We Need a Project 2029 for Progressives!

 

In Dec. 2025 I published an article in the LA Progressive calling for progressives to create a Project 2029 describing the structural changes necessary to have a functioning democracy in our nation. The MAGA movement and the Christian nationalists had a radical agenda and moved it from the fringe to the mainstream with the election of their cult leader, Donald Trump. The Heritage Foundation created Project 2025 as a blueprint for the radical transformation of our government into a theocratic authoritarian regime.

We need a progressive political agenda as bold and as radical as Project 2025 and the time to start crafting it is now. Enacting structural changes in our government seems much more likely after the blue tsunami of the 2026 midterms than it did a year ago. Given Trump’s growing unpopularity and his unwillingness to change course or learn from his mistakes, the Democrats have an excellent change of winning a trifecta in 2028 and be able to reform the government in profound ways.

The Trump regime fundamentally altered the character of American government by concentrating power in the presidency and reshaping institutions such as the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court in ways that have weakened traditional democratic checks and balances. The broader MAGA movement has sought not merely to win elections but to establish long-term political dominance. The MAGA movement successfully secured a durable conservative majority on the Supreme Court, which they believe could constrain progressive legislation for decades to come.

If (or should we say when?) progressive Democrats gain control of the presidency and both houses of Congress, they should pursue an equally ambitious agenda aimed at restoring and strengthening democratic institutions. Here are some structural reforms:

Expand the Court by adding four new justices, preferably younger jurists, while encouraging older justices to retire so that a new generation can shape the Court’s future. Advocates argue that without structural reform, the current Court could block major legislative initiatives. Several Democratic elected officials have supported some form of court expansion or major judicial reform, including Representatives Ro Khanna, Judy Chu, Ted Lieu, and Jamie Raskin. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has called for dramatic Supreme Court reform, while Representative James Clyburn and Senator Edward Markey have publicly supported expanding the Court to thirteen justices. Senator Adam Schiff has endorsed a broad package of reforms that includes expanding the Court to thirteen members, imposing eighteen-year term limits on justices, establishing a binding ethics code, and strengthening conflict-of-interest and financial disclosure requirements.

Why is this necessary? There has been considerable controversy concerning the appointment of the three justices by Trump: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Their appointments helped create a 6-3 conservative majority on the Court. Controversy arose because Republicans blocked President Obama's nominee Merrick Garland before Gorsuch's appointment, Kavanaugh faced sexual assault allegations during his confirmation, and Barrett was confirmed just days before the 2020 election. 

Some of the justices have also been implicated in allegