a minister who are also committed to building interfaith understanding.

http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2011/08/01/news/wake-norway-attacks-local-christians-and-muslims-

July 29, local Christians and Muslims worshipped together and celebrated diversity in remembrance of the Norway attacks.

Held at the Quaker University Friends Meeting in Seattle, the Meeting for Grief and Hope focused on community, multiculturalism and acceptance.

The event came about because of Susanne Kromberg, a hospital chaplain and native Norwegian, who said she felt moved to reach out to the local Muslim community after attending the Nordic Heritage Museum’s vigil for Norway in Ballard.

“What was important to us in doing this is recognizing that the young people in Norway who were targeted, were targeted because of their commitment to an open and inclusive society,” she said.

Kromberg initiated the Meeting for Grief and Hope with fellow Quaker Rick Ells and they invited Rahman, a Muslim imam from the Interfaith Community Church in Ballard, to speak at the event.

“It seemed important to us for Christians and Muslims to worship together to heal some wounds that have been created over the past week’s events,” said Kromberg. “It seemed important to acknowledge that Norwegians come in all shapes and sizes and colors, and when we talk about Norwegian religion, it’s not just Lutheran. There are Norwegian Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. We wanted to honor that, and honor the vision of community that these kids had.”

Rahman said he was pleased to have the opportunity to join with other religions in furtherance of a multicultural and community ideology. He said that living in Ballard and being a Muslim caused the Norway attacks to affect him on a personal and communal level.

“I think we all want to demonstrate that this is not just a Norwegian problem, or an Arab problem or a Muslim problem. This is a human problem,” he said. “What happened in Norway was actually an assault on humanity.”

Ells said that the worship service, held in traditional Quaker-style, was designed to help people get past their anxieties and preoccupations, and give people a chance to use the process of worship to respond to the Norway tragedy.

“We had a number of members that were feeling stuck,” he said. “So we decided to pull together in worship, to help us know how to go forward.”

Kromberg added that her motivation stemmed from her desire to stress how much humans need each other. She said that she read a Norwegian article about a 13-year-old Muslim girl named Sophia who was considering leaving Norway to keep her friends safe.

“Sophia wrote that she felt so guilty that these kids died because of her,” Kromberg said. “People responded by saying that Norway needed her. That is our purpose, to say that we need each other. This kind of event strips us down to our humanity so we can see each other as brothers and sisters, and say we need each other.”

Mari-Ann Kind Jackson, a native of Norway who now lives near Ballard, has friends and family in Norway. She attended both the vigil at the Nordic Heritage Museum and the Meeting for Grief and Hope. Jackson said that having an additional interfaith event was extremely important and significant in light of the Norway attacks.

“There are so many wonderful people in Norway who are not ethnic Norwegians,” Jackson said. “We need to recognize them and need to be with them so that we are truly together. I felt that this event was one way to do that, to share with other cultures and faiths.”

Wayne Benenson, a member of the South Seattle Meeting Quakers, agreed. He added that this tragedy gave him a chance to honor similarities and celebrate differences.

“Through this incident I’ve been given an opportunity to practice not shutting down, to practice being a citizen of the world, and to practice my belief that love is stronger than hate,” he said. “It’s not easy, but I do it because it takes too much energy to shut down.”

The service began with words from Kromberg followed by a prayer from Rahman. Quakers and Muslims together lent their voices to a traditional Muslim chant, as Rahman recited a Muslim prayer.

A time for silence and reflection followed, with members adding comments of hope and community. After the service, those in attendance placed red roses at the Sadako statue located on the street behind the worship room.

Rahman said the victims of the Norway tragedy proved that getting to know each other on a personal level is possible: “When I listen to the words of the noble teenagers on that island, it gives me hope and heals my wounds. They remind me that no matter what your differences are, they no longer need to loom as a threat.”

·

Hiroshima and Fukushima: "Never Again...."

2011-08-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

I was once again asked to give a short reflection on Hiroshima Day at the Long Beach Congregational Church. As you can see from this link, the sanctuary of the unabashedly liberal church is decorated with thousands of paper cranes. Each year religious leaders from different traditions are invited to speak about Hiroshima from their religious perspective. This year's speakers included a Tibetan-trained Buddhist nun, a Sufi, a Muslim woman, a Church of Religious Science minister, a Jewish woman, and a Quaker, yours truly. There is also music, worship, and a showing of a film about Sadako, the 12-year-old Japanese girl who became a legend after dying of leukemia, the "Atom Bomb Disease." You can see pictures of the church at http://www.firstchurchlb.org/cranes3.html.

I gave the following message linking Hiroshima and Fukushima. Afterwards, Nancy Nolan and Alan White (a Quaker from Orange County Meeting) came up to me with great appreciation since they had brought a petition calling for the closing of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. I am glad I was able to share a message articulating the viewpoint of many Friends, including Quaker Earthcare Witness, our national Quaker environmental organization.

Pacific Yearly Meeting has not come to unity about nuclear power, but PYM's Unity with Nature Committee recommended queries to help Friends (and others) have a respectful and meaningful discussion of this important issue. This minute is included after my talk.

******

As we near the advent of the 66th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the bombing a few days later of Nagasaki, it is hard not to notice grim parallels between what happened to Japan in 1945 and what is happening today. The tragedy of Hiroshima can be linked directly to the tragedy of Fukushima.

In 1945, the United States dropped their newly invented weapons of mass destruction, killing over 150,000 people and leaving tens of thousands more to die a lingering death. This act of unspeakable violence launched the Cold War and an era of nuclear terrorism that deeply traumatized Japan, and outraged people of conscience throughout the world. As a way to make nuclear power respectable, the US launched its “Atoms for Peace” program in 1953, which encouraged the development of nuclear power plants. Claims were made that these plants would produce energy “too cheap to meter” and be utterly safe.

We now see these claims were as false as the claim that we had no alternative than to drop bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

We are now told that in order to prevent global warming and to satisfy the desires of a world addicted to fossil fuel, we have no alternative but to build more and more nuclear plants, even though we still don’t know how to make them fail-safe or what to do with the spent fuel, which has the potential to cause death and disease for hundreds of thousands of years.

As a Christian and a Quaker and a human being, I grieve for the those who died and for those who are suffering from the lingering after effects of Fukushima and Hiroshima. Let us join with the mayors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and say, “Never again.”

Let me quote from a statement made by a national Quaker environmental group called “Quaker Earthcare Witness”:

“We are horrified and saddened by the staggering physical, human, and environmental damage that has been suffered by Japan following recent major earthquakes and a major tsunami. We are deeply concerned about ongoing radioactive releases---with potentially severe global impact---from six heavily damaged nuclear fission reactors.

“The damage has exposed the vulnerability of many older plants like Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex to disruption of vital cooling systems and breaching of containment structures. We join others in calling for the orderly shutdown of all nuclear plants….

“We call attention to a number of scientific studies that dispute the claim that fission-powered plants are "carbon-free" and therefore can play a significant role in controlling climate change, as well as the claim that radioactive releases during routine activities of the nuclear industry do not pose significant health or environmental risks.

“We also respond to the nuclear crisis in Japan in terms of the values that we find to be essential to a peaceful, just, and ecologically sustainable world. Fission-powered electricity, along with industrial agriculture and genetic engineering, emerge from a narrow, human-centered technological worldview rather than a proper understanding of ecological principles. These profit-driven enterprises are relics of Cold War-era thinking, which favors large-scale, centrally controlled systems. These tend to concentrate power and wealth at the expense of democratic values, community well-being, economic justice, ecological balance, and personal freedom.

“Proponents of nuclear fission and other advanced technological systems typically cite pressures to keep up with ever-expanding consumption and population growth. They do not acknowledge that on a finite planet, growth inevitably comes to an end, often tragically, and that the current economic model is based on endless growth. They tend to underestimate human fallibility and the limitations inherent in the laws of nature, including the law of unintended consequences.

“We encourage governments and nonprofit organizations to give priority to public education about the greenhouse gas emissions and radiation hazards associated with the entire nuclear fuel cycle.”

The statement goes on to ask each of us to “reduce our personal consumption of electricity that comes from nuclear fission and fossil fuels and to obtain the electricity that they do use from truly renewable sources as much as possible.”

We are also urged “to work individually and collectively with legislators and lobbying groups to encourage the development of appropriately scaled renewable energy systems and to eliminate subsidies for nuclear fission, coal, oil, natural gas, and other industries that are environmentally disruptive and ecologically unsustainable.”

Hiroshima Day is more than a look at the dangers of nuclear power, however, it is also an anti-war day and pro-peace day. Nuclear weapons were produced for war and have been used once in anger but now with many countries owning multiple warheads the risks of a nuclear war are even greater.

The exorbitant amount of money spent by the US government on the military continues to rob ordinary people of much needed resources for housing, welfare, fair wages and education. Hiroshima Day 2011 is a time for people of faith to get out and protest for an end to the nuclear war cycle and an end to war and preparation for war.

*****

Proposal to Encourage A Friends' Dialogue on Nuclear Power

The catastrophe at the Fukushima fission reactors in Japan has re-engaged Friends and others in responding to the use of nuclear power. Though Quakers have diverse views on this matter, it is unavoidably relevant in discussions about the challenges of increased energy demands, the need for sustainability, and the crisis of climate change.

Friends need to hear and understand each others' views on the use, expansion, or reduction of nuclear power. The first priority is not to reach agreement, but to grasp the underlying issues that might shape an informed opinion, relying on Friends' beliefs for guidance in the process of discernment. Some questions to consider include:

Inspired by our testimonies of simplicity and community, what might be realistic options in producing and consuming energy?

How might we balance the needs of the current generation with those of the future, and how do we maintain a healthy and livable Earth, as we use the energy we need?

What information do we lack, and how can we educate ourselves about nuclear power and alternative sources of energy?

In the coming year, we ask monthly meetings to hold threshing sessions, exploring and honoring varied opinions and looking for common concerns on these matters.

Pacific YM approved minute opposing torture... after an excruciating process

2011-08-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

It is not suprising that Pacific Yearly Meeting approved a minute opposing torture during its recent annual session. What came as a surprise, and even a shock, is that we couldn't come to unity at first. Some Friends became bogged down in procedural questions--"are we following Quaker process?"--rather than entering into the spirit of the minute. Other Friends felt rushed--only ten minutes was allotted to discussion, as opposed to 40 minutes allotted to discussion of budget matters. Some Friends were frustrated that so little time was given to a concern that seemed to warrant much more serious consideration.

When we couldn't come to unity on the first reading of the minute, I was led to rise and remind Friends that prisoners in Pelican Bay were enduring treatment tantamount to torture, and were engaged in a hunger strike to call attention to their plight. I also reminded Friends of what Paul said in Hebrews 13: "Treat those in prison as if you yourself are in prison with them, and treat those being tortured as if you are being tortured with them." I said I was going to fast in solidarity with the Pelican Bay prisoners. I hope that this fast would inspire Friends to be more empathetic.

The next morning Friends approved the minute, and I broke my fast. Going hungry for 24 hours opened me up to some of what the hunger-striking prisoners must have experienced, and I am glad God led me to make that witness. I hoped that Friends and others will be led to identify with both the victims and perpetrators of torture, and to work to end this dehumanizing practice forever.

***************

Minute 2011.10: As Friends, we stand firmly opposed to torture committed by anyone in any setting. We support the work of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (http://www.nrcat.org/) as well as of Quakers’ Initiative to End Torture (http://www.quit-torture-now.org/). We urge elected officials to bring to justice those who have authorized torture in violation of international law. We urge our governments to stop preventing the victims of torture from seeking redress and just compensation in our courts. We are also deeply concerned that cruel and inhumane punishment such as involuntary long-term solitary confinement are taking place in prisons in California and throughout the USA and the world. Finally, we support the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), which can help prevent torture and abuse by requiring a ratifying country to establish National Preventative Mechanisms (NPMs) to monitor the treatment of prisoners. In addition to the NPMs, OPCAT allows for international oversight of places of confinement to ensure that torture and other abuses are not occurring.

As Quakers, we believe that torture is a moral and religious issue. We believe that there is "that of God" in every human being and therefore everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. Torture does incalculable and long-lasting damage to the torturer, the torture victim and the witnesses of torture. Torture erodes a nation's moral fiber, diminishes its moral standing in the world, incites retaliation, and puts at risk the lives of its citizens abroad and at home.

We urge an end to this practice.”

Como Amigos, declaramos nuestra postura firmamente en contra de la tortura realizada por cualquier persona bajo cualesquieras circunstancias. Apoyamos los esfuerzos de las organizaciones estadounidenses “National Religious Campaign Against Torture” (www.nrcat.org) y “Quakers Initiative to End Torture” (www.quit-torture-now.org). Llamamos a nuestros delegados para hacerles responsables por sus acciones quienes hayan autorizado el uso de la tortura en violación al derecho internacional. Queremos que nuestro gobierno deje de impedir a las victimas de la tortura endosada por el estado en su búsqueda por una indemnificación y respuesta justa frente a los tribunales locales. También tenemos una preocupación profunda sobre la práctica de castigos crueles e inhumanos como la encarcelación solitaria de largo plazo en los centros carcelarios tanto en el estado de California como en los demás estados y alrededor del mundo. Por último, apoyamos al Protocolo Optativo para la Resolución en Contra de la Tortura (OPCAT por sus siglas en inglés), lo cual puede ayudar con la prevención de la tortura y el abuso al requerir a los países firmantes implementar a Mecanismos Preventivos Nacionales (los NPM por sus siglas en inglés) para monitorear el tratamiento de los encarcelados. Además a los NPM, la OPCAT contempla la supervisión internacional para lugares de encarcelamiento para asegurar que no esté presente ni la práctica de la tortura ni abusos.

Como Amigos, es nuestro sentir que la tortura es un asunto ambos moral y religioso. Creemos que existe “este de Dios” en cada persona y por lo tanto todos merecen ser tratados con respeto y de manera digna. La tortura causa daños insuperables y de largo plazo tanto para la victima como para el que aplica la tortura. La tortura afecta el contexto moral del país, su prestigio entre la comunidad internacional, incita las represalias y pone en riesgo las vidas de sus cuidadanos tanto en el país como en el extranjero.

Queremos eliminar esta práctica.Translation by Browen Hillman, Mexico City.

New Priorities Network comes to San Francisco Friends

2011-06-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

I just had some heartening news from Rolene Walker, a Friend from San Francisco who has been an ardent peace and environmentalist activist for many years and (among other amazing things) walked all the way to Chile to spread her message of living in harmony with the earth. She reported that San Francisco Friends have become enthused about the New Priorities Network and are bringing together people from different faith traditions to work on peace issues. This is something that hasn't been happening for quite some time, but this "peace revival" is long overdue. Here is a report from this project's catalysts: Rolene, Jan Hartsough, and Sandra Schwartz (of the American Friends Service Committee):

San Francisco Meeting: May 17, 2011: We came together to talk about how the faith community could speak out powerfully about the present skewed priorities of our nation. We brought forward the New Priorities Campaign and its four goals:

end wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
redirect the Pentagon Budget to our domestic needs
fair share taxes from the rich, the banks and the corporations, and
invest in our communities, our nation’s infrastructure and social needs to create jobs in a peaceful economy - as a possible tool to use to direct our actions together.

We first shared with each other one on one what we are currently doing on these issues, and how we might mobilize our congregations/organizations in the future? We also talked about what gets in the way and what would enable us to do more. We then came back together as a whole group and talked about ideas we could do in the near future. There was a desire to agree upon concrete steps we could take from the meeting.

Most felt they could take the New Priorities information and petition back to their respective groups and ask for individual signatures, and group endorsement letters. The petition and much more information is available on the website: http://newprioritiesnetwork.org) . Another available resource suggested to all was to circulate the US Budget Priorities postcard created by www.NotMyPriorities.org.

Several denominations offered to take the New Priorities Campaign information to their denominational meetings coming up over the summer for possible endorsement there (Methodists, Episcopalians, Mennonites, Quakers).

Two specific ideas generated a lot of interest, discussion and agreement. We will ask the New Priorities Campaign if we can have two “pages” added to their existing website – one for the faith community and one for military voices. On the faith community page, we would then post sermons, articles, actions, etc coming from various denominations as examples to inspire others (perhaps even videos). We would like to have veterans for peace, retired military generals who are speaking out about excesses in military, active duty service people who are acting from within to bring an end to war, etc all collected in a military page of resources we could all draw from as well. (New Priorities is willing to do this and is asking for input and suggestions of what to post).

Next Steps and Possibilities: We agreed to come together again in September, and reach out to others who were not able to attend this meeting. Perhaps some will choose to participate in organizing Town Hall meetings, and get 100 cities to speak out with resolutions about bloated military spending. There was excitement about having a “Peace Revival” tent – a day-long festival about the competing theologies around war and peace. If you want to stay in touch with this effort to join together and speak out as a the faith community, use the following email address: sfmmpeace@gmail.com which we have created just for this purpose.

Another next step will be to bring up this concern at Pacific Yearly Meeting. I invited Rolene to take part in my interest group, "Friends and the Interfaith Movement," to share about why we need to reach out to people of other religious faiths to form coalitions if we want to make a difference.

Heroes of Love: A Talk Given at Interfath Communities United for Justice and Peace

2011-05-20T06:20:00.000-07:00

This morning I would like to talk about the heroines in my life—four women who have inspired me with their courage and faithfulness. I am titling my talk “Heroes of Love.”
First, I’d like to begin with some quotations about heroism that are relevant to what I want to share with you this morning. Joseph Campbell defined the hero as “someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”
By this definition, everyone in this room is a hero since all of you are giving your lives to something bigger than yourselves--the cause of peace and justice.
Campbell went on to say:
“When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.”

Christopher Reeve had this transformation of consciousness when tragedy struck his life. His definition of heroism came out of his own painful experience:

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

Finally, I’d like to share the definition of heroism given by Eleanor Roosevelt, a woman who showed extraordinary courage and grace in the cut-throat and often nasty world of American politics. She said:

“We do not have to become heroes over night. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”

My Mother when she married

As I began to think deeply about heroes in my life, I was surprised to realize that my mother fit these definitions of a hero. I’d never thought of my mother as a hero. After all, she did what good wives and good mothers are supposed to do—she loved her children and her husband, and gave of herself selflessly. That’s a mother’s job, for which few receive the credit they deserve. So I’d like to begin by lifting up my own mother whose birth name was Anne Milne (as in the author of "Winnie the Pooh").

First, the very fact that she married my father was an act of bravery. Not that my father was a dangerous man; he was, in fact, very kind and gentle. My parents met in a very scary time, however, in the midst of World War II, when my father was serving in the US infantry. He was stationed in England, where he met my mother—a young woman in her early 20s. They were an odd couple. My mother was Scottish, my father Greek, and he was 20 years her senior. But they fell in love practically at first sight and decided to marry after the war ended. I realize now how much courage it took for my mother to leave England and go to the United States to marry a strange, Greek-speaking man she’d known less than a year and had seen only a few times. But her love was real and deep and that love gave her the courage to go to a new land and start a new life.
My mother and father had a very happy marriage, and I was born soon after their wedding. My sister was born 12 years later. Then misfortune struck our family. My father had to quit his job for health reason and became permanently disabled. For the next 12 years, my mother took care of my father and my sister and me. We didn’t have much money—my father had worked as a janitor at Princeton University—so my mother became a seamstress to earn extra income to supplement the meager funds provided by Social Security. Her hard work and diligence helped me to get through college and begin my life as teacher and writer.
Looking back on my mother’s life, I realize she is one of those heroes that Christopher Reeve talked about—“an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
Her strength came from her loving heart, and her faith in God. She wasn’t a church-going person—in fact, she had a deep mistrust of organized religion—but she had a simple faith that could be summed up in six words: “Believe in God and help people.”

Gene and me in 2003

The next hero in my life was Gene Hoffman, who became my spiritual mother. I first heard of Gene when I was doing a Soviet-American reconciliation project for the Quakers in Philadelphia. Gene was doing similar work for the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Santa Barbara. We finally met until I came to California to be married, but I admired Gene from afar for her creative efforts to dispel stereotypes about the Russians and to show that they are people just like us, who want peace. When I actually met Gene in Santa Barbara, I was enchanted by her warm and enthusiastic personality. She loved people—that was the basis of all her peacemaking efforts. And she was a tireless bridge-builder, and as you know, a compassionate listener.

Throughout her life Gene showed unwavering chutzpah in following her convictions. Her wealthy parents were staunch conservatives, supporters of Richard Nixon, but Gene became a Quaker and an unapologetic liberal. Her parents were ashamed of a Jewish relative in their Danish family tree. Gene was proud of the fact that she had the “blood of the prophets” in her veins. In the 1950s, when neighborhoods in Pasadena were almost as segregated as those in the South, Gene sent her kids to an integrated school and had black and white children play in her home—something that shocked her neighbors. Gene ended up writing a column for a black newspaper called the Amsterdam News. During the 1960s Gene went to Watts for interracial dialogues which took courage since sometimes these dialogues became very heated. Gene demonstrated for peace during the Vietnam War and opened up her home to peace activists. Much as she worked for peace, her home life was not peaceful. When her husband left her, and her teenage children became involved with drugs, she had a nervous breakthrough.

What Gene did next was perhaps the bravest thing anyone can do. She looked at her own psychological problems and issues, her own demons; and she worked hard, extremely hard, to accept herself, warts and all, and to become whole. Because she accepted the shadow side of herself, she could do the same for others. She went back to school and became a pastoral counselor and started counseling programs in Santa Barbara. She became what Henri Nouwen called a “wounded healer.”
When Gene turned sixty, she decided to devote the rest of her life to peacemaking. She traveled around the world to study what peacemakers in other countries were doing. And then she came home and began to apply what she had learned. She developed a program she called “Compassionate Listening.” She used these techniques gleaned from pastoral counseling and Quakerism to bring together Israelis and Palestinians, and to help them to hear each other at a deep level. This work is now being carried on by Leah Green who has taken interfaith groups to Israel/Palestine and trained Israelis and Palestinians in listening skills.
Listening deeply takes courage. We have to acknowledge the fears, the negative feelings, and the pain in ourselves and in others in order to hear the Other’s story and to honor that story as a gift. I consider Gene a hero for facing her own inner pain and for helping others to appreciate the partial, but nonetheless sacred truth each of us carries deep within.
There are two other courageous woman whom I want to honor this morning.

My sister Elizabeth, Kathleen and my Mother

The first is my wife Kathleen of blessed memory who passed away two years ago, almost to the day, on May 23. Many of you know her, so I don’t have to sing her praises. This booklet I compiled for her memorial service is filled with moving testimonies from those who knew and loved her—people of diverse religious faiths, and diverse backgrounds—the Bishop of her church, the executive director of the Islamic Shura Concil, a young man whose life was changed because of his involvement in one of her many youth programs, a homeless couple who loved upon her not only as their pastor, but as their friend and mother. Kathleen reached out to everyone in love and was loved in return. What you probably don’t know about Kathleen is that she was a painfully shy teenager—so shy that she said she recognized adults by their shoes since she was too shy to look at their faces. In college and grad school she overcame her timidity, thanks to God’s grace and her growing confidence in herself, and she became a gifted preacher as well as a compassionate pastor.

I admire Kathleen because she was never afraid to stand up for what she believed. For a while, she was a war tax resister. She went to the Nevada test site to protest. And during the run-up to the Iraq war, she was practically the only pastor in Torrance to take part in anti-war protests.
Perhaps the bravest thing she ever did was to marry me, a rather eccentric Quaker who was divorced and not exactly prime marriage material. But she took a leap of faith and married me in spite of my failings. She saw in me (as well as in others) the divine potential. And somehow her faithful and courageous love helped turn me into the kind of person she knew I had the potential to become. For this, I am eternally grateful to her.
Today, I’d like to pin the badge of courage on another amazing woman—Jill Shook, my wife-to-be.

Jill demonstrating

I know many of you are thinking. Wow! How did this happen so quickly? I admit this has been a whirlwind courtship. Jill and I met at the Palm Sunday Peace Parade on April 16^th and I proposed to her 25 days later, at the Getty Villa on my birthday, May 9^th. When she accepted my proposal, my heart leaped for joy. It was the best birthday gift I have ever received.

Jill is a woman of many gifts, and achievements. A visionary, organizer and catalyst, she started a nationwide program for Food for the Hungry, taking teams from Berkeley to Harvard into developing nations to do work projects and living in Mexico for two of her four years with FHI. She created STARS (Students and Tutors Achieving Real Success), an after-school program out of Lake Avenue Church that has helped hundreds of low income students to succeed in life as well has help this 4,000-member church to have meaningful relationships across racial and economic disparities. She authored and edited Making Housing Happen: Faith Based Affordable Housing Models, a book that features unique ways that a breadth of denominations across the US have created affordable housing. She also helped build several networks, one to address the gang violence by networking churches, the courts, schools and Pasadena City College to bring the Parent Project to hurting parents looking for answers to their sons and daughters entering gangs and a West-San-Gabriel-Valley-wide network called Family Promise: fpsgv.org. This network of 14 churches rotate hosting 3-5 homeless families in their facility for one week, with a day center where a full time social worker helps them find jobs and housing. It is scheduled to start in June.

I admire Jill for taking seriously and literally Jesus’ injunction to “love your neighbor as yourself.” I also admire her for having courage to move out her “hood” and explore other lands and cultures, sometimes all alone. She has traveled all over the world on missions of one kind or another. She’s been to China, South America, Europe, and Africa. Everywhere Jill has gone, she has made life-long friends and spread the gospel of Love.
Like my mother, like Gene Hoffman, and like Kathleen, Jill has what Martin Luther King called the “strength to love.” This is a great gift, and a blessing.

I feel blessed that Jill has opened up her big, loving heart to me, and agreed to be my wife. Proposing marriage can be a pretty scary thing, especially when you’ve known someone less than a month, but as Jesus said, “Perfect love drives out fear.” I wasn’t afraid to propose marriage to Jill because I know her life is dedicated to the kind of Love that never quits and never dies.
The good women in my life are my heroes because they have taught me the meaning of perfect love—love that is mature and committed and willing to make sacrifices joyfully. Perfect love is what I feel for Jill, and perfect love is what she has shown me. Jill is my latest hero, a hero of Love.

"Quakers and the Interfaith Movment": A New Book!

2011-05-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

This summer I will be traveling again in the ministry, sharing my new book "Quakers and the Interfaith Movement" and giving a workshop on this topic at the Friends General Conference Gathering at Grinnell College in Iowa. During June and July I plan to visit Friends across the country, sharing this book and its message with Friends everywhere. Please let me know if you'd like a visit. My intinerary includes Phoenix, Flagstaff, Denver, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Richmond (IND), New York City, Philadelphia, DC, Princeton, etc. I hope to see you in my travels!
You can also order the book online at: https://www.createspace.com/3611010

This handbook consists of writings by Quakers who have played significant roles in the interfaith movement and have helpful advice and insights to offer. While this book is mainly intended for Quakers, we hope it will be useful for all who are concerned about interfaith peacemaking and dialogue. Contributors include Alexander Kern, Gene Hoffman, Kay Lindahl, Michael Birkel, Stephanie Crumley-Effinger, Rhoda Gilman, Michael Sells, Sallie King, Rachel Stacy, Jim Cason, Richard Bellin, Pablo Stanfield, Max Carter, David Rush, and Tim Sallinger.

"With its numerous advices, spiritual queries, and clear examples, this book is a wonderful, engaging guide to the challenging yet essential work of interreligious dialogue for those of us living in a world all too frequently disrupted by religious violence. It is filled with an eminently practical wisdom that can stimulate Friends and others to consider how we, too, may become involved in working toward interreligious understanding and harmony. Highly recommended reading for aspiring peacemakers in the 21st century!" -Stephen W. Angell, Leatherock Professor of Quaker Studies at the Earlham School of Religion.

"The 18C Quaker sage, John Woolman, spoke about 'the language of the pure Spirit, which inwardly moves upon the heart.' In the 21 C, Anthony Manousos and others in this marvellous volume have wisely discerned that the Spirit is leading us to interfaith dialogue and understanding. The distinctive way of being religious in our time is to be interreligious. I am grateful that the contributors to this volume are leading the way in that urgently needed and transformative endeavor."-Joseph Prabhu, Professor of Philosophy, Cal State Los Angeles. Ex-president, Society of Asian and Comparative Philosophy. Member, Executive Committee, Parliament of the World's Religions.

Amazingly good news: I am getting married!

2011-05-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

I have some totally amazing, wonderful and surprising news to share: I have fallen in love and plan to marry an amazing woman named Jill Shook in September. Because this will no doubt seem unbelievably sudden to most of you, we are sending out this joint letter to let you know of our intentions, and how this miracle happened.

Anthony: It seems auspicious that Jill and I met at the Palm Sunday Peace Parade in Pasadena—an event that draws together peace-loving Christians from all around the city. Since I am a full-time Quaker peace activist, I went to this event and met Jill, who seemed like a very interesting person (to say the least). We exchanged cards, then emails, and then had long phone conversations. We went to Venice Beach on our first date and it was magical. I then met Jill’s delightful mom and sister and was so welcomed and loved by them I immediately felt a part of Jill’s family. On my birthday (May 9), I proposed marriage to Jill at the Getty Villa and she accepted. It was the best birthday present I have ever received in my life!

Jill is everything I have been looking for in a life partner: a passionate, fun-loving Christian who cares deeply about peace and justice. Like me, Jill is a writer. She has written a book about how to help churches become involved in creating affordable housing for low-income families (see makinghousinghappen.com). She also walks her talk and lives in one of the lower-income parts of Pasadena, where she has done amazing work to help people in the community. Jill has a Masters in Biblical Studies from Denver Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry in Transformational Leadership for the Global City from Bakke Graduate University. She is environmentally conscious, drives a hybrid car, and her home is a charming model of green living, with a beautiful organic garden, fruit trees, and even chickens. (I won’t lack for free range eggs!)

A little about me. I am a writer, teacher, editor and peace activist. I have a BA from Boston University and a doctorate in British literature from Rutgers University. I spent a year studying at Pendle Hill, a Quaker center for study and contemplation near Philadelphia. For many years I taught English at various colleges and universities. I also edited books and a magazine for Quakers, did Soviet-American reconciliation work in the 1980s, and, and started a youth program for the American Friends Service Program in the 1990s, taking teen groups to Mexico for service projects. For twenty years I was married to Kathleen Ross, a wonderful Methodist minister, who passed away of cancer two years ago. (You can learn more at my blog at laquaker.blogspot.com.)

Just as I helped support the ministry of my wife of blessed memory, I look forward to helping Jill with her marvelous ministry. She also feels an affinity for my work as a Quaker peace activist, and I’m sure she will be of great help to me. I look forward to sharing my life and ministry with this amazing woman who is the answer to my prayers. Besides our commitment to God, peace, and justice and following the teachings of Jesus, we also have many fun interests in common. We love biking, camping, gardening, and traveling. And Jill is teaching me how to dance. I look forward to dancing with Jill at our wedding, and for the rest of our lives...

Jill: I feel that I have been kissed by God and given a totally unexpected and simply amazing gift in having met and now being engaged to Anthony. Getting used to the idea of saying that I am “engaged” is both scary and wonderful music to my ears (and likely a bit scary to the ears of you reading this). Yes, it’s been very fast, but very right and honorable and God-ordained in every way. When I told my mom she said, “God is smiling and the angels are rejoicing.” I am so happy I can hardly contain myself. I have dreamed all my life of being married but had little hope it would ever happen. My dad taught us to dream big, so as a visionary I can envision and make big things happen, but when it came to my personal life and envisioning marriage, I have not been able to see it—until now.

When I reflect on my life as a visionary, organizer, and catalyst, I am amazed at all that God has enabled me to do: starting a nationwide program for Food for the Hungry (FHI), taking teams from Berkeley to Harvard into developing nations to do work projects, living in Mexico for two of my four years with FHI; creating STARS (Students and Tutors Achieving Real Success), an after-school program out of Lake Avenue Church that has helped hundreds of low income students to succeed in life as well has help this 4,000-member church to have meaningful relationships across racial and economic disparities; and authoring and editing Making Housing Happen: Faith Based Affordable Housing Models, a book that features unique ways that a breath of denominations across the US have created affordability. I have also helped build several networks, one to address the gang violence by networking churches, the courts, schools and Pasadena City College to bring the Parent Project to hurting parents looking for answers to their sons and daughters entering gangs and a West-San-Gabriel-Valley-wide network called Family Promise: fpsgv.org. This network of 14 churches rotate hosting 3-5 homeless families in their facility for one week, with a day center where a full time social worker helps them find jobs and housing. It will open in June. I could go on with many other ways I’ve had the joy of participating in God’s work in the world. But you probably get the picture. My life has been about ministry with little time for marriage. But God is now saying, “It’s time.” My ministry with Missions Door will continue, but now I will have a partner. Though we come from unique theological perspectives, we can envision our ministries dovetailing beautifully, as we are both called to and gifted as bridge builders.

Anthony will be and already is a wonderful complement for my rather dyslexic ways, with his writing and editing skills and especially his ability to create humor from my creative blunders. From someone with such an intellect, I didn’t expect such delightful romance. I have heard, “I love you” in French, Greek, Latin, Spanish… it’s so much fun. What a huge gift from heaven! When I begin to feel overwhelmed with having to plan something that feels like too much, he jumps in and takes charge. I love it. I can relax. He is great with financial planning, quick to ask for feedback, he knows himself and what he wants.. and he wants me. Wow. I feel loved beyond measure by Anthony. When my mom and sister met Anthony they immediately fell in love with him.. they can clearly see why I too have fallen in love.

May 7th I had the joy performing a wedding for my neighbor. Before the ceremony in Laguna Beach I went to the ocean for one final practice. While sitting with my feet burrowed in the sand, God spoke deep into my spirit that Anthony is the man God intends for me. Two days later, when he proposed marriage on his birthday, I replied, with a shy confidence deep in my spirit, “Yes!” As I talk with friends about this unexpected miracle and how our gifts and strengths compliment each other’s so well, again and again God confirms that this is our intended path. I feel blessed beyond measure.

We are looking at a September wedding, but will have more clarity on this as we go through our premarital counseling. Then Anthony will be moving into my home in Pasadena. Stay tuned!

Yours in Love,

Anthony and Jill

Paul as Apostle of Peace: a Quaker Perspective

2011-05-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

In March, 2003, my wife Kathleen of blessed memory and I went on a cruise to places associated with the Apostle Paul. This trip was sponsored by the Methodist church and attracted over 300 Christians, of whom I was the only Quaker. As we traveled to places like Corinth, Thessalonica, Ephesus, Phillipi, etc. we heard the sobering news of impending war and our hearts were chilled. When the bombing of Baghdad took place, we were headed to the island of Patmos, where John had his revelations, and I burst into tears--tears of shame and grief for what my country was doing. One of the blessings of this trip was learning to appreciate "that of God" in the Apostle Paul. I saw his mission in new light--as someone whose life had been transformed by Love, and who became an aposlte of Peace. This is a talk I gave at a Quaker church when I returned to the USA:

Let me confess that I have never particularly appreciated the apostle Paul. Unlike Jesus, who healed the sick, fed the hungry, and told wonderful stories, Paul mostly went around preaching and trying to convert people, just like a modern-day evangelist. A lot of Paul’s letters are filled with notions that don’t seem particularly relevant or appealing.

Take, for instance, his advice, “Slaves, obey your master,” or “Women, keep quiet and listen to your men folk.” Not exactly the sort of advice that we Friends are likely to take to heart.

Unlike Jesus, Paul made homophobic statements that have been used by right-wing Christians to justify the persecution of gays and lesbians.

I also have a hard time with Paul’s concept of predestination. I can’t imagine why God would choose some people to be saved, and others damned, before their birth. Why would our Heavenly Father do permanent damage to unborn kids when an earthly parent would get prosecuted for trying to pull such a stunt? The idea of predestination was popular with the Calvinists who settled in New England. Being God’s Chosen People gave them an excuse to persecute Indians and Quakers. The idea that some people are Chosen and some are not still infects the thinking of many Americans. Our current leadership seems to feel that our American birthright is a divine Blessing which entitles us to do pretty much whatever we want, regardless of law and consequences. This is not an idea that Paul would have endorsed, but unfortunately, it is one of the negative consequences of believing in the concept of a Chosen People.

I also can’t believe that God required that His Son Jesus lay down his life in order to redeem man from the original sin of Adam and Eve. It seems absurd for God to hold against us sins that were committed by our great, great, great grand parents, and then require His own so to die to square these old debts.

Finally, Paul’s idea that we are saved by faith, not works, has been used by some to justify a brand of Christianity that emphasizes personal holiness at the expense of social responsibility. That’s why Quakers have generally preferred James’ epistle in which he says that true religion requires us to help widows and orphans, and that faith without works is dead.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. It is easy to find fault with Paul’s theology.

I also had some problems with Paul as a personality. He was raised to believe that he, as a Jew, alone had possession of the Truth. The rest of the world was wrong. This is not an idea that sits well with liberal Quakers, or Christians, for that matter.

When Paul heard about a sect of Jews who believed what he saw as heresy, he was willing to persecute and even kill those who disagreed with him.

These are the ugly facts about Paul’s life and upbringing. His beliefs had much in common with fundamentalists and religious fanatics of our time.

One of the benefits of going on the tour of places associated with Paul was that I decided to do what an old Indian saying suggests: Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins. As we walked in the footsteps of Paul, I began to see this man differently.

He didn’t stay the same person all his life. Something happened to him on the road to Damascus that changed him and the course of human history. He “saw the Light,” he had a vision of Christ, and he was never the same. He experienced physical blindness and realized that he had been spiritually blind all his life. Thanks to the healing work of Christ, his sight was restored and he was able to see not only the physical, but the spiritual world in a new way. As George Fox put it after a similar experience, “creation had a new smell.”

This is incredibly good news. If Paul could change, so can George Bush and Osama Bin Ladin. There’s even hope for you and me!

Paul remained passionately convinced that he had found the Truth, but he was no longer willing to impose his beliefs on others. Instead he became committed to building a community based on Love and forgiveness. He preached not just by words, but by example.

It was interesting to go to the places where Paul traveled. We began at one of the endpoints of Paul’s journey, Athens, a city of intellectuals where Paul was welcomed, but where he made few converts. We went to the hill of Ares, God of War, on the Akropolis where Paul was questioned by the Athenians. The Athenians were polite, but it was clear that they more interested in philosophizing about religion than in changing their lives. So Paul moved on. His job was to heal the spiritually sick, not to intellectualize.

Our second stop was Corinth, a seaport city known for its excellent brothels. There you still see ruins of the famous temples where the devotees of Aphrodite plied their trade. Paul was well received in Corinth, and it was there that he gave his famous message about love that has become so popular at weddings. Those acquainted with the debased forms of love found in the temple of Aphrodite must have been astonished to hear about the new kind of love that Paul advocated. A love based on forgiveness, patience, and self-sacrifice. Paul himself tried to model this new form of love, although it wasn’t always easy. He lost his temper with the Corinthians, but they forgave him, and he forgave them. That’s what this new kind of love is all about.

Our next stop was Thessalonica, in northern Greece. This city is very different in character from Athens, a seaport, industrial city rather than a tourist haven. Thessalonica is the gateway to the Balkans, and most of its old buildings date back to the Middle Ages, not to classical times. In Paul’s time, Thessalonica was associated with the Alexander the Great and the Northern Greeks known as Macedonians, a rough sort of people who loved to wage war. Paul was not well received at first in Thessalonica. He was basically run out of town, but he kept coming back. He was anything if not persistent. And his persistence paid off. He managed to help establish a Christian community there. Paul’s love, like Jesus’, was relentless. He never gave up.

From Thessalonica our cruise ship passed by Mt. Athos, the famous center of Orthodox monasticism. Mt. Athos is an interesting place. The monks at Mt. Athos basically live in another world. No females of any kind are allowed, not even female animals like cows and chickens. These monks have decided to follow the example of Jesus and Paul and live utterly celibate lives. But unlike Paul and Jesus, they have separated themselves from the temptation of women. (Not even teenage boys are allowed.) We cruised within half a mile of Mt. Athos and were able to see its marvelous monasteries at sunset. It was very romantic. We joked that we were not allowed to come closer than half a mile to Mt Athos lest some of the monks try to swim out to the ship and catch sight of our lovely Methodist women.

From Mt. Athos we went to Philippi, where Paul made his first European convert who was, interestingly enough, a woman. Lydia. He converted her at a stream outside of the city where there is a small chapel today. Many people from the formerly Communist Bulgaria come there to affirm their conversion to Christianity.

It was a Phillipi that I had the staggering realization that without Paul, Christianity might never have become a world religion. It may have simply faded away as a minor Middle Eastern cult. If it weren’t for Paul, you and I might be worshipping oak trees or Apollo or maybe even Aphrodite today!

We next went to Istanbul where we visited Top Kapi, the Blue Mosque, and Agia Sophia, the greatest church of Orthodox Christianity, but since Paul never set foot there, I won’t talk about it.

On the boat, my wife read to me the passage from Corinthians in which Paul describes how meeting for worship should be conducted. “This sounds just like a Quaker Meeting,” she said. You may recall Paul’s instructions:

When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret.But if there is no one to interpret, let them be silent in church and speak to themselves and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to someone else sitting nearby, let the first person be silent.For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged. And the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets,
for God is a God not of disorder but of peace.(27-33)

My wife wasn’t the first to note how closely Quaker worship resembled that of early Christians. Voltaire wrote in his Philosophical Dictionary:

If there is any sect that recalls the times of the first christians, it is undoubtedly that of the Quakers. Nothing more resembles the apostles. The apostles received the spirit, and the Quakers receive the spirit. Three or four of the apostles and disciples spoke at once in the assembly on the third floor; the Quakers do as much on the ground floor. According to saint Paul women were allowed to preach, and according to the same saint Paul they were forbidden to preach; female Quakers preach by virtue of the first permission.

Yes, Paul contradicted himself. He told women to keep silent and not preach, and then quoted the passage from Isaiah in which it was said that “your sons and daughters shall prophesy.” He also said that “in Christ there is no male or female, slave or free, Gentile or Jew…”

Paul the mystic was sometimes at odds with Paul the first-century Jew. It’s Paul the mystic that I find most appealing. This is also what also attracted Rufus Jones to Paul.

According to Jones, Paul’s “Letters contain many testimonies of experiences which under girded his life and which explains his unique apostolic power. “God, who said in the beginning, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shined into my heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Cor 4:6). “Though my outward man decays, my inward man is renewed day by day while I look not at the things that are seen but at the things that are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.”

A great deal of what is sometimes called St. Paul’s theology is rather an interpretation (in terms of his Jewish and Hellenisic background of thought) of his profound personal experience” (p. 254). Jones, Studies in Mystical Religion

One of the most impressive places we went on our trip was Ephesus, a city on the coast of what is today Turkey. In ancient times, Turkey was called Asia Minor and consisted of Greek-speaking colonies.

The ruins at Ephesus are fantastic, some of the best preserved Greek ruins in the world. An earthquake covered up part of the city, and it’s been restored by archeologists so that you can get a feeling for what it’s like to stroll down the marble streets of an ancient Greek city. On each side of the streets are columns where there used to be porticos and various businesses, including a library and of course a brothel. Paul not only found plenty of converts in Ephesus, he also found strong opponents. Ephesus was very big in the idol business. Their chief goddess was Diana, not the virgin goddess of the Greeks, but a local fertility goddess thought to have awesome powers. The idol makers thought that Paul’s message would be bad for business and they ran him out of town. Thanks to the Ephesians, Paul was sent to Rome and his final martyrdom.

Our final gathering was in the huge amphitheater where the idol makers attacked Paul. There five hundred of us shared communion, sang hymns, and worshipped God together. It was a powerful experience.

All in all, Kathleen and I had a wonderful trip. It was a chance to hang out with over 500 Christians of every imaginable type, from California liberal to deep-Southern convervative. We were all on the same boat together, both literally and figuratively.

Our trip was overshadowed by war. We all knew that war was coming. I was the only Quaker on board, so I felt that it was my job to preach peace. Most of the Methodists were very grateful. Some said, “You said what I would like to say.” It was interesting to realize that we Quakers are expected to be prophets. That’s our job as Christians, to speak out about the peace that God intends for the world.

War broke out just as we were leaving Ephesus to go to Padmos, an island not far away where St John was exiled and where he wrote his Revelations. We were on a ferry to Padmos when I heard the news that we were bombing Bagdhad. I immediately burst into uncontrollable sobbing. A minister came up to me and said, “Are you okay? Are you sick?” I was crying so hard that I could hardly speak. When I finally was able to talk, I said, “Yes, I am sick. Sick of what our country is doing.” I later heard that Senator Byrd gave a speech on the floor of the Senate in which he said that he wept in shame for what his country had done.

We live in a time not unlike Paul’s. Only instead of the Roman empire trying to rule the world and impose its version of peace, the Pax Romana, we now have an American empire, a Pax Americana. Just as the Roman emperor felt that he had a direct connection with the gods, our current President feels that he has a direct line to the Almighty.

Those who support the American empire believe that peace can be imposed by force. Peace means bowing to American authority and doing what American interests require. But Paul, like Jesus, had a different vision of what peace means.

He saw humanity as ruled by selfishness and greed, vainly trying to control its desires through laws and ordinances. This approach doesn’t work; it only creates guilt and anger and conflict. We become “children of wrath.” And we end up hurting ourselves and others.

So God sent Jesus Christ to show us a better way. No longer would the world be separated into the Chosen and the un-Chosen. Those who were alienated from God would be brought home, brought back into the family of Christ.

While in prison, Paul wrote these words to the Ephesians—to the Jews and the pagans as well to the Christians:

“For Christ is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us….He came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God” (1 Ephesians 2: 14-19).

Paul’s vision is one that I cherish. There is no “us and them.” There is only us, part of one family, united by a loving God who is willing to sacrifice everything out of love so that we can know peace.

Paul’s heart was changed by this love, and he came to know true peace, the peace that passes all understanding. The peace that transforms the world, one person at a time. Let us pray for that peace to begin with us.

Building a culture of peace, abolishing war: an interfaith effort

2011-05-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, when I was asked to speak at a Methodist Women’s Conference here in LA, I told the women that I believed war must and can be abolished, just like slavery, and that if women united, they could abolish war. Do you agree? If so, how can we go about this critical task? I makes some suggestions in this talk, but would love to hear your ideas. I am convinced that ending war will take a huge interfaith effort, comparable to what the women of Liberia did when they drove out the warlords and elected an enlightened woman president–a little known story that I discuss in my talk.

**********

Building a Culture of Peace, Abolishing War

I am delighted and honored to be back at this church after only six months to be part of this distinguished interfaith panel. Last fall I spoke to you about my experiences with the Parliament of the World’s Religions inMelbourne,Australia. This gathering takes place every five years and brings together 6,000 plus religious and spiritual leaders who meet to seek ways to make the world a better place.

The local Parliament group that I belong to is striving to create a culture of peace by bringing together people of different faith to share insights, music, religious practices, and ways of worship. This kind of trust-building work is essential for creating a culture of peace. For too long, differences among religions have been seen as a source of conflict, and have even led to bloodshed. The interfaith movement says, in effect, Vive la difference! Let’s appreciate our differences and learn from each us, because deep inside we are all one—one human family made in the image of God, and made to serve God and love each other.

The fact that you have invited representatives of the three Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Islam and Christianity–to be part of this panel is a sign that this church is committed to building a culture of peace.

Today I would like to share with you about another side of interfaith peacemaking, what I call the prophetic.

All three Abrahamic faiths believe that God sent prophets to speak the truth to those in power, and those in power don’t really like the truth very much, as we have seen in their reaction to Wikileaks. Bradley Manning was not only imprisoned, but subjected to conditions tantamount to torture, for allegedly revealing government secrets. If governments were following the teachings of the prophets, if they were acting morally and ethically, they wouldn’t have to keep secrets. Dictatorships thrive on secrecy. Democracies require openness and transparency, and a free press willing to publish the truth, no matter what people in power say.

The prophets speak out for the concerns of the poor and marginalized. They call for the redistribution of wealth so that everyone will have enough to live comfortably. They condemn usury, what we call predatory lending. They also call for an end to war, and for people of all faiths to worship together in peace and harmony. As Isaiah said, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all people.” Jesus echoed these words when he went to theTempleand threw out the money changers. “My House will be a house of prayer for all people, and you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

The prophets recognize that you can’t have peace without justice, and you can’t have peace unless you make peace your daily practice.

The Holy Qur’an has a beautiful passage stating that true worshippers of God are those practice peace in their daily lives. It says, The worshipers of the Most Gracious are those who tread the earth gently, and when the ignorant speak to them, they only utter, “Peace.” (25:63)

The Torah makes it clear that peace and justice are linked. The prophet Zechariah says: “These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the LORD.” 2 Zec 8

And of course, Jesus makes peace his core teaching: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9.

The prophets are clear: in order to build a culture of peace, we must also work for justice and oppose war and all its lies. That is the mission of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that I support. It is also the mission of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace—an organization that was founded after 9/11 with the motto: “Religious Communities Must Stop Blessing War and Violence.” And it is the mission of organizations such as the Methodist Federation for Social Action.

As a peace maker, I have a clear and simple mission. I want to abolish war, not simply end the current ones inAfghanistan,Iraq, and nowLibya. How many in this room feel that war can be abolished?

I know it seems like a daunting task. But it is not impossible. Wars are man-made institutions, created for political purposes. Human beings were not created by God to be warriors, nor are we genetically programmed to be killers. Psychologists and even military experts agree that people must be trained to be soldiers, and it’s not an easy task. Without such training, normal human beings would not willingly kill other human beings.

Yet many people falsely believe war is part of human nature. This myth is similar to the myth once widely believed that some people are born to be slaves. For thousands of years, people held this false belief. It is even written into the original Constitution of theUnited Stateswhere slaves are defined as 3/5 of a human being. Today we look back on slavery with horror and are ashamed that our country was founded on the myth that slavery is normal and natural.

How did we come to abolish slavery? People of faith banded together—men and women, Methodists and Quakers, Congregationalists, and many others. These abolitionists worked tirelessly and courageously to free the minds of those who believed slavery was divinely ordained. Abolitionists were often reviled, and sometimes attacked and beaten. When the Quakers built a hall inPhiladelphiain 1838 so that abolitionist speakers could have a place to express their views, an angry mob burned down the hall. John Greenleaf Whittier, after whom the city ofWhittierwas named, was stoned by an angry mob when he spoke out against slavery.

It took many decades and much blood and tears to end slavery, but today it is universally recognized that slavery is immoral and illegal. Sad to say, forms of slavery still exist, but every country in the world regards slavery as a crime.

I believe that if an institution as deeply entrenched as slavery can be abolished, so can war. But we can’t end war unless we join together—men and women of diverse faiths—just as the women ofLiberiadid. I am glad that you will have an opportunity to see what women of faith did inLiberiato end the bloody civil war in their country. “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” is an amazing story of faith and courage that proves nonviolence works. This is a story that deserves to be more widely known. When women unite, they can be amazingly powerful.

Trying to end war is a huge task. But if each of us made a commitment to do something each day to promote peace, and if we do it with deep faith, I believe we can make a huge difference. When I became involved in helping to end the Cold War in 1980s, I imagined it would take decades to bring this 40-year conflict to an end; in fact, I wasn’t sure it would end in my lifetime. But I felt a deep sense of urgency and took part in the citizen diplomacy movement that helped build bridges of peace between our two nations. Thousands of Americans went to the Soviet Union to promote peace and good will, and thousands of Russians came to theUnited Statesfor the same purpose, during the Reagan era. These committed peace activists influenced Reagan and Gorbachev to end the Cold War—one of the great achievements of our time. Today Reagan and Gorbachev are given credit for ending the Cold War, but they would not have been able to do so if the citizens of their respective countries did not support them and insist that the Cold War must end.

Today our country is committed to endless war, a war that uses terroristic means to end terrorism. Most Americans know this is a futile effort, and most want to see the troops brought home fromAfghanistanand elsewhere. We have hundred of military bases around the war. We spend trillions of dollars killing people, destroying homes and polluting the environment. These actions are not bringing us any closer to peace; they are simply enriching those who are in the military industrial complex.

We need to do more than oppose the current war. We must make a determined effort to end ALL war, just as abolitionists wanted to end ALL slavery. To abolish war, we must be as committed and courageous as the women ofLiberia. We must do everything we can to build a culture of peace and to remove the seeds of war from our lives. There are many things you can do: write your elected officials, support peace organizations. Also, live simply. Consume less. Depend less on fossil fuel. Our consumerism helps to fuel war. War is an addiction, but it is curable I hope that in our discussion, we can brainstorm ways to end our addiction war.. Let’s work together to build a culture of peace and justice. YES, WE CAN!

(The movie “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” and then screened, and we had a very good discussion, led by a female UCLA student.)

Liberia facts from Wikipedia:

A peace movement called Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace was instrumental to the end of hostilities in Monrovia. Organized by social worker Leymah Gbowee, thousands of Christian and Muslim women staged silent protests and forced a meeting with President Charles Taylor and extracted a promise from him to attend peace talks in Ghana. Gbowee then led a delegation of Liberian women to Ghana to continue to apply pressure on the warring factions during the peace process.[23] They staged a sit in outside of the Presidential Palace, blocking all the doors and windows and preventing anyone from leaving the peace talks without a resolution. The women of Liberia became a political force against violence and against their government.[24] Their actions brought about an agreement during the stalled peace talks. As a result, the women were able to achieve peace in Liberia after a 14-year civil war and later helped bring to power the country’s first female head of state. The story is told in the 2008 documentary film Pray the Devil Back to Hell.[25]

After the exile of Taylor, Gyude Bryant was appointed chairman of the transitional government in late 2003. Because of failures of the Transitional Government in curbing corruption, Liberia signed onto GEMAP, a novel anti-corruption program. The primary task of the transitional government was to prepare for fair and peaceful democratic elections.

With UNMIL troops safeguarding the peace, Liberia successfully conducted presidential and legislative elections on October 11, 2005. There were 23 candidates; an early favorite was George Weah, an internationally famous footballer, UNICEF goodwill ambassador, and member of the Kru ethnic group expected to dominate the popular vote. Though Weah garnered a plurality of the votes, no candidate gained the required majority, prompting a runoff election between the top two candidates, Weah and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist and former minister of finance who had been jailed twice during the Doe administration before escaping and going into exile. The November 8, 2005, presidential runoff election was won decisively by Sirleaf. Both the general election and runoff were marked by peace and order, as thousands of Liberians waited in the harsh West African heat to cast their ballots.

Upon taking office, Sirleaf became the first elected female head of state in Africa. During her administration President Sirleaf established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address crimes committed during the later stages of Liberia’s long civil war.[26] Sirleaf also requested the extradition of Taylor from Nigeria and immediately handed him over to the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which had charged Taylor with crimes against humanity, violations of the Geneva Conventions and “other serious violations of international humanitarian law.”[27] The trial by the Special Court is being held in The Hague for security reasons

What do Quakers believe?

2011-05-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

What do Quakers believe? This is a question I will be exploring this summer as I travel once again in the ministry, this time to Pendle Hill where I will be taking part in a symposium on Howard Brinton, one of Quakerism's leading 20th century theologians.
I will share with Friends my own reflections on Quaker theology along those from Howard Brinton's classic work "Friends for 300 Years." Quakers of the liberal sort tend to be averse to theologizing. We do not have a creed or dogmas, but we do have thoughts about our religious experiences and it can be helpful to share those thoughts with others in a friendly, respectful way. That is what theology is all about—reflecting on and sharing our thoughts about what we experience in times of worship. In Friends for 300 Years, Brinton makes it clear that what unites Friends is not our theology but our “secret want” to find “something beyond words which might satisfy [our] weary souls” (p. 39). Nonetheless, Brinton felt it was important to engage in theological reflection. I have found that friendly discussions about what we believe can be helpful and illuminating.

This time of theological reflection can be an opportunity to share what we believe, and to learn what others believe, and especially to learn something about what early Friends believed, according to Howard Brinton. Here are some questions that Brinton addresses in Friends for 300 Years.
•Is the Bible the ultimate source of authority, or the Inward Light, or both?

•What is the difference between conscience and the Inward Light?

•What role does reason play in Quakerism?

•Is the Light universal? Is there a Christian basis for universalism?

•How do Friends feel about the historical Jesus? What is the Universal Christ?

•What is the Quaker view of the atonement? How has this shaped Quaker attitudes and actions?

•What did Quakers believe about Good and Evil and human responsibility? What about the Fall of Man? Original sin?

•What did Quakers believe about human perfectibility? How do Friends feel about the relation between the Divine and the human?

For Brinton’s response to these questions, see Friends for 300 Years, Chapter III, “The Light Within as Thought About.” Here are some quotations from this very important, though often overlooked, chapter:

Scripture and the Holy Spirit. “For the Protestants, the Scriptures were primary and the Holy Spirit secondary as an aid to their understanding. The Bible was the word of God. Nothing could be added to it or subtracted from it by any further revelation of religious truth. For the Quakes the Light Within or the Spirit was primary and the Scriptures a word of God, that is, secondary, confirming and clarifying the revelations of the Light Within”(Brinton, p. 40).

Conscience and the Light Within. “The Light Within is not to be identified with conscience. Conscience is not the Light in its fullness but “the measure of Light given us.” The Light illumines conscience and seeks to transform an impure conscience into its own pure likeness” (p.43).

Reason and Religious Truth. “A great deal is said in Quaker writings about the inability of reason to reach religious truths unless the Light, or the Scriptures or other writings inspired by the Light, furnish it with the right premises on which to work. The same is true in science. Scientific truths are not produced by reason alone, but by reason operating on physical facts ascertained through experience” (p. 45).

Universalism. “No Quaker belief aroused more opposition than the doctrine that the Light of Christ had been given to all men everywhere, since the beginning of the human race. This concept was especially repugnant to Protestants who believed that only the elect would be saved” (p. 45).
“Eternal Christ” and the “historic Jesus.” Brinton distinguishes between the “Eternal Christ” and the “historic Jesus.” Brinton saw Jesus and both human and divine. Jesus was one with God because his will was in harmony with God’s will. The Light shone completely in Jesus. He was the “supreme revelation of God in human term” (p. 50).

The Atonement. “The Quakers did not apply to the sacrifice of Christ the Old Testament concept of a blood sacrifice offered to appease an angry God….” Rather, Christ’s sacrifice was to “bridge the gap between the divine and the human, overcoming the isolation and estrangement of the human individual. This would be an at-one-ment, a uniting of that which had been separated” (p. 53).

Man’s Responsibility for Good and Evil. “On two important religious doctrines the Quakers differed from their Protestant opponents and were closer to the Catholics. They believed that righteousness could not be imputed to man by God unless man was actually righteous, while the Protestants believed that God, because of the sacrifice of Christ, could impute Christ’s righteousness to man even though he continued to sin. The Quakers also believed that perfection and freedom from sin was possible in this world, while the Protestants believed that all men, even the saints, continue to sin in ‘thought, word and deed’” (p. 55). “This brings us to the heart of Quaker theology as it grew out of actual experience. Man finds himself in the twilight zone of reason, poised between two worlds, an upper world of Light, and a loser world of Darkness, a Spiritual world which is superhuman and a material world which is subhuman. He is free to center his life in one of the three: he can live by the Light, he can live by human reason, or he can live at the mercy of his sensual cravings. His body is animal, his mind rational and the Light Within him is divine. He is never without all three, though the three are so intimately related it is impossible to distinguish between them sharply. Much depends on their relationship. The Light of Truth should be a guide to reason and reason should help instinct in a properly ordered life. This is a simple empirical theology, but it seems up much of early Quaker thought” (p. 63).

Perfectionism. “The Quakers believed that the process of redemption and regeneration might go so far as sometimes to free man completely from sin and leave him at least temporarily in a state of perfection. It is easy to misunderstand this doctrine. Perfection not only permits growth, it requires growth. Did not Christ grow in wisdom and stature (Like 2:52)? As Barclay says, a perfect boy can become a perfect man and he is not a perfect boy unless he is on the way to becoming a man.” (p. 59).

A Quaker presence at the ICUJP/LA Times Book Festival event

2011-04-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

This Saturday ICUJP will be sponsoring a peace and justice book fair called "Cost of War, Culture of Peace" at the LA Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California. I will be part of an afternoon panel with my dear Sufi Friend John Ishvardas Abdallah (author of One World Under God), Phil Goldberg (author of American Veda) and Sarrah Shahawy, an amazing young woman who is president of the USC interfaith council and grand-daughter of Hassan Hatthout, one of the great Muslim spiritual leaders of our time (see http://hassanhathout.com/index.html).
To find out more about this event, see http://www.icujp.org/

For those of you who can't make it to this event, I am sharing a draft of what I intend to say in the five minutes I have been allotted.
I became involved with the interfaith movement after 9/11 when I decided to reach out to the Muslim community. I did so because I am a Quaker and have been doing peace and reconciliation work for over 25 years, beginning with Soviet-American reconciliation during the time of Ronald Reagan. Quakers have a peace testimony that goes back to the founding of Quakerism in the 17th century. This was a time of intense and bloody religious war among Christians. Quakers were convinced that war was contrary to the spirit and teachings of Jesus. Quakers have been pacifists for 350 years. During WW I Quakers founded the American Friends Service Committee for conscientious objectors. In 1948 Quakers were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The AFSC has become a multicultural and multi-faith organization. I used to work for the AFSC as a youth service project coordinator.

To combat the intense fear that arose after 9/11, I fasted during Ramadan and went to local mosques. I was so warmly received by Muslims that I began taking a serious interest in Islam. I wrote a pamphlet called "Islam from a Quaker Perspective," which tries to explain Islam to Quakers, and Quakerism to Muslims.

I also joined interfaith organizations, like the South Coast Interfaith Council and Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace.

As a result, my spiritual horizons broadened and I got to know some truly amazing people of different faiths. Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs and others who are passionate about peace and who are trying to make this a better world. These are people who don't get a lot of media attention. But they are nonetheless wonderful, inspiring people, like the panelist here at this table....

I have been so inspired by the interfaith movement that I now spend my whole life doing interfaith work for various organizations, locally, nationally and internationally.

One of the keys to interfaith work is compassionate listening. This is a technique that was developed by a Quaker named Gene Hoffman. Gene was trained as a pastoral counselor and applied these techniques to trauma healing in conflict situations. She helped start the Compassionate Listening project with Leah Green, a Jewish American peace activist. I went on a Compassionate Listening Project to Israel/Palestine and was deeply impressed with how Compassionate Listening can help people to listen to each other and to gain trust at a deep level. Such heart-based listening is essential for peace-making.

There are many other positive aspects of interfaith work that I could talk about if I had more time. For example, the interfaith environmental movement has brought together people of different faith traditions to tackle the problems of global warming. All religions agree that life and the earth are precious. In 2007, I edited a Quaker-inspired book called EarthLight: Spiritual Wisdom for an Ecological Age. This anthology has articles on spirituality and the environment by authors from numerous faith traditions: Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, etc. Clearly saving the planet for future generations is something that all people of faith, and also people who do not profess any faith, have in common.

But my time has run out, so all I can say is what all authors say under such circumstances, if you want to find out more, read my books!

Howard Brinton as a Theologian and Apologist for “Real Quakerism”

2011-04-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

This article appeared recently in "Quaker Religious Thought" and sums up what I have learned so far about Howard Brinton's theological perspective. This summer I will be part of a Brinton Symposium at Pendle Hill in which Paul Lacey, Steve Angell, Doug Gwyn and other Quaker scholars and theologians will explore the theological legacy of Howard Brinton. To find out more, go to http://www.pendlehill.org/workshops/summer-2011/526-the-legacy-of-howard-and-anna-brinton

Summary: Although Howard Brinton was one of the major theologians and educators of 20the century Quakerism, his contributions to Quaker thought have not been critically evaluated in part because of Quaker aversion to theologizing. This paper surveys the development of Brinton’s life as a Quaker educator/theologian, focusing particularly on his classic work Friends for 300 Years. I argue that Brinton was influenced by Barclay’s Apology and was writing a defense of what he considered “real Quakerism”—unprogrammed worship, and what he saw the authentic theology of Fox and Barclay, updated in modern language for modern times. Brinton’s concern for theology was broadened and deepened by his participation in the World Council of Churches, which made him (and other Friends) keenly aware of the contemporary theological thought, particularly that of Karl Barth and Reinhold Neibuhr. Finally, Brinton was interested in and supportive of revival of interest in Quaker that took place in the 1950s, particularly the formation the Quaker Theological Discussion Group, which was started in 1957 to raise awareness of theology among Quakers and to help foster constructive dialogue among different branches of Quakerism. Finally, I conclude that most liberal Quakers are “theologically illiterate” as well as averse to theologizing, but that Brinton himself was keenly interested in a theological approach that was grounded in spiritual experience and provided a cogent intellectual framework for modern liberal Quaker theology.

A critical understanding of 20th century Quaker theology would be incomplete without assessing the contribution of Howard Brinton, whose works helped create the theological framework for modern liberal Quakerism. Given the importance and stature of the Brintons, I felt some trepidation about undertaking the daunting task of writing the first book-length biography about them. Fortunately, I had access to Howard Brinton's unpublished autobiography, dictated to Yuki Brinton a year before his death in 1973, as well as to the Brinton archives at Haverford College and to his family and friends, who have been very supportive. But the lack of secondary material about the Brintons has made my scholarly efforts extremely challenging. As Ben Pink Dandelion, director of Woodbrooke, has observed, Quakerism, and particular 20th century Quaker theology, is “vastly under-researched.”

Ironically, Brinton, one of the most important Quaker theologians of the 20th century, was never trained as a theologian. When he did his undergraduate work at Haverford College, he majored in mathematics and physics. But he did feel drawn to religion and philosophy. The teacher at Haverford who exerted the most influence on his young impressionable mind was Rufus Jones. It was Jones who led Brinton to pursue his interest in philosophy and to study the works of the German mystic Jacob Boehme (the subject of Brinton's doctoral dissertation). With Jones' encouragement, Brinton went on to earn a degree in philosophy at Harvard University, where he studied with such giants as William James, George Santayana and Josiah Royce. But during the first twenty years of his teaching career, Brinton taught math and physics, albeit with many references to religion and philosophy. As one of his students at Earlham noted, Brinton had a unique approach to teaching physics: “Howard enriched his discussion of Newton’s laws, Faraday’s discoveries, and the predictions of Einstein by making cross references to philosophers and theologians and their concepts.”

It wasn't until Brinton married Anna Cox and earned his Ph. D. in philosophy from Berkeley that he was given the opportunity to teach philosophy and religion at Earlham College. He began this new phase of teaching in 1925, when he was 41 years old.

It wasn't until 1933, when he became director of Pendle Hill, that Brinton had the opportunity to devote himself full-time to teaching Quaker theology. By then he was nearly fifty.

During the next fifteen years, Howard devoted himself full-time to teaching Quakerism as it had never been taught before. Pendle Hill was an experimental school that attempted to apply Quaker principles to education. During this intense period with its very sharp learning curve, Brinton created a whole new approach to Quaker pedagogy as well as well as a framework for Quaker theology.

Brinton's training as a scientist and philosopher shaped the way he thought about theology as well as the way he taught this subject. He saw Quakerism as an “experimental” religion in almost scientific sense; and this approach had a strong appeal to liberal Friends, many of whom shared his scientific background.

Brinton was also influenced by the theological conflicts that were taking place between evangelical/fundamentalist and liberal Friends, which he experienced on a personal level. He came from a “mixed” background—his mother was a Hicksite Friend and his father Orthodox. His wife Anna descended from Joel and Hannah Bean, who were disowned from Iowa Yearly Meeting after it was taken over by evangelicals. Until Brinton became director of Pendle Hill, he taught mainly at schools run by pastoral Friends, whose approach to Quakerism was radically different from his own.

Brinton's theological writings can be divided in three phases. His first important theological writings—Vocal Ministry and Quaker Worship (1928) and Creative Worship (1931)—were written while Brinton was in his forties. As their titles imply, they focus on what Howard considered to be the distinctive core of Quakerism: unprogrammed worship and its philosophical implications. These works also lay the foundation for Howard’s theological perspective, his effort to reconcile Quakerism and science, and to address the urgent spiritual needs of 20th century society.

In his second phase (1943-1952), Brinton took on a more ambitious aim: to educate modern Friends (especially newcomers to Quakerism) in the theory and practice of Quakerism. During this period, he wrote two classic works that are essentially didactic: Guide to Quaker Practice (1943) and Friends for 300 Years (1952). These works arose out of Brinton’s experience as a teacher of Quakerism at Pendle Hill and are intended to help Friends understand the theological basis for unprogrammed worship and to practice their faith based on such worship. These works were written when Howard was in his sixties and at the peak of his powers as a writer and thinker.

In the final phase of Howard’s theological journey, he wrote Friends for 75 Years (1960), Quaker Journals: Varieties of Religious Experiences Among Friends (1972) and The Religious Philosophy of Quakerism (1973).

By far the most important work that Brinton ever wrote was Friends For 300 Years. The time has come—indeed, it is long overdue—for a critical assessment of this enormously influential book. Sales figures confirm this work's enduring popularity, if not Chuck Fager’s observation that “Howard Brinton’s stature as a preeminent Quaker scholar and religious thinker of the twentieth century continues to grow, and rightly so, while other once-prominent names slip further into obscurity.” Thomas Hamm called Brinton “one of the most influential Friends of the twentieth century.” Yet even though Friends for 300 Years has become a classic, and has sold around 30,000 thousand copies since 1965, and probably nearly that many from 1953-65, there has never been a serious study of this classic work. This lack of a critical assessment is truly astounding, given the fact that most Quakers are highly educated people who are quite critical in matters other than theology.

The only critical assessment of Friends for 300 Years is a book review written in 1953 by L. Hugh Doncaster, who agreed with F.B. Tolles’s laudatory assessment that Brinton’s work is “the closest thing this Quaker generation has produced—or is likely to produce—to Robert Barclay’s great Apology.”

Comparing Friends for 300 Years to Barclay’s Apology is the highest praise that a Quaker could bestow since Barclay’s work, written in the 17th century, could be considered the summa theologica of Quakerdom. While many contemporary Quaker theologians would dispute whether Brinton's work deserves such an accolade, Brinton himself makes it clear that Friends for Three Hundred Years was intended to be an “apology,” or a formal defense, of what he viewed as “real Quakerism”--unprogrammed worship grounded in a mix of modernist and Conservative/Wilburite theology. Brinton cites as the two most important sources for his work George Fox's pastoral epistles and Barclay's Apology.

Published in Latin in 1676, and in English in 1678, Barclay's Apology was a systematic defense of Quakerism against its various opponents, from the Calvinists to the Socinians. Unlike many Quaker polemicists, Barclay provided a learned and well-reasoned treatment of key theological issues such the Inward Light, scripture, Man's fallen condition, justification, perfection, ministry, worship, baptism, communion and Quakerism's relationship to society and government. In his introduction to Friends for 300 Years, Brinton says that Barclay's Apology “affords the most complete interpretation we have of Quakerism as thought about.”

Friends for 300 Years defends unprogrammed Quakerism against contemporary non-Quaker opponents, such as Neo-Calvinism and fundamentalism, and also against forms of Quakerism (such as evangelicalism) that Brinton felt had distorted George Fox's original message and mission. Brinton deals with many of the same issues as Barclay: the authority of scripture, conscience vs. the Light Within, the role of reason, the universality of the Light, Christology (the Eternal Christ and the historic Jesus), Man's Responsibility for Good and Evil, Perfectionism, the Fall of Man, and the Relation between the Divine and Human. Unike Barclay, Brinton addresses the contentious issue of the Atonement, which had been one cause of the division between American Friends in the nineteenth century. Brinton, like Barclay, both defends and explains Quaker doctrines logically and clearly so that Friends could understand the rational basis of their faith and enter into a theological discussion/debate with other Christians.

Brinton understood perhaps better than any of his contemporaries the need to educate Friends about theology. The paucity of critical reflection about Quaker religious thought on the part of many modern Friends can partly be explained by Quakerism’s long-standing aversion to theologizing. For this reason, explained Brinton with more than a trace of irony, he used the word “Christian thought” rather than “Christian theology” in the title of an essay published in 1959 because “while many Friends shy away from theology, we do not, or least we do not profess to, shy away from thought.”

Brinton cites as a positive development the establishment of the Quaker Theological Discussion Group, which began in 1957. The first issue of Quaker Religious Thought (Spring, 1959) contains an essay by Brinton entitled “The Quaker Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.” This essay is followed by responses from three leading Quaker thinkers of this period: Lewis Benson, Thomas S. Brown, and Charles F. Thomas. Brinton is given the chance to respond to his critics and have the last word. More will be said about this exchange later.

The aversion to theology among unprogrammed Friends stems in part from the pain caused by the Hicksite-Orthodox separation and by the other schisms of the 19th century, but its persistence to the present day is puzzling. As Brinton makes clear on numerous occasions, Robert Barclay and William Penn were deeply involved in the theological and philosophical debates of their times, while George Fox had a passionate concern for theological matters despite a lack of formal training.

But these Friends and their successors were suspicious of theologizing not based upon a direct, immediate and felt experience of Spirit. Today many unprogrammed Friends confuse theology with a creed (the former are religious reflections by individuals within a religious group, while the latter is a requirement for membership in the group). Creeds help to bring cohesion to a religious group, but they can also create an “us” vs. “them” attitude that liberal Friends find repellent. Theological debate may be divisive, but it may also foster understanding and respect if those who disagree agree to disagree agreeably.

Friends often lacked the training to engage in meaningful theological dialogue. Because seminary training was not a requirement for Quaker ministry during its first hundred and fifty years, and was indeed seen as suspect, many early Friends were ignorant of the theological trends of their day. Even Brinton confessed that because his training was in science and philosophy, he sometimes felt disadvantaged when discussing theology at ecumenical gatherings.

Quaker aversion toward theology shifted somewhat in the latter part of the nineteenth century when Friends adopted the system of paid pastors, who required some form of training in theology and the Bible. Quaker schools like Earlham, Guilford, Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore offered courses in religion and some outstanding Quaker scholars emerged, like Rufus Jones and Henry Cadbury. But for the most part, recorded ministers in unprogrammed Meetings had little or no formal training in religion or systematic theology. It wasn’t until 1960 that Earlham School of Religion opened its doors.

Brinton’s work at Pendle Hill in the 1930s and 1940s was a ground-breaking attempt to help educate unprogrammed Friends who felt called to ministry, or to live their Quaker faith authentically. During this period Brinton became aware of how important it was to provide guidance for these eager but inexperienced newcomers to Quakerism. With this group in mind, Brinton wrote a Guide to Quaker Practice (1945), which ended up having a broad appeal. As he explained in his introduction, “This Guide [was] originally written largely with new Friends’ meetings in mind, but also met a considerable need in older meetings. It has been found to be useful not only as an aid to the instruction of new members but also as a reminder to older members of the character and significance of certain practices which at first sight may seem based only on tradition and custom.” Brinton’s purpose was to encourage Friends to reflect more deeply about the theological underpinnings of Quaker practices and procedures.

Brinton along with other Friends were obliged to think more deeply about theology after the formation of the World Council of Churches in 1948. To take part meaningfully in this ecumenical dialogue, Friends were obliged to articulate and defend their beliefs within the context of Christian theology. When Howard Brinton went to this gathering as a representative of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, he become keenly aware of the importance of theologians like Karl Barth and Reinhold Neibuhr. This awakening to contemporary theology had a profound influence on Friends for 300 Years.

Following the World Council, occasional articles about contemporary theological trends began appearing in the Friend Intelligencer—most notably, by William H. Marwick, a Scottish Friend, and by William Hordern, a professor of philosophy and religion at Swarthmore College.

But the aversion to theology among unprogrammed Friends continued and articles analyzing contemporary theological ideas (Quaker or otherwise) rarely appeared in the successor to the Friends Intelligencer, Friends Journal. Even though Friends Journal calls itself a magazine of Quaker life and thought, it probably should be called a magazine of Quaker life and experience since it seldom, if ever, addresses theological issues. Quaker theological discussion has been mainly confined to specialized publications with limited readership, such as QRT and Quaker Theology (founded by Chuck Fager in 1999 as a progressive alternative to QRT).

With this Quaker aversion to theologizing in mind, Brinton tried to make Friends for 300 Years seem like an historical study rather than what it actually was—a defense of what he considered “real Quakerism.” (In his autobiography, Brinton confessed that he took copies of Friend for 300 Years to the Third World Friends Conference in Oxford so that Friends would know what “real Quakerism” was.) Many Friends, when exposed to Friends for 300 Years for the first time, imagine they are reading an objective account of Quaker history and thought. This was never Brinton’s intention. He had a very clear theological agenda in mind—to defend the principles of unprogrammed worship and “traditional” Quakerism, as he understood it.

Brinton’s major contribution to Quaker thought was to present Quakerism not as a system of beliefs, but as a methodology. “The endeavor of this book is not to produce a history of Quakerism,” wrote Brinton in his introduction, “but, by means of historical illustrations, to examine a method.” For this reason, Friends for 300 Years is not organized chronologically, but thematically, beginning with what Brinton regarded as the most important practice of Quakerism: the experience of worship. The first chapter, entitled “To Wait Upon the Lord,” describes the how Quakerism arose from silent, unprogrammed worship leading to a direct, mystical encounter with the Divine. Subsequent chapters deal with aspects of that experience (“The Light Within as Experienced” and “The Light Within as Thought About”). Four chapters are devoted to how Quakers practice their faith—meeting for worship, decision-making, vocal ministry, and witness in the world. There is a chapter on Quaker history (including the various separations), followed by a final chapter: “Quaker Thought and the Present.”

It is notable that Brinton focuses on what Quakers experience and do, rather than on what they believe. In contrast, Wilmer Cooper’s introduction to Quakerism, A Living Faith, is divided into chapters concerned with doctrines, e.g. Quaker View of God, Quaker Understanding of Christ, etc. Patricia Williams uses a framework similar to Brinton’s but begins with theology rather than with religious experience. John Punshon adopts a chronological approach, as does Ben Pink Dandelion.

Brinton’s decision to focus on methodology rather than on doctrine was in keeping with his scientific outlook and training. Throughout the book, Brinton uses metaphors from science that make it appealing to those trained in this discipline.

At the same time, Brinton quotes liberally from early Quaker writers whose rich biblical language conveys the passion and power of their religious experiences. In this way, theology (theory) and history (practice) are combined.

Although Brinton focused on the practice of Quakerism, he also dealt with crucial issues of Christian doctrine in the chapter called “The Light Within as Thought About.” Brinton made it clear at the beginning of this chapter that what unified early Friends was not a common set of beliefs, but a common religious experience that sprung from unprogrammed worship. Even though Brinton privileged this experience over theory, he also saw the importance of “consistent system of ideas.” With this in mind, Brinton was the first to present a systematic Quaker theology for the 20th century. He addressed many of the controversial questions that divided Friends from other Christians, and often divided Friends from each other.

•Is the Bible the ultimate source of authority, or the Inward Light, or both?

•What is the difference between conscience and the Inward Light?

•What role does reason play in Quakerism?

•Is the Light universal? Is there a Christian basis for universalism?

•How do Friends feel about the historical Jesus? What is the Universal Christ?

•What is the Quaker view of the atonement? How has this shaped Quaker attitudes and actions?

•What did Quakers believe about Good and Evil and human responsibility? What about the Fall of Man? Original sin?

•What did Quakers believe about human perfectibility? How do Friends feel about the relation between the Divine and the human?

In addressing these questions, Brinton explored historical precedents and explained their relevance to today's world.

Another important innovation in Brinton’s book was his attempt to address the key theological issues of his day, particularly the neo-Calvinist theology of Karl Barth. Like Barth and the Neo-Calvinists, Brinton recognized the limitations of liberal optimism and saw some validity in Calvin’s dark view of human nature, but he felt that the Neo-Calvinists had gone too far. As L. Hugh Doncaster noted, Brintons suggested that “Quaker historians of this century were influenced, perhaps overinfluenced, by Hegelian idealism; and that now we are facing the challenge of neo-Calvinism. Between these two stands Barclay, ‘pessimistic regarding… ‘natural’ man’s present condition, but optimistic in regard to man’s capacity for regeneration and union with God even in this life.”

Brinton staunchly defended Rufus Jones’s view that Quakerism is essentially a mystical religion which differed dramatically from the Puritanism of its day. This view has been challenged by Hugh Barbour and other Quaker historians, who Brinton felt went too far in their assertions. Brinton also saw the evangelical and holiness movement as fundamentally at odds with “real Quakerism.” This view has also been challenged by evangelical Friends, most recently by Carole Spenser in her book Holiness: the Soul of Quakerism. Certainly, one of the weaknesses of Brinton's argument was his reluctance to acknowledge that his view of Quakerism is a minority position. Pastoral and Evangelical Friends were at the forefront of missionary efforts to spread Quakerism in the 19th and 20th century, and today only 25% of the world's Quakers are unprogrammed Friends.. As Margaret Bacon pointed out, “it is no longer acceptable, as it perhaps was fifty years ago, to write the history of the Society of Friends from the point of view of one's own affiliation.”

Even though Brinton espoused a liberal, modernist viewpoint, he was open to dialogue with those from other branches of Quakerism. He was part of the modern revival of theological discussion among Quaker academics and became involved with the Quaker Theological Discussion Group at its very inception. In the very first issue of Quaker Religious Thought, Brinton's essay on the “Holy Spirit” was published, along with responses from notable Quaker theologians. This exchange among Friends is worth summarizing to give a flavor of the theological views of this period.

Lewis Benson, a Friend who was passionately Christocentric and later founded the New Foundation movement, argued that Brinton overemphasized the “Hellenic” as opposed to Hebrew-Christian side of Quakerism (the Universal Christ Spirit rather than the historic, incarnate Jesus) and did not acknowledge the Trinitarian views of early Friends. Benson, an expert on Fox’s writings, cited passages from Fox’s work acknowledging the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Brinton responds that while Fox occasionally used this traditional formula, most early Friends did not. Penn and Barclay often referred to the Spirit and to Christ in universalist terms. Brinton saw a need for both the universal/impersonal and the particular/personal, and denied that the universal is necessarily “abstract.” According to Brinton, experiencing Spirit as a universal, ineffable presence can be as deeply felt as experiencing Spirit as “I-thou.”

Thomas Brown pointed out “the dangers inherent in religion based only on the Spirit within.” According to Brown, those who rely only on the “Spirit within” run the risk of pride and “idolatry.” Brown also argued for a Trinitarian viewpoint, citing Tillich that the “unity between ultimacy and the concreteness in the living God.” Brinton responded that early Friends had safeguards against spiritual pride: they relied on group discernment and scripture as a way to test the leadings of the Inward Light. In this respect, they were unlike the Ranters and anarchists of today. Finally, Brinton agreed that the Trinity is a “time-honored and suggestive symbol,” but argued that God should not be limited to only three ways of presenting himself to human beings. Why not two, or four, or an infinite number?

Speaking on behalf of pastoral Friends, Charles Thomas argued that there is no reason why the Holy Spirit cannot communicate through pre-arranged worship, as in a sermon. Brinton responded that while it is possible for the Holy Spirit to communicate through this means, prepared talks on religious matters are best presented before or after a Quaker meeting for worship. The distinctive characteristic of Quaker worship is that it offers a unique opportunity for the Holy Spirit to manifest itself spontaneously and without human contrivance. As Brinton noted, “A Quaker meeting is a group search for Truth and seedbed in which individual insights may mature and develop. Such a group exercise of worship is a peculiar and difficult undertaking which may fail more often than it succeeds but three centuries of Quaker practice have proved its power and worth.”

The first issue of Quaker Religious Thought offered a fascinating theological exchange—unlike anything recorded before in a Friends’ publication. It was the beginning of what would prove a lively ongoing dialogue among Friends of different theological perspectives.

Brinton and QRT went in divergent directions, however. Brinton went on to publish articles about theology in Friends Journal, a popular Quaker publication with a wide readership among unprogrammed Friends. QRL became a journal read mainly by academics, although in its early years its circulation climbed to nearly 1,000 readers (a large number for the Religious Society of Friends). Despite the best efforts of this group, most liberal Friends remain theologically illiterate. Chuck Fager has claimed, with some justification, that contemporary Quakers live in an age of theological amnesia. Certainly Brinton tried his best to cure, or at least alleviate, this condition.

Notes on sources:

Introduction to Quakerism, Cambridge University Press, 2009.

J. Theodore Peters, “Remembering Howard Brinton,” Quaker Life, Dec. 1973, p. 30.

Quaker Theology, Issue 7, 2002. http://quest.quaker.org/issue7-5-fager.htm.

The Quakers in America. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003, p. 67.

The Bulletin of the Friends Historical Association, Vol. 41. Autumn, 1952, #2, p. 138.

Friends for 350 Years, p. xv.

Guide to Quaker Practice, p. 5.

See my article “Howard Brinton and the World Council of Churches" in Quaker Theology.

“Some Current Trends in Theology” by William H. Marwick, Friends Intelligencer, Tenth Month, 11, 1952, p. 583.

“Modern Trends in Theology,” Friends Intelligencer, Fifth Month, 2, 1952, p. 249.

Friends for 350 Years, p. viii.

Quaker Religious Thought, ibid, p. 24.

Latest news from the "Pay Your Taxes Under Protest" Campaign

2011-04-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

Did you let your elected officials know how you feel about the way your tax dollars are being spent? Are you happy with huge tax breaks for the rich, increases in military spending, and devastating cuts in education, health care and other social services? Why not go to fcnl.org and let your elected officials know how you feel? Better late than never! (There is no penalty for protesting after the deadline for filing has passed.)

Steve Leeds, a Quaker from Northern California, sent me the following note regarding the Quaker "Pay Your Taxes Under Protest" campaign:

A group of six of Friends from Northern California (Elizabeth Boardman of Davis MM, Bob and Kathy Runyan of Chico MM, Janet and Ed Hale of Palo Alto MM, and Steve Leeds of San Francisco MM) have been continuously meeting and engaging both within CPQM and with Friends from SCQM at the PYM Annual Gathering since 2007. Among some of what this small committee accomplished:

-The statewide Pay Under Protest campaign focusing on Friends within PYM is now complete for this tax season - a total of 99 participants, almost all Quakers. We are pretty sure there were a few others we didn’t hear about who wrote to their congressmen, or will later. And there were many who were sympathetic, but just didn’t get around to it this year.

-Elizabeth, Bob, and Steve facilitated a workshop and display at the 2007 gathering in Redlands.

-We have hosted "meal" tables at the Annual Gathering each year and at periodic CPQM gatherings since 2007.

-We presented a workshop in Claremont in 2010 and disseminated information throughout both Quarterly Meetings by sending and calling MM clerks.

-Elizabeth and Steve visited approximately 13 monthly meetings and Berkeley Friends Church in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

-We have an email list of almost 100 Friends throughout PYM that we disseminate information to on the issue Friends and war taxes.

-Each of us has worked with Friends corporately and individually within our own Monthly Meetings. Janet and Ed Hale were key organizers of a "Federal Budget Pie Party" at Palo Alto MM in March focusing on war taxes.

We are realistic and understand that engaging with Friends on this issue is a long-term project. Friends have a wide variety of views on the issue of Quakers, the Peace Testimony, and their taxes paid to make war. Some Friends don't think about the issue, don't want to, are fearful, think they might go to jail, feel the responsibility of job, family, concerned about the opinions of their peers in their Meeting and beyond, and more reasons. We've learned there is a lot of misinformation on the consequences of taking action.

Hopefully, we can carry forward and work closely with PYM's Peace and Social Order Committee. Any thoughts and ideas you have as clerk how to push this issue forward among Friends and beyond would be much appreciated.

We hope in the future that there will be clarity and specificity about the process for applying to present a workshop at future Annual Gatherings.

Please feel free to contact us if you have questions or ideas about how we can move this issue forward among Friends and ways to connect this work more broadly to PYM.

Peace,

Elizabeth Boardman, Janet Hale, Ed Hale, and Kathy Runyan, Bob Runyan, and Steve Leeds

Golden Dove Award for Best Peace Film and Book

2011-04-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

The idea of giving an award to the best pictures/animated feature promoting peace and justice came to me because of my role as an uncle. One of my duties as an uncle is to take my nieces and nephews to the movies--a task I don't mind in the slightest since I love animated features. Over the past year I noticed that several of the movies I was taken to by my nieces and nephews had a message that gladdened my heart as a Quaker peacemaker. Instead of showing the good guys vanquishing or killing the bad guys---the staple of Hollywood films--they showed enemies being turned into friends, and bad guys becoming good guys.

The features that most impressed me were "How to Tame Your Dragon," "Megamind," and "Despicable Me"--all of which earned what I called at first the "Quaker seal of approval."

The phrase "Quaker seal of approval" didn't seem very appealing, however. It sounded too much like the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" and reeked of oatmeal. Who'd want to see a film with such a dubious accolade?

Then it occurred to me to call my award "The Golden Dove" award and to involve the interfaith community in selecting the best films, documentaries, animated features and books. Once a year representatives of the religious community of LA (and eventually the USA) could vote on the Golden Dove and we could have awards events, perhaps at USC and UCLA.

It seems to me that many films (and books) appear that deserve this kind of recognition. For example, the films "I am" by Tom Shadyak and "Of Men and Gods" are ideal candidates for the Golden Dove. And for books, "War is a Lie" by David Swanson is a strong contender. Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace is sponsoring a Peace and Justice Book Fair during the LA Times Book Festival (see icujp.org). Awarding a "Golden Dove" award for best peace book could be a feature of this event.

The "Golden Dove" award would involve an annual awards event, in which authors, producers, and actors would take part. In addition, we could apply for grants to produce educational material to use at churches, mosques, synagogue, schools etc. The possibilities for peace education are endless!

I shared this idea with Susan Stouffer, director of the Peace Center at USC, and she was very enthusiastic. I am currently floating the idea with others in the interfaith to see if it will fly. I have a sense that angel wings are a-flutter....

Stay tuned!

PS If you like this idea and would like to run with it, please let me know. I don't need credit. I just want to see this happen. As Harry Truman once said, "There is no end to what you can accomplish if you don't seek credit for it."

"Have No Fear: Reach out in Love": Kathleen's final Easter sermon

2011-04-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

I felt led to write something about Easter, but wasn't sure what to say. It's been almost two years since Kathleen's passing, and I wanted to write about the way she faced death with grace, courage, and dignity--and how her life and death gave me new insights into the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection.

I pondered and meditated but couldn't think of suitable words, so I searched my archives and found a sermon that Kathleen preached a year before she died, and a few months before she learned she had cancer. It was her last Easter sermon. As usual, Kathleen expressed the heart of Jesus' teachings far better than I ever could. She spoke not only with words, but with her whole life, her whole radiant being.

Two months after she gave this sermon, she discovered she had lymphoma--the same kind of cancer that killed her mother at the same age. I wonder if Kathleen had some inkling of what she was going to face when she spoke these stirring words on Easter Sunday:

I don't want to die a natural death, like a plant. Just fade, whither, and flop over. I don't want that. I want to face death with courage, boldness, and hope, because I know that though I die, I will live, because of the victory given to me through my Lord Jesus Christ.

Truly Kathleen did not want to die. She loved life and did everything possible to escape death and find a cure for her cancer. But she knew that life was more than just a physical experience, and that cancer could never conquer her soul. Her soul was unconquerable because of her deep faith and love.

Kathleen was victorious over her cancer because she faced her final challenge with love, and without fear. She made a whole-hearted effort to fulfill her life's purpose, which was to be "perfect in love." She was grateful for each day, and for each person she encountered. The world became her parish.

I will always cherish her final Easter sermon, which ends with the words:

"Have no fear…reach out in love. For 'No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us.'"

Kathleen's words and life express better than I ever could the essence of Easter. Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed, when we open our hearts to the Love which never dies.

Easter Sunday 3/23/08

“Have No Fear”

John 20:19-31

Rev. Kathleen Ross

Have you ever had a sense of panic? There’s that fear that wakes you up in the middle of the night. There’s the anxious sense you have during the day that there’s something very important that you forgot to do. Was it my rent check, or my house payment?… O yes! I’ve got to fill out my taxes!

Fear and panic not only makes our heart race or our minds seize up. Fear also causes us to do some very strange things.

I read, for example, that in 1947 Vladimir Zenchenkov, a government accounting clerk in Russia, returned home from a night of drinking to discover that he had lost 400 ration cards which belonged to his boss. This was not a good thing. In postwar Russia ration cards were worth your life. To lose these cards meant that Vladimir would be sent to Siberia. So Vladimir’s wife took quick action. The next day she told his coworkers that he had run off with another woman. Then for the next twenty-two years the terrified man never once left his house. In 1969 Vladimir’s wife died, so he went to the local police station to turn himself in. The police looked up the case and told him that the ration cards had actually turned up in his desk drawer the day after he disappeared in 1947. So for 32 years he had been cowering in his house simply because he panicked. It’s amazing what fear will do to us, isn’t it?

In the story of Jesus’ resurrection, John tells us that the disciples panicked, too:

It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities.

You could hardly blame them, of course. Their leader had just been tortured and killed in a brutal, cruel way by both the Roman and the religious authorities. It was logical to assume that they would be next to be nailed to crosses. Fear had frozen their thinking about the future. There were just two choices – hiding or running away.

So when the women came to the tomb with completely new information that would completely change their plans, it’s no wonder it took a while for this news about Jesus’ resurrection to really sink in. You mean… we don’t have to be afraid, we don’t have to run and hide?

Then when Jesus appears Himself in their midst, they are completely bowled over by this completely surprising and new possibility for their future.

Jesus said to them, "Peace be with you. As the Father sent Me, so I send you.”

Then He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

Carlyle Marney told about an old man who was asked once, "Have you ever seen God?" He said, "No, but I have known a couple of Jesuses in my lifetime.” That’s what Jesus meant by breathing new life into the disciples – they were sent to be Jesuses to others.

The St. John writes in his first letter: “

No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:12)

That is what John is talking about. No one has ever seen God, but what you can see is God's love. And in another place St. John writes: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18).

According to John, love is the continuing testimony of Jesus’ resurrection and ongoing life in the world. And there are two places especially where you can see how love casts out fear. You can see it when you approach death, and you can see it when you approach the neighbor.

Look first at what the end of life looks like when, in fact, God dwells in us. If God's love dwells in us, then "we will have boldness on the day of judgment." That is the way John puts it. We will have boldness on the day of judgment because "there is no fear in love, perfect love casts out fear."

The fear he is talking about is the fear of what is going to happen to us at the end of our life. These days adults prefer not to talk about death. I found out last Friday night at Kids Club that children love talking about what happens when you die. But adults don’t like to talk about it directly. We use euphemisms or rationalize it. We say death is "only natural." We have analyzed the process of dying, the stages of dying and grief. Science assumes that if a process is repeated enough times, it becomes natural.

Well it may be natural for you to die, but not for me. For me, it is the most unnatural thing that I can think of. The natural thing for me is to keep on living. Naturalists tell us there are six phases to human life: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, old age, and death. I can accept five of the six. Five of them are natural. One of them is unnatural. The sixth is not natural, it is terrible.

A woman's mother died. Somebody hears about it and says to that person, "I am sorry. You have our sympathy." Then she asks, "How old was your mother?"

"Well she was ninety years old."

"Oh, well, then it is all right."

As if it matters how old the person is! As if it is less painful when we lose a parent, or a friend, or a spouse.

Our problem with death is that we are the only animals that know that we are going to die. That knowledge creates anxiety in us. We cover up the anxiety with euphemisms, objectify it with science, and we soften it with cosmetics. That is the way we handle death.

I prefer the biblical way. In the Bible, death is the enemy, "the last enemy." God has sent His son to conquer it, which He did in His resurrection on Easter. Now because He lives, we, too, shall live. So St. John says you can have "boldness" in approaching this enemy called “death”.

I love the word that he uses, "boldness." It is a word that is used to describe somebody going to battle the enemy. It is the way David approached the giant, Goliath, without fear. I can see David going to face Goliath, wearing only a T-shirt saying "No Fear." David rejected the armor of Saul. He said, "I don't need it, because the Lord is with me." John says if God's love abides in you, then that is all you need." There is no fear if God's love abides in you, for perfect love casts out fear."

I say, no more of this natural business. I don't want to die a natural death, like a plant. Just fade, whither, and flop over. I don't want that. I want to face death with courage, boldness, and hope, because I know that though I die, I will live, because of the victory given to me through my Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s why I love the final verse of our Easter hymn written by Charles Wesley, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”. It goes:

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!

Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!

Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!

Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

“Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!” That’s the hymn that shows that Christians need have no more fear of death!

That is our hope. No one has seen God. But you can see God's love in the way Christians approach death with boldness, hope, courage and, no fear, "for perfect love casts out fear."

You can also see God's love in the way Christians approach the neighbor. There are no more unequivocal words in all of scripture than these in 1 John 4:20-21:

Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

John was writing to a congregation that had lost its vision, had grown fearful of the future and had closed in on itself, shutting others out. But John reminds us that the Church's vision is outward. When churches turn inward, as so many do, the members argue with one another about all kinds of things. The results are predictable: hurt feelings, divisions, things said that shouldn't be said, recriminations. You know the way it happens.

John writes to them. If you say that you are Christian, then give the evidence. Not only in the way you face death with boldness, but in the way you face your neighbor in love. "For if you say you love God, and you hate your neighbor, then you are a liar." And love for God begins at home in our country, and reaches out around the world.

I’m sure you are as concerned as I am that the neglect of children and youth in our society is already a tragedy. The use of drugs in our society drops to a lower age every year. Forty years ago we were concerned that there were drugs in our colleges and universities. Now they are in the elementary schools. Teenage suicide has doubled in the last ten years. We hold the world's record now for teenage pregnancy.

If we are going to save kids, we give them a caring adult. If there is a caring adult in the life of a young person, the chances are that that person is going to live a more productive, happy, joyful life, even in a troubled environment.

It seems to me that the sign of a civilized society. No matter how sophisticated the society is, or how advanced technologically, or how wealthy it is, it is not civilized if it doesn't care for its young. It seems to me, and also to the writer of the epistle of John, that if a church says it is a church, and is too afraid to do anything about suffering neighbors, then it is lying. That is the kind of blunt language John uses to the Church.

I know that this church is committed to do something about what is happening in our society. Whether it’s addressing the needs of neglected children and teenagers, finding homes for the homeless, treating people of all races with dignity, caring for the disabled, or encouraging our leaders to provide health care for every citizen in this great land. A sure sign of a Christian community is that they are concerned about such things, concerned about those who are neglected in our society. In fact, this church has always been involved in what is happening in our society.

And now we have a new opportunity to courageously step out with love and faith into the future. We are not dead – we are alive! Many of us are excited about the new connection being formed between our congregation and Rolling Hills United Methodist Church through the appointment of Rev. Diane Rehfield to Walteria UMC in July. Among other things, this new partnership will help us serve the needs of the older members of our congregation through their health programs led by their parish nurse, as well as new fellowship opportunities through field trips and other learning programs. Of course, our service to the needy will continue through our partnership with Torrance Korean UMC. And now our outreach to teenagers will be led by Steve Oak, who has begun an English-language Bible study on Friday nights for middle and high school youth from our Kids Club graduates and TKUMC.

We have always said that our priority as a church is to be a place to provide service for the Walteria neighborhood, and now we can continue to do this in new ways. This is a real resurrection time for us as a congregation. The opportunities and joy we share in the Lord will grow as we continue to overcome our fear by reaching out in love to our neighbors near and far.

When Jesus appeared to His disciples He said two times: “Peace be with you!” Then He offered these words of assurance, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit...”

Why did they need the Holy Spirit? Because He would no longer be with them physically, but He would be a living breath of spiritual life living within them. And look what happened to them! They went from being fearful to being some of the most daring people who have ever walked this earth. Ridicule could not deter them, or torture or the threat of death. Nothing could stop them. That’s why more than one billion people on this planet today bow at the name of Jesus. Their terror turned to trusting, their fear was replaced by faith. They left the panic room to plant the Gospel in every corner of our world.

Jesus’ two most important commands were “Love God and one another”, and “Don’t be afraid.” So on His day of resurrection, have no fear…reach out in love. For “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us.”

Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Parable of the Family That Went Broke

2011-04-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

Rick Jones, a marketing executive at Lockheed Martin, called his family together to share some grim news.

“My job was outsourced,” he explained. "I got a pink slip."

“Oh dear,” said his wife Jill. His children Emily and Rob were, for once, speechless.

“The good news is that I have been offered a new job,” explained Rick. “Unfortunately, it’s only half time, and half the pay, with no benefits.”

“Oh dear,” said Jill. “How will we manage?”

“We will have to make sacrifices,” explained her husband. “We will have to sell our house and move into an apartment.”

“Oh dear, “said Jill. “Is that really necessary?”

“I’m afraid so,” said her husband. “Not only that, we can’t pay the tuition for our kids’ education. They will have to drop out of college.”

“What will we do?” cried Rob and Emily.

“You’ll have to find jobs,” replied their father. “I hear there are openings….at Wall Mart.”

"Oh, Daddy! That's terrible!" cried the children.

"I know," said their father, sadly. "But we have no choice. We're broke."

“What about health insurance?” asked Jill.

“I am making enough to pay for my own,” said her husband. “You and the kids will have to chance it without insurance. Take your vitamins and hope for the best.”

“Oh dear,” said the wife. “What about your Jaguar. It’s worth $50,000. Couldn’t we sell that?”

“No way,” said Rick. “I worked hard for that Jag.”

“And what about your membership in the country club?”

“That’s off the table, too,” said Rick. “What is life without golf?”

“And your summer cabin?”

“The one by the best trout stream in the state?” cried Rick. “You can’t be serious. It would be insane to give that up.”

“What about your gun collection?” asked Emily. “You told us it’s worth millions.”

“I can’t believe you’re suggesting we sell our guns,” replied her father heatedly. “They’re our security, and your legacy. What would we be without the family guns? In fact, I am proposing that your mother get a part-time job so we can pay the storage fees.”

“Oh dear,” said Jill.

“It’s very hard, I know,” said her husband, tears welling in his eyes. “But we have to be realistic. We’re broke.”

With that, he adjourned the family gathering and everyone went their separate ways.

****

The next day, the children received a call from their mother and rushed to the house.

A moving van was sitting in the driveway and the mother explained her plan to the children.

“I have packed my bags and have the key to the storage unit for our gun collection,” she said with great excitement. “And I have found a dealer willing to buy them for a handsome price.”

“Good job, Mom!” cried the kids.

“You betcha,” she said, grinning. With that, she and the children drove off, sold their guns, moved into a pleasant condo, and lived realistically ever after.

The Resurrection and our Quaker Faith

2011-04-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Alana Parkes, a Quaker singer and musician, gave the following testimony about Easter in her album entitled "Grace in Your Face":

"A couple of years ago, I went on a Quaker retreat for Easter weekend. The purpose of this retreat was to consider Jesus' death and resurrection, to figure out what that meant to us, and to our spiritual lives...On the evening of holy Saturday, we gathered in the dark and prayed together, and tried to imagine ourselves as if we were Jesus' friends waiting in the darkness after his death and wondering what would become of us. As I sat there, I was overtaken by a powerful spirit. I felt as if I were one of his friends, as if I were one the the women who had been his disciples. And I felt this powerful sense that my friend had been taken from me and I cried and cried that night. As I sat with my friends and prayed, we turned towards the morning and considered Jesus' resurrection. In that moment my sorrow was transformed and I felt this incredible joy because I learned something new about death: when Jesus said I will not leave you, I will leave my Spirit and my Comforter will always be with you, I knew that was true, and that was true for me. And over the years I was able to cry not only for the death of Jesus, but of my friend Hunter, who died of AIDS when he was only 23 years old....I learned that Hunter hadn't left me, his spirit was with me. And that knowledge has carried me as two of my other friends were infected with this terrible disease. I know that when they pass on, God will take them in His arms and hold them...."

Alana helped to form a Quaker gospel choir whose lead musician, Frederick Evans, died of AIDS in 1994. Never have I heard an album so full of love and life and joy-- yet the specter of death was never far from the minds of its singers.
"AIDS is not only all around us, it's in the middle of us," Alana avows. "As scary as this is, we try not to hide from it....What happens if you stop hiding? When we sing, we lift each other up, and are lifted. We love each other very much and love is the tide that carries us. We are so scared, we are so blessed. Find some friends. Look at what is in the middle of your life and sing it..."
When I heard these words, and the music accompanying them, my heart opened up, and I wept tears of joy. I had just come back from taking a group of Quaker teens to an AIDS hospice center in L.A. The teens had served food and sung Christmas carols to the residents, and it was a very moving experience. During that time of sharing our feelings about AIDS and dying, we came closer together than we ever had before. It was a moment that none of us will ever forget.

Death, and the hope of resurrection, are things that we cannot hide from. How we respond to this mystery says a great deal about who we are, and how we live our lives. There are basically four ways that people respond to the mystery of resurrection: 1) They deny it completely (the skeptical approach) 2) They accept it as an article of faith (the dogmatic approach) 3) They regard it as a symbol (the Jungian approach) 4) They keep an open mind and an open heart (the experiential/existential approach). I would suggest that the fourth approach helps us to get in touch with the heart of our Quaker faith.

To deny the Resurrection entirely is to presume that one has certain knowledge and understanding of the universe and its laws. Such an attitude may seem "scientific" and rational, but it really isn't. A real scientist keeps a mind open to all possibilities, even the miraculous.

On the other hand, to accept the Resurrection as an article of faith means that one is relying on secondary sources--written words rather than a direct experience. The believer runs the risk of placing a distance between himself and what the Resurrection is all about. Such a blind-faith approach may also lead to authoritarianism.

The Jungian perspective appeals to the intellectually minded because it assumes that the Resurrection was a psychological rather than physical reality. The problem with this approach is that we usually do not stake our lives on mere symbols. If the Resurrection is simply an archetype, like that of the mythological Osiris, we can contemplate its meaning with calm detachment. There is no rolling away of the stone, no frantic women running from an open grave in amazement and terror, and no smell of fish when Christ communes with His disciples.

For those who staked their life on the Cross, the death of Jesus was not a mere symbol. A real man suffered and died on a real cross, just a real men and women have suffered and died for the Truth throughout history. What, then, can we know for certain about the resurrection?

The most honest, the most scientific, and perhaps the most Quakerly, answer is: we don't know. And we never will know for certain. Even if tape recorders and video had existed in the time of Jesus, there would still be an element of doubt. There is a limit to scientific and human knowledge.

What we do know is that there was something about Jesus that keeps pushing away the stone from his tomb. Generation after generation, lives are changed, incredible risks are taken, and painful sacrifices are made, because people know in their hearts that Christ lives and is dwelling within and among us.

This, to me, is the real miracle of the Resurrection.

Many leaders have used personal charisma to persuade their immediate followers to "martyr themselves." But Jesus was somehow able to influence people who never knew him to make the ultimate sacrifice. Paul knew Jesus only from a vision, yet this hard-headed, pious Jew was willing to gamble everything, even his life, on the Resurrection. Why? Because he knew in his heart, from deeply felt personal experience, that Christ cannot die, that Truth cannot be destroyed, and that each of us can, through our faith, can become embodiments of the Truth.

Thousands of Quakers and millions of Christians have followed Christ's example and willingly, even cheerfully faced persecution and death.

I don't know if I have that kind of faith. Reflecting on this question, a very honest Quaker woman once said to me, "I haven't been tested yet."

Although I haven't had to face the ultimate test, I have, like most of us, been "quizzed" on my faith by daily challenges. Hardly a day goes by that I don't have to choose between trust and cynicism, between taking risks and playing it safe, between holding grudges and forgiving those who have hurt me. Each day I must choose between affirming and denying Life. Sometimes I make the wrong choices, and live to regret it But when I choose Life, when I choose to love instead of hate, to forgive instead of judge, to give of myself instead of hold back, I feel a joy and power that is impossible to put into words.

Meister Eckard once said, "The important question is not whether Jesus was born in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, but whether Jesus is born in my heart today." That is also the most important question about Easter. What does it matter if Jesus was resurrected two thousand years ago if I am not resurrected today?

Perhaps that is why the Quaker song puts the Christ story in the first person. In singing Sydney Carter's "The Lord of the Dance," we are obliged to identify with Christ:

The whipped me and stripped me and they hung me on high,
And they left me there on a cross to die.
They buried my body and they thought I'd gone,
But I am the dance and I still go on.

They cut me down and I leapt up high,
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll in me.
'I am the Lord of the Dance,' said he.

As I reflect on the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection, I feel immense gratitude that a man named Jesus was willing to gamble his life on the divine potential of us flawed human beings. When a disciple said, "Show me the father," Jesus responded, "If you have seen me, you have seen the father." This statement has often been interpreted to mean that Jesus uniquely embodies the image of God. Such a view is in a way very comforting. It says, "I don't have to do any redemptive work. Jesus will do it all for me." But Jesus did not let his disciples off the hook that easily. What he made clear is that no savior, and no priest, and no paid minister can "do" religion for us. We must work out our salvation for ourselves, in fear and trembling, in love and hope, because just as God can become like us, we can become like God. Jesus says in a seldom quoted passage (it's far too revolutionary!): "To tell you the truth, anyone who trusts in me will not only do what I have been doing, he will do even greater things..." (John 14:12). What a staggering thought! If we trust in the divine potential within us, we will not only equal, but surpass what Jesus did.

This is too radical an idea for conventional minds, but it has been the revolutionary faith of Friends since the time of Fox, and it has inspired incredible acts of faith, courage, and love. The redemptive power of God--the eternal Christ---lives in each one of us. And if we are willing to speak our truth, risk rejection and remain faithful to the Light, we will come to know what James and William Penn meant when they spoke of the "crown of life":

Blessed are those who persevere under trial, because when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love God--- James 1:12

Honoring Tom Fox, Quaker martyr to pacifism, on Palm Sunday...

2011-04-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

"The only thing that will tip the balance between planting [olives trees, symbols of peace] and uprooting is for all peoples, Jewish, Muslim and Christian to work together in solidarity. We must pray together. We must work together. We must continue to bring light to those from all faiths whose hearts are trapped in darkness. We must all find ways to root ourselves in the creation of peace." --Tom Fox, Quaker peace activist and martyr, qt. in "Tom Fox Was My Friend, Yours, Too" (ed by Chuck Fager and available through Kimo Press, kimopress.com).

It seems appropriate to honor Tom Fox on this day when his friend Jim Loney will be leading a Palm Sunday Peace Parade in Pasadena. (See http://www.thepeaceacademy.org/peaceparade/) This parade was started by Mennonites and brings together people of many faith traditions to honor the "Prince of Peace." In my Universalist blog I talk about how Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem can be interpreted as a political demonstration challenging the Roman empire and its notion of peace (the Pax Romana). See http://quakeruniversalist.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/palm-sunday-peace-parade-and-jim-loney-christian-peace-team-member/

Tom Fox and Jim Loney were two of four Christian Peace Team members who went to Iraq to stand in solidarity with the Iraqi people (not to convert them) after the US invasion and occupation. They were kidnapped by some radical insurgents in November 2005. After 118 days, all were released, except for Tom, who was brutally murdered.

No Friend is better known throughout the world today, especially in the Muslim world. Fox speaks to the heart of our Quaker faith. Like Mary Dyer, Mary Fisher and other early Friends who were called to travel in the ministry, Fox was willing to risk his life to bear witness to the power of love and the Inward Light.
Fox was also part of the interfaith movement. Although he considered himself a Christian, he was open to spiritual insights from other religions, such as Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. He went to Israel/Palestine and listened to all sides in this tragic conflict. He lived side-by-side with the Iraqi people and took up their cause and their concerns. He showed by his example what it means to “walk cheerfully on the earth, answering that of God in everyone.”

When news of Fox’s death was announced, he was deeply mourned by the Muslim community, which will always remember and honor him. A young Muslim man I know named Yasir Shah wrote a letter to Friends Bulletin when he learned of Tom Fox’s death: “I’m heart-broken to say that it’s only recently that I’ve come to find out about such a courageous and dedicated man…. I believe that Tom Fox’s family, the American people, and the Iraqi people were blessed to have someone of his caliber to fight for them…Tom Fox embodied the characteristics of the leaders of the civil rights movement….[and] I pray that we increase our unity in the stand against injustice, and continue to strive for the rights of all humans.”

ICUJP Peace and Justice Book Fair

2011-04-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

You are cordially invited to this interfaith event, in which I am a panelist.

Camouphlage-colored easter eggs available at CVS!

2011-04-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

Corporate America has drafted the Easter Bunny into the war effort and is producing camouphlage Easter eggs. What next? Crucifixes that are actually missiles?

I totally support Nancy's suggestion that we go to CVS and let them know that we don't want a holiday honoring the Prince of Peace to be militarized.

CVS Makes War on Easter

by Nancy Aykanian

Don’t be surprised when you walk down the Easter aisle of your local CVS to find that the company has decided to do its part for America’s war effort. Amongst the usual pastel-colored eggs, chocolate bunnies and bright-yellow chicks, there’s a new egg in town for America’s children to discover during their Easter egg hunts this year: the war egg. For $3.99, you can buy a package of camouflage-colored eggs, with matching green and white armed plastic soldiers—the “toy prizes,” that, just like the jellybeans of Easters past, are, according to CVS, “Perfect for Easter egg hunts.”

Shocking? Perhaps. Surprising? Well, not really, given the increasing militarization of every aspect of American culture and society, and the aggressive ‘targeting’ of young people. What is particularly alarming, however, is that it appears that promoting and normalizing war to high school and middle school-age children is no longer enough; it seems that we have to start reaching out to toddlers, too; or rather, children between the ages of 6-12, especially young boys. While war toys and playing war are nothing new, what is new about this particular toy is that it was manufactured specifically for Easter, a time of year when Christians around the world celebrate life, rebirth and renewal. There is nothing in the Easter story, as far as I remember, that even remotely embraces death, destruction and war—except, that is, for corporate America in 2011, and its war-for-profit version of the story and mass marketing of it.

That the CVS Corporation deemed it appropriate to produce and sell militarized Easter eggs to our nation’s youngest children shows a serious lack of judgment, sensitivity and decency, which would be the generous reading of the situation. What is more likely is that it is yet another example of a laissez-faire corporate mind-set that operates within the (il)logic that anything goes if a company can make a buck. We may never know the truth behind the decision to associate war with Easter (what’s next drone Reindeer?): was it due to the ignorance and insensitivity ‘of a few bad eggs,’ who saw the product as ‘just another cool toy’; or was it, in fact, a more deliberate and informed decision on the part of the higher ups in the company’s chain of command? What we do know, however, is that CVS either lacks, or chooses to ignore, a coherent policy of what is and is not appropriate to sell to children, not to mention a clue about what might, furthermore, be highly offensive to its adult customers. (And while it is true that the chain sells lots of products that are not good for children, this particular item is both dangerous and disturbing for all that it represents,)

It is imperative that CVS be held accountable for its decision to endorse the sale of these “Easter” eggs, which specifically target the youngest, most vulnerable and impressionable members of our citizenry who are growing up in an increasingly militarized and militaristic society.

For more, go to:

http://www.justicewithpeace.org/node/2585

Palm Sunday Peace Parade: a Quaker/Mennonite perspective

2011-04-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

Four years ago, when my wife asked me to preach on Palm Sunday, I based my sermon on Marcus Borg's book The Last Week of Jesus, in which he argues that Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem during Holy Week was making a political statement--a rejection of the Roman empire and its militaristic notion of peace. Only later did I discover that the Mennonites organize an annual peace parade on Palm Sunday in Pasadena with the same intention--to reject the militarism of the American empire and to affirm Jesus' pacifist teachings. This year the speaker will be James Loney, who was one of the Christian Peace Team members who was taken hostage in Iraq along with the Quaker Tom Fox (who was martyred). To find out more, see:

http://www.thepeaceacademy.org/peaceparade/

Here's what I said in my sermon:

I’d like to begin by sharing with you some history of Bible times provided by theologian Marcus Borg’s insightful new book, The Last Week of Jesus.

The day which Christians celebrate as Palm Sunday, the first day of the Jewish festival of Passover. Borg informs us that there were actually two processions entering Jerusalem on that day. Christians celebrate each year Jesus’ parade with palm branches. However, most of us don’t know that there was a second procession -- Pontius Pilate’s parade.

You may be surprised to learn that Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea/Palestine, did not usually stay in Jerusalem. He lived in the governor's residence in Caesarea. Caesarea was an important port city about 70 miles northwest of Jerusalem, on the Mediterranean coast of Palestine. Besides being a seaport, Caesarea was also a tourist haven, with modern Roman architecture and all the advantages of civilization.

Only during important Jewish festivals, like Passover, did Pilate reluctantly leave his plush governor’s mansion. He always took a contingent of well-armed soldiers to march to Jerusalem. He did this for security reasons. During the Jewish holidays, Jews were especially hostile to the Roman empire. The vast majority of Jews were angry with Roman occupation of their country and stir up riots. Pilate’s army came to insure stability and to let the Jews know who was in charge.

The Jewish common people had good reason to be hostile to the Roman Empire. Both the Romans, and their wealthy Jewish collaborators, taxed the common people almost to death. To pay these exorbitant taxes, poor people had to sell their lands and become day laborers. That’s why Jesus told parables about workers without land. The workers in Judea/Palestine lived as precariously as day laborers, homeless folk, and migrant workers do today.

These landless workers resented their Roman overlords. They were like the insurgents in today’s Middle East. Groups of angry Jews, called the Zealots, formed “cells” and engaged in acts of terrorism against the occupying imperial army.

Now, Pilate did not see himself as an oppressor, but as a bringer of peace. Peace was the official policy of the Roman empire. The Pax Romana, the peace of Rome, it was called. Whether people wanted it or not, the Pax Romana brought the advantages of civilization—beautiful buildings, roads, trade, and prosperity. Of course these perks were only for those who were smart enough or powerful enough to seize advantage of these opportunities Rome provided. Pilate, like most Romans, felt that he represented a superior civilization, just as Americans do today. Pilate looked down on religious Jews as ignorant and superstitious. Why couldn’t they be just like other nations and accept Roman rule?

Because Pilate was concerned about security and peace, I think you can see why Pilate would not have been pleased with Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. Pilate had no doubt heard about this upstart prophet/trouble maker from Galilee. His spies would have told him that everywhere Jesus went, crowds of poor people hailed them as a great prophet. Some even called him the Messiah, the King of the Jews. Jesus was a dangerous man who needed to be kept under surveillance. He might even be a terrorist, or someone giving material support to terrorism. That was the purpose of Pilate’s security parade.

Now, what about Jesus? What kind of parade was he sponsoring?

We know from the Gospels that Jesus planned his arrival in Jerusalem very carefully. As Marcus Borg notes, what Jesus did had the earmarks of a planned political demonstration.

Take, for instance, the fact that he rode into the city on a donkey. This was political symbolism which every Jew in Jerusalem would immediately have understood.

For a Jewish religious leader to ride a donkey into Jerusalem was the fulfillment a well-known prophesy. According to the prophet Zechariah (9:9-11), the Messiah would come to Jerusalem riding humbly on a donkey, just like the great King David. Those who shouted “hosannah” to Jesus expected him to act like King David and drive out the Roman Goliaths and restore Jewish independence.

No one knew how Jesus would do this. But Jesus had a reputation as a miracle worker. So many people were willing to believe that somehow he might be able to bring about the social transformation they yearned for.

During the rest of this Passover week, Jesus’ dramatic actions suggested that he was, in fact, about to bring in a powerful transformation of society. He challenged the religious authorities at the Temple. He challenged Roman tax collection policy. When he said, “Give to Caesar what he Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s” this could be interpreted to mean, “Give God everything, and give Caesar nothing.” After all, the book of Job tells us that the whole world and its riches belong to God (Job 41;11) . Jesus’ radical words made him very popular with the common people but very unpopular with the ruling authorities.

By the end of the week, Jesus was arrested, tried, tortured, and sentenced to be executed in a tortuous, humiliating way. From a worldly point of view, Jesus’ plan failed. He didn’t have sufficient power or clout to be a worldly king of the Jews. From a worldly standpoint, what Jesus did was very foolish.

That’s why the people and many of his followers turned on him. Clearly this Jesus guy was no miracle worker. He was just another foolish would-be Messiah.

Jesus’ death should have been the end of the story. Many charismatic leaders had come to Jerusalem just like Jesus did, and were killed by the Roman authorities. But Jesus’ death was different. His death on the cross changed the world.

What made it different is what happened to his followers after his death. That will be the theme of next Sunday’s sermon.

I’d like to conclude by talking about what the Palm Sunday procession means to us today.

I gained new insight into Palm Sunday in March 1992 when I went to the nuclear test site in Nevada to protest the testing of nuclear bombs. I went during Holy Week and the theme for that year was taken from the the Gospel of Luke. In that Gospel, the religious authorities complain about how the crowds are cheering Jesus. And Jesus answered them, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." (Luke 19:37-40, ESV).

Those of us who went to the protest were not only deeply concerned about the wisdom of ever using powerful nuclear bombs. We were also affirming the power of God and the wisdom of Jesus.

By the world’s standards, we were being very foolish. But we were in good company. Many religious people, of every faith tradition, have been arrested at this test site, including members of our church, and our bishop, Mary Ann Swenson. We haven’t yet persuaded our nation to end its addiction to violence, but as Christians we would be foolish not to try.

The rulers of our country believe that they are wise, and those of us who oppose them are foolish and naive. They spend billions on the military, and mere peanuts on what is called “soft power”—the power of diplomacy and negotiation. The results of violence have been disastrous, yet they still call us fools!

Looking back, we see parallels with what happened to the Roman Empire. As Rome grew more and more rich and powerful, it grew more and more corrupt. When the empire was teetering on the brink of disaster, the Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity. Sad to say, he missed the whole point of Jesus’ message – the power of compassion. Instead, Constantine put crosses on the ensign of the Roman army and sent them out to conquer the world in the name of Christ. This was a sick perversion of Jesus’ message. Today, many people still believe that you can fight wars for Christ. What’s worse, many believe that the US is engaged in a holy war to bring Christ to the Middle East.

What is Jesus’ real message? It’s so simple every child knows it and can recite it. Love God. Love your enemy. Treat others the way you’d like to be treated.

“Loving your enemy” means talking with them, listening to them, trying to figure out why they are angry with you, and trying to find ways to make peace. As a nation, loving your enemy does not mean letting them walk all over you. It does mean diplomacy. It means giving food to the poor instead of selling them weapons. It means supporting international law and treating every nation with respect.

Imagine how things would improve if we applied these Christian principles to our foreign policy!

Foolish as it may seem to those who are fans of Caesar and the empire, Jesus’ wisdom of compassion can actually work in the real world. We know from the example of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. These men were able to transform India and the US without resorting to violence.

But to make compassion work, you need to be willing to take risks, to put your life on the line for what you believe in as much as any soldier on a battlefield. Forty years ago, almost to this day, Martin Luther King stood in the pulpit at Riverside Church in New York City and announced that he was opposed to the Vietnam War. Among other things, King called for a revolution, a revolution of values:

A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just."…. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

In the face of this spiritual death and destruction, King challenged the religious community to speak out: “Silence is betrayal. We can’t be silent any longer about the evils of war and economic exploitation.”

These prophetic words aroused the anger of many in power who had supported King’s Civil Rights work. A year after King gave this message at Riverside Church, on April 4, 1968, he was shot down in a motel in Memphis, TN. United Methodist pastor Rev Jim Lawson, and many others, see King’s death not as a political assassination, but as a kind of crucifixion.

Like King, Jesus also did not mince words when he went to Jerusalem and confronted the worldly powers. When he went to the Temple and overturned the tables of the money changers, he said:

“My house was supposed to be house of prayer for the nations. You’ve turned it into a den of thieves.”

These prophetic words infuriated the religious authorities who profited from their collaboration with the Romans. That’s why the chief priest went to Pontius Pilate and told him that this trouble maker had to be stopped.

The Romans killed Jesus’ body, but they could not kill his spirit. This spirit lives today among those who boldly say, “Religious communities must not bless war.”

Jesus was the Prince of Peace, but he was no fool. Like Martin Luther King and Gandhi, Jesus knew that peace came with a price and he was willing to pay that price.

The question facing all of us today is: Whose parade will you join, Caesar’s or Christ’s?

I hope that as we lift up our palms today and celebrate the Prince of Peace, we will say “No” to the power of empire and “Yes” to power of God.

Time to let your elected officials know how you want your taxes spent...

2011-04-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Are you sick of the Pentagon receiving the biggest slice of the federal budget pie? Do you feel education and social service should not be starved, while the war makers fatten? Check out this "pie chart" created by the kids of Palo Alto Meeting. This was a wonderful way to convey to kids (and adults) just as misguided our budget priorities are in the United States. The biggest slice went to the Pentagon (30%) while the smallest slices went to Labor (3%) and Veterans (4%). Education got 10%--hardly enough for someone on Weight Watchers.

You can find a more conventional pie-chart, with some concrete steps about what you can do to shift America's budget priorities at http://www.oneminuteforpeace.org/budget and http://www2.fcnl.org/budget/nd

There is a movement among Quakers here in California to "pay under protest" their income tax and to write letters to their elected officials letting them know how we feel about the misguided budget priorities in DC. Here's the letter I sent out this week to President Obama, Senators Boxer and Feinstein, and my Representative Karen Bass:

Dear Mr President,

I am paying my taxes under protest this year because I am appalled that taxes for the rich are being cut, and most big multinational corporations pay less taxes than average Americans, and in many instances pay nothing at all. For example, between 2007-09, the countryâ€™s top five companies (by market capitalization) have paid between 4.5% and 25.8% in taxes--far less than the average middle class tax payer.

While big corporations and the rich are given tax breaks, social services for the poor and middle class are being slashed, and the military budget is being treated like a sacred cow.

Our bloated military budget is sucking all the resources from the social services, education, r and d, and infra-structure development that Americans desperately need if we are going to continue to be a first-rate nation.

That's why I am paying my taxes under protest. I want my tax dollars invested in schools, green jobs, energy conservation, parks, libraries, etc. I want the rich to pay their fair share of taxes, and for big corporation to pay what they owe.

Yours in friendship,

Anthony Manousos

Entering Jerusalem: Speaking Truth to Power

2011-04-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

In this reflection on Quakers and Easter, I consider how we sometimes need to risk being rejected in order to be faithful to Spirit's prophetic leadings. Several years ago, I had an experience that gave me a sense of what it means to be a prophet. The war in Iraq had broken out, and there were mixed feelings in my Meeting about how to respond, and so we had done nothing. After attending an event commemorating the assassination of Martin Luther King, I told Friends that I had gone to this demonstration with the intention to get arrested, but decided not to do so because I had an appointment with my tax accountant. I later felt guilty. I was not living in the spirit of Martin Luther King, but rather playing it safe like a middle class. I told the Meeting that over $500 of my tax dollars was going to pay for the war in Iraq and that was about the same amount that Friends give to support our Meeting. "If we don't do something to oppose war," I said, "What kind of Friends are we?"

After I gave this message, which was really a confession about my own feelings of inadequacy and guilt, an attender of our Meeting stormed out of the meetinghouse angrily. Another member sent me an email saying I was a "knee jerk liberal." It was not a pretty scene, but it could have been much worse.

I later realized that those who give prophetic ministry should not expect to be appreciated in their own Meeting. Certainly Jesus was not appreciated when he went to Jerusalem to share his radical gospel of Love.

This entry is about "speaking Truth to power in love" and was written fifteen years ago when I first became acquainted with a remarkable peace activist named Sis Levin, who at that time was working for the American Friends Service Committee. It begins by recalling the radical faithfulness and courage of early Friends:

In that year [1654] a large company of Quaker evangelists, not quite seventy in number, spread out through the kingdom in pairs like the seventy sent forth in Luke 10. Known as the 'Valiant Sixty' by modern Friends they began to take their message into all parts of the country. In the few years that followed many became leaders of the Society, and some were to die in prison....For some reason the first Quaker preachers at both Oxford and Cambridge seem to have been women. Each group was roughly handled. The seats of learning dealt out beatings for those who dared disturb their fragile tranquillity...(63-64)

At Brigflatts Meeting Anne Wilson stared accusingly at Sam Bownas and said, 'A traditional Quaker; thou comest to meeting as thou went from it, and goes from it as thou came to it, but art no better for thy coming; what wilt thou do at the end?' (135- 36)

---John Punshon, Portrait in Grey

"George Fox is alive and well and living in Pasadena." This thought crossed my mind as I watched a film about Sis Levin, a woman who for a while was director of the AFSC's Middle East program here in Southern California. When Sis's husband Jerry, a CNN Bureau Chief, was kidnapped and held hostage in Lebanon in 1983, neither the Reagan Administration nor CNN did anything to help; in fact, they tried to silence the families of those who came to known as the "forgotten hostages." After a long, agonizing period of waiting and praying, Sis finally found the courage to "speak truth to power." She didn't just write polite, carefully worded letters. Aided by Friends such as Landrum Bolling (former president of Earlham college), she took her case to the media, and to her own faith community. In the movie, she is shown squirming in her pew as Episcopal clergymen conduct a "peace and justice" service. Unable to stand it any longer, she rises and exclaims,

How can we talk about peace in Central America and other parts of the world and ignore what is happening in the Middle East, in the Holy Land, the source of our faith?

As she passionately explains her concern, some shout, "Shut up and sit down," while others insist, "Let her speak." Leaving the church in an uproar, Levin rushed out. Neither she nor her church would ever be the same.

This kind of impassioned behavior was typical of George Fox and early Friends. By entering the public arena and speaking out from the depths of his heart, Fox felt that he was following in the footsteps of Jesus, who confronted the religious leaders of his time on their home turf, the Temple of Jerusalem. Nowadays few of us have the courage to take such risks. We prefer to withdraw into our cozy meetinghouses and meditate. We are reluctant to confront one another or the powers that be. "Comfortable" has become our favorite watchword. As a result, most of us are what Anne Wilson called "traditional Quakers."

Courage was the distinguishing characteristic of Quaker life in its spiritually vital early days. In the first decades of the Quaker movement, over 15,000 Friends were arrested and confined to horrible dungeons where many died. Others lost all their property and legal rights. Those who traveled around England spreading the good news of the Peaceable Kingdom came to be called "the Valiant Sixty, " and for good reason: most suffered persecutions comparable to those endured by Soviet dissidents. When Russian historian Tatiana Pavlova first read about early Quakers, what impressed her most was their willingness to run risks and make enormous personal sacrifices. As a Russian familiar with totalitarian repression, she found it incredible that a hundred and sixty-four Quakers signed a petition asking to take the place of those who had been imprisoned for their religious views.

When I encounter stories of such courage and faith, I wonder, "How does one get that kind of courage?"

I suspect that for most of us, it starts with small actions. It might be something as minor as refusing to sign a draft card or to take an oath.

There are basically two forms of courage: the first arising from a natural, and the second from a spiritual base. Both involve discipline. Natural courage is associated with the warrior; spiritual courage with the peacemaker and healer. Warriors live by a code that emphasizes courage, loyalty and duty. These virtues are essentially externally motivated, and so are their rewards: medals, public recognition, and "glory." A soldier's courage is not to be taken lightly, however. Gandhi used to say that one could not be a true peacemaker if one did not have at least as much courage as a warrior.

The courage of the healer and peacemaker springs from a deeper source, the power of love. As the Gospels put, "perfect love casts out all fear." Those who are motivated by love are willing to take risks that go far beyond the call of duty. They are sometimes willing to "lay down their lives for their Friends" even when their only reward is resistance, rejection, or even disgrace.

Evidence of this self-sacrificing love can be found in all spiritually centered activists. Woolman affirmed that he was "moved by a motion of love" when he worked tirelessly on behalf of the oppressed and met with frequent rebuffs from Friends. Sis Levin became a peacemaker first out of love for her husband, but finally out of a love of truth and justice. Working with Muslims who were victims of war, she learned to appreciate them as much as she appreciated Christians and Jews.

Not all acts of courage and love are as conspicuous and newsworthy. Many equally significant acts of faith go unsung and unnoticed, except by the Spirit that knows and sees all. It takes courage to face divorce or rejection and not become bitter. It takes courage to face a long-standing, festering conflict and continue to hope and work for reconciliation. It takes courage to face illness or the loss of a loved one and not lose faith in God's love. It takes courage to affirm the gospel of love and forgiveness in a world seething with violence, self-righteousness, and grievance-collecting. Perhaps the greatest act of courage is to face up to deep-seated problems in oneself and in one's faith community, and do all one can to bring about change.

The spiritual life of an authentic faith community is sustained not by rules and procedures, nor by traditions and customs, but by acts of courage and commitment that spring from love. If Jesus had waited till all his disciples "felt comfortable" with his decision to risk death in Jerusalem, if George Fox had waited until a committee gave its approval for him to launch his equally dangerous ministry, it is doubtful that these men would have been allowed to proceed. Every meaningful action entails facing up to the possibility of rejection and death.

How I converted my cat to Quakerism....

2011-04-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

My 20-year-old cat Xenia had become a convinced Friend during the first 16 years she resided with us. By this I mean she learned how to get what she wanted nonviolently and quietly. For example, if her food dish were empty, Xenia would stand by it and stare at me reproachfully. This was her way of "eldering" me. She hardly ever meowed. She didn't need to. Her silence was an irresistible force.

But when my wife was ill, we had to leave Xenia with a Quaker family who indulged Xenia beyond what was good for her Quaker soul. She was given canned cat food, which affected her like alcohol and caused her to become addicted. When Xenia finally returned to me, she was a changed cat. She was loud, demanding, and utterly impossible to live with. She was no longer a Friend; she was a fiend.

I realized the extent of my cat's fiendish nature when I left her with a woman who offered to be a cat sitter. This Friend, whose name was Suzie, was simply supposed to feed Xenia and change her kitty litter. Suzie had addictive tendencies, however--she was in AA--and Xenia learned how to make Suzie do her bidding. When I returned home, Suzie had moved into my apartment and was sleeping with Xenia. And there were not one, but two bowls of cat food on my bed. That's when I realized Xenia had turned Suzie into her slave!

It took many months for me to enable Xenia regain her Quaker composure. I understand the nature of cats pretty well, being of a feline disposition myself. Cats are strong-willed, independent creatures who must be treated with great deference. But they also are highly emotional and crave affection. To train them, you must love them. A lot.

So whenever Xenia would meow loudly for canned catfood, I would pick her up very gently and say in a quiet voice, "Every time you make noise, I am putting you into the 'meow-meow' room."

The 'meow-meow' room was the bathroom--the only room my little apartment with a door I could close. In this room were all the necessities of life for a cat: food, water and the kitty litter box. But once the door closed, Xenia was in total darkness. Sometimes she would whimper pathetically, but soon she fell asleep. I usually released her after half an hour or so. It was hardly onerous punishment, just a reminder that crying doesn't pay.

I did this consistently for several months, although once or twice I made the mistake of giving her canned catfood and her addictive behavior returned. This taught me the importance of being consistent and feeding her only what is good for her soul.

Besides dry cat food, I fed her with lots of sweet talk and petting, which she craves even more than canned cat food. Gradually her craving for canned catfood abated, and so did her meowing. Now, when her food dish is empty, she stares at me reproachfully, but also with longing, as if to say, "Can't you see your sweet adorable cat is hungry? When are you going to feed irresistible me?"

At night, Xenia has become increasingly affectionate. During her fiendish days, she slept at the foot of my bed, snoring, but now she sleeps next to my pillow, purring. When I cradle her under my arm, she purrs in ecstasy and I confess, so do I. During the night, when I awaken, I give her a little petting and she resumes her ecstatic purring. We both have sweet dreams.

It is clear that tough love is what cats need if they are going to become convinced Friends.

One more cat story, this time about a Bengal tiger, which is, after all, just a very big pussy cat.

I once saw a documentary about a woman who tames Bengal tigers, who have been known to eat a man when they were too old to hunt more challenging game. These tigers range in weight from 300-500 pounds and can gobble a medium-sized child for breakfast.

This Bengal tiger tamer was a petite woman who weighed perhaps 120 bounds. Even a female Bengal tiger weighs twice as much as she did.

So I asked teenagers and others: How did this little woman tame these big, ferocious beasts?

People usually responded: "Through intimidation?" But clearly this answer made no sense: nothing this little woman could do would intimidate a Bengal tiger, which have been known to kill elephants. In fact, if you make a Bengal tiger testy, watch out!

Only rarely did anyone guess the answer this woman gave when an interviewer asked how she managed to make these tigers do her bidding.

"Love," she replied. "I give them lots of love."

The way she showed her love was through action. She is the first person to greet them in the morning, and the last to say goodnight. She feeds them and cares for them, and they know she is loving as well as fearless. Perfect love drives out fear, as Jesus pointed out. And perfect Love is the strongest force on the planet.

If Love can tame tigers, or kitty cats, why not humans, the planet's most dangerous predator? (Far more dangerous than the tiger, or even the shark, which kills fewer than a dozen human per year while humans kill several million sharks.)

The Love that tames tigers, and transforms humans, is not romantic or sentimental love, but deep, committed bonding--the kind of love that truly understands and appreciates the Other. Such love transforms both the lover and the beloved.

Such is the love that has enabled my cat Xenia and me to honor "that of God" in each other and behave like true Friends. For this gift of Love, I thank my Creator and hers.

Playing with fire: Quran burning and the deaths in Afghanistan

2011-04-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

Like a boy who can't resist playing with matches, even when adults warn him of the consequences, Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, FL, couldn't resist burning the Qur'an. Not only did he do this despicable deed, he posted his inflammatory act on the web. He had been duly warned by the National Council of Evangelicals, and also by Evangelical pastors like Jim Wallis. He had also been warned by General Petraeus, Hilary Clinton, and countless people in the interfaith movement that such an act could lead to deaths in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Jones and his followers didn't listen, nor do they feel any responsibility.
Such moral and spiritual immaturity is tragic. It is also sad that the people of Afghanistan, roused by religious bigotry, killed 9 innocent people in response. As mature Muslims have said repeatedly, those who kill in the name of religion do not grasp the essence of Islam. As the holy Qur'an makes clear: "There shall be no compulsion in religion" and "Taking one life is akin to killing the whole world, and saving a life is like saving the entire world."

Islam is a religion of peace ("peace" and "islam" come from the same root), and the founder of Christianity was called the "Prince of Peace." There is no reason why those of each religion cannot come together in friendship.

Let us pause and hold in the Light of God's Love those who have died because of religious bigotry and spiritual immaturity. And let us also pray that those whose hearts have been inflamed by religious bigotry and hatred will come to realize that God is Love, or as the Qur'an says, "most caring" and "most compassionate."

Let us redouble our efforts to live in the power of Love, or as George Fox said, let us "live in the power and life that takes away the occasion of war."
See also a talk I gave last summer about "How to Overcome Islamophobia": http://laquaker.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-overcome-islamophobia.html

For details about the tragic killings in Afghanistan, see http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/02/afghan-official-civilian-deaths-on-second-day-of-quran-burning/

Interfaith Youth Work: Hope for the Future

2011-03-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

Preparing young people for a pluralistic world is one of the great challenges of our era. Interfaith youth work, an essential component of this burgeoning movement, has many aspects: service, dialogue, worship sharing, leadership development, fun and games, and of course pizza—the universal sacrament uniting youth of all traditions.

Eboo Patel, founder of the Interfaith Youth Core, has committed his life to bringing together young people of different faith traditions through service projects. He writes:

What if people of all faiths and traditions worked together to promote the common good for all? What if once again, young people led the way? Across the country, Muslims and Hindus, Jews and Christians, Buddhists and non-religious, are coming together in a movement of interfaith cooperation. They are proving that the 21st century can be defined by cooperation between diverse communities instead of conflict. (http://www.ifyc.org//)

I know from experience how important service projects are in helping young people to form their religious identities and to see the world from different perspectives, including that of the poor and marginalized. In 1992, I helped to start a youth service program jointly funded by the American Friends Service Committee and Southern California Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). This program mainly drew Quaker youth, but around ten to twenty percent of the participants hailed from different backgrounds, including a significant number of African American teens. For ten years I took teens on service projects to various sites: homeless shelters, a shelter for wild animals, an AIDS hospice center, and communities in Mexico where we built community centers and homes for workers living in utter poverty, without running water or electricity. These service projects were a powerful learning opportunities for all involved, especially the teens. Many reported having had life-changing experiences.

Today interfaith youth service projects are becoming increasingly common and popular. Greg Damhorst, a young Evangelical Christian, describes how one such project arose after the earthquakes in Haiti. Determined to help, Greg turned not just to his own religious community, but also to his friends of other faiths:

I brought the idea to a small group of friends – the “executive committee” that organized Interfaith in Action’s programs. We were an Evangelical Christian, a Catholic, a Buddhist, a Hindu, and a Humanist, and we set out to plan an event at which our campus could package these meals for Haiti.

I got a hold of the cell phone number for Rick McNary, founder of Numana, Inc., with whom I discussed the logistics of the project. We started a search for facilities to host the event, the money to fund the event, and the volunteers to staff the event.

We connected with the regional office of the Salvation Army who connected us with the local corps at the same time that a phone call from Washington, D.C. out of the Salvation Army World Service Office confirmed that a federal grant was going to fund our project.

With that, a community-wide, multi-faith endeavor was born. The event was moved to an abandoned Hobby Lobby building on the west side of Champaign and staff from Numana, Inc. flew in prepare for the event.

In a single weekend, 5,112 volunteers from every walk of life, faith and philosophical tradition passed through that site to lend a hand. In less than 12 hours, 1,012,640 meals were packaged for shipment to Haiti where they were protected by the 82nd airborne and distributed by Salvation Army humanitarian workers.

This is a story of coming together; it’s a story of cooperation; and it’s a story of interfaith work. As an evangelical, this is a snapshot of how I desire to live out my faith. To do so alongside people who I desire to show the compassion of Jesus makes it an even more compelling endeavor.

Jesus said “I was hungry and you brought me something to eat.” Consider the significance of inviting others to join in such an activity. If you ask me, this is a simple yet profound way to communicate the compassion of Christ, meet the needs of the world, and build a better community. (http://www.ifyc.org/content/feeding-hungry)

Another way to enable young people of different faith traditions to connect is through interfaith get togethers. In 2005 I helped organize an “interfaith icebreaker” which included Muslims, Jews, Bahais, Christians and Hindu youth. We met at a synagogue, played games, sang songs, and shared stories about our faith journeys. It was a powerful experience that was written up in a local newspaper.

We also organized an interfaith café, which took place during the month of Ramadan/Tishei (October) in 2006. Around fifty youth showed up for discussions about their faith traditions at a local Presbyterian church. Later many went to the nearby mosque in order to partake of iftar, the breaking of the fast at sunset. We ate delicious South Asian food, watched the Muslim prayers on close-circuit TV, and learned about Islam from various Muslim speakers.

Our local interfaith organization created a youth council. We called on youth from different faith traditions to come together to plan their own programs and also to have input into adult programs. This work led to discovering and nurturing youth leaders, some of whom went on to organize programs of their own.

The local chapter of the Parliament of World’s Religion also encouraged youth participation. Youth were involved in planning our pre-Parliament events and took part in panels and organized workshops. They also provided service at our banquets and other events. Several were given financial assistance so that they could attend the Parliament gathering in Melbourne, Australia, in 2008. This event, which drew over 6,000 religious leaders from around the world, had an exciting and inspiring youth program.

I am convinced that interfaith organizations are ideally and uniquely suited to do this work. The need for building interfaith understanding among youth is clear: we live in a society that is not only culturally but religiously diverse. We need to appreciate religious as well as cultural diversity in order to get along. Schools have made an effort to teach about cultural diversity, but have been reluctant to focus on religion—a much riskier topic. Interfaith organizations can provide opportunities for youth of different faith traditions to get together, talk openly, and learn from each other in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. The goal of this work is to help youth to gain a clearer understanding of their own faith and an appreciative understanding of other faiths.

How to prevent what is happening in Japan from happening here....

2011-03-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Two leading Quaker organizations, Quaker Earthcare Witness (quakerearthcare.org/) and the Friends National Committee for Legislation (fcnl.org) , have endorsed a letter calling for the US to end its reliance on nuclear power. This letter was sent to elected officials in the name of 142 environmental groups.

The Peace and Social Action Committee of Santa Monica Meeting has agreed to bring this letter forward to business meeting for its consideration. The Peace and Social Order Committee of Pacific Yearly Meeting has agreed to circulate this letter as widely as possible so that Friends and others can give it their consideration.

As we hold the people of Japan in our prayers, and hope that the effects of this disaster can be mitigated, we need to remember that we are also vulnerable.

California has two nuclear power plants directly facing the ocean and built on fault lines--San Onofre reactor in So Cal and the Diablo Canyon reactor near Morreau Bay. They were built to "withstand" quakes of 7.6, while the Japanese quake was 8.9. It is doubtful that either reactor could withstand a tsunami.

Such is the slender thread by which the safety of Californians is hanging. It is imperative that we let our elected officials know that we do not favor government subsidies of nuclear power; we prefer to see our tax dollars go to support renewable energy and conservation.

Tomorrow I will post a statement by a FCLN lobbyist about the threat of resource wars due to climate change...

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY NETWORK

8606 Carroll Avenue, #2; Takoma Park, MD 20912

301-588-4741; 301-270-6477 x.11

Sustainable-energy-network@hotmail.com

JAPANESE NUCLEAR ACCIDENT – A TRAGIC REMINDER
IT’S LONG PAST THE TIME
TO END RELIANCE ON NUCLEAR POWER

March 23, 2011

President Barack Obama
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu
U.S. Senator Harry Reid
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell
U.S. Representative John Boehner
U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi
Members, U.S. Congress

Dear Sir/Madam:

We, the 142 undersigned safe energy advocates, have been speaking out about the risks and dangers posed by nuclear power for years – for many of us, since before the 1986 Chornobyl and 1979 Three Mile Island accidents as well as the hundreds of other radioactive releases, unplanned shut-downs, and other mishaps that have continuously plagued both the U.S. and the international nuclear industries since their founding.

While nuclear power’s unacceptable safety, environmental, public health, economic, and national security risks should have been self-evident long before now, the latest unfolding nuclear disaster in Japan once again underscores the following:

Nuclear plants can never be designed to withstand all potential “acts of God.”

Nuclear plants can never be designed to withstand all instances of “human error.”

Nuclear plants can never be designed to withstand all types of “mechanical malfunction.”

Nuclear plants can never be designed to withstand all forms of “terrorist attack.”

There is no such thing as “safe” nuclear power.

There is no such thing as “clean” nuclear power.

There is no such thing as “cheap” nuclear power.

Consequently, the Price-Anderson cap on liability in the event of an accident should be repealed, all proposed governmental financial and regulatory incentives for new nuclear plant construction - including loan guarantees, accelerated licensing, and inclusion in a “clean energy standard” - should be rejected, and no new reactors should be built.

Existing nuclear reactors should be phased out as rapidly as possible, beginning with the oldest and/or most unsafe, and no presently-licensed reactors should have their operating lives extended.

Safety standards for existing reactors should be substantially tightened while they continue to operate and federal nuclear funding should be redirected to the orderly phase-out of those reactors as well as the safe decommissioning of closed reactors and disposal of radioactive waste.

National energy policy and funding should be refocused on greatly improved energy efficiency and the rapid deployment of renewable energy sources which are far cleaner, safer, and cheaper than nuclear power.

Sincerely,

Michael Closson, Executive Director
Acterra: Action for a Healthy Planet
Palo Alto, CA

Aur J. Beck, Chief Tech
Advanced Energy Solutions
Pomona, IL

Lesley Weinstock, Coordinator
Agua es Vida Action Team
Albuquerque, NM

Rochelle Becker, Executive Director
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
San Luis Obispo, CA

Laura Filbert Zacher, CEO
ARE Systems, LLC
St. Louis, MO

Thea Paneth, Secretary
Arlington United for Justice with Peace
Arlington, MA

Mari Rose Taruc, State Organizing Director
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Oakland, CA

Lara Morrison, Board Member
Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust
Los Angeles, CA

Kay Martin, Vice President
BioEnergy Producers Association
Gualala, CA

Kay Firor, President
Blue Mountain Solar, Inc.
Cove, OR

Sandra Gavutis, Executive Director
C-10 Research & Education Foundation
Newburyport, MA

Laurent Meillon, Director
Capitol Solar Energy LLC
Denver, CO

Elizabeth C. Battocletti, President
The Carmel Group, LLC
Reston, VA

Gwen Ingram, Vice President
The Carrie Dickerson Foundation
Tulsa, OK

Don Timmerman, Roberta Thurstin Timmerman
Casa Maria Catholic Worker Community
Milwaukee, WI

Kieran Suckling
Center for Biological Diversity
Washington, DC

Andy Kimbrell, Executive Director
Center for Food Safety
Washington DC

Lenny Siegel, Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
Mountain View, CA

Lucy Law Webster, Executive Director
Center for War/Peace Studies
New York, NY

David Hughes, Executive Director
Citizen Power
Pittsburgh, PA

Deb Katz
Citizens Awareness Network
Shelburne, MA

Janet Greenwald, Co-coordinator
Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping
Albuquerque, NM

Caroline Snyder
Citizens for Sludge-Free Land
North Sandwich, NH

Robert Singleton, Nuclear Issues Chair
Citizens Organized to Defend Austin
Austin, TX

Charlie Higley, Executive Director
Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin
Madison, WI

Pam Solo, President
(Co-convener, TheCLEAN.org)
The Civil Society Institute
Newton, MA

Norm Cohen
Coalition for Peace and Justice
Linwood, NJ

Cristina Castro, Coordinator
CODEPINK NYC
New York, NY

Medea Benjamin, Co-Founder
CODEPINK Women for Peace
Washington, DC

Bill Gallegos, Executive Director
Communities for a Better Environment
Huntington Park & Oakland, CA

Tam Hunt, J.D., President,
Community Renewable Solutions LLC
Santa Barbara, CA

John Calandrelli, Chapter Program Director
Connecticut Chapter of Sierra Club
Hartford, CT

Nancy Burton, Director
Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone
Redding, CT

Luke Lundemo, Director
Conscious Living Project
Jackson, MS

Lois Arkin, Executive Director
CRSP Institute for Urban Ecovillages
Los Angeles, CA

Stephen M. Brittle, President
Don't Waste Arizona, Inc.
Phoenix, AZ

Kathryn Barnes, Board of Directors
Don't Waste Michigan - Sherwood Chapter
Sherwood, MI

Lois Barber, Co-founder & Executive Director
EarthAction & 2020 Action
Amherst, MA

Jane E. Magers, Coordinator
Earth Care, Inc
Des Moines, IA

Chris Trepal, Executive Director
Earth Day Coalition
Cleveland, OH

Al Fritsch, SJ
Earth Healing
Ravenna, KY

Lester R. Brown
Earth Policy Institute
Washington, DC

Jim Bell, Director
Ecological Life Systems Inst. Inc.
San Diego, CA

Mahlon Aldridge, Vice President
Ecology Action
Santa Cruz, CA

Cara L. Campbell, Chair
Ecology Party of Florida
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Dan Stafford, Organizing Director
Environmental Action
Denver, CO

William Snape
Environmental Law Program
American University Law School
Washington, DC

Lillian K. Light, President
Environmental Priorities Network
Manhattan Beach, CA

Don Ogden, Producer
The Enviro Show-WXOJ-LP & WMCB
Florence, MA

Jennifer Barker
EORenew/SolWest Fair
Canyon City, OR

Ben Mancini, President
EV Solar Products, Inc.
Chino Valley, AZ

Judi Poulson, Chair
Fairmont, Minnesota USA Peace Group
Fairmont, MN

Linda S. Ochs, Director
Finger Lakes Citizens for the Environment
Waterloo, NY

Dan Brook, Ph.D.
Food for Thought---and Action
San Jose, CA

Jon Blickenstaff, Treasurer
Footprints for Peace
Cincinnati, OH

Nick Mann, Legislative Program Assistant-Environment
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Washington, DC

Richard V. Sidy, President
Gardens for Humanity
Sedona, AZ

Amanda Hill-Attkisson, Managing Director
Georgia Women's Action for New Directions
Atlanta, GA

Peter Meisen, President
Global Energy Network Institute
San Diego, CA

Bruce K. Gagnon, Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Brunswick, ME

Casey Coates Danson, President
Global Possibilities
Los Angeles, CA

Barbara Harris
Granny Peace Brigade NY
New York, NY

Vicky Steinitz
Greater Boston United for Justice with Peace Coalition
Boston, MA

Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director
Green America
Washington, DC

Jennifer Olaranna Viereck, Executive Director
HOME: Healing Ourselves & Mother Earth
N. Bennington, VT

Bonnie A. New, MD MPH; Director
Health Professionals for Clean Air
Houston, TX

Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, Program Director
Hibakusha Stories
New York, NY

David Morris, Vice President
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Minneapolis, MN

Jaydee Hanson, Policy Director
International Center for Technology Assessment
Washington, DC

Victor Menotti, Executive Director
International Forum on Globalization
San Francisco, CA

Christian May, Founder
iSupportSolar
Frederick, MD

Daniel Ziskin, PhD; President
Jews Of The Earth
Boulder, CO

Andy McDonald, Director
Kentucky Solar Partnership
Appalachia - Science in the Public Interest
Frankfurt, KY

Kay Tiffany, Steering Committee
Lexington Global Warming Action Coalition
Lexington, MA

Paul Gallimore, Director
Long Branch Environmental Education Center
Leicester, NC

Greg Mello
Los Alamos Study Group
Albuquerque, NM

Claudine Cremer, Owner
Meadow Cove Farm
Weaverville, NC

Linda Belgrave, Secretary
Miami for Peace & Justice
Coral Gables, FL

Barbara Jennings, CSJ, Coordinator
Midwest Coalition for Responsible Investment
St. Louis, MO

Mark Haim, Chair
Missourians for Safe Energy
Columbia, MO

Judy Treichel, Executive Director
Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force
Las Vegas, NV

Lilia Diaz, Outreach Director
New Energy Economy
Santa Fe, NM

Penelope McMullen, SL
New Mexico Justice and Peace Coordinator
Loretto Community
Santa Fe, NM

Carolyn Treadway
No New Nukes
Normal, IL

Wells Eddleman, Staff Scientist
North Carolina Citizens Research Group
Durham, NC

Larry Bell, President
North East Arizona Energy Services Company
Concho, AZ

Barbara Haack, Member
North Shore Coalition for Peace and Justice
Ipswich, MA

David Borris, President
North Suburban Peace Initiative and Chicago Area Peace Action
Evanston, IL

Nina Bell, J.D., Executive Director
Northwest Environmental Advocates
Portland, OR

Alice Slater, NY Director
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
New York, NY

David Krieger, President
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Santa Barbara, CA

Wendy Oser, Director
Nuclear Guardianship Project
Berkeley, CA

Jack & Felice Cohen-Joppa, editors
The Nuclear Resister
Tucson, AZ

Arn Specter, Editor
The Nuclear Review
Philadelphia, PA

Glenn Carroll, Coordinator
Nuclear Watch South
Atlanta, GA

Chris Daum, President
Oasis Montana Inc. Renewable Energy Supply & Design
Stevensville, MT

Philip Tymon, Administrative Director
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
Occidental, CA

Patricia A. Marida, Chair-Nuclear Issues Committee
Ohio Sierra Club
Columbus, OH

Dave Robinson, Executive Director
Pax Christi USA
Washington, DC

Judi Friedman, Chair
PACE (People's Action for Clean Energy, Inc.)
Canton, CT

Aviv Goldsmith, President
Precursor Systems, Inc.
Spotsylvania, VA
...

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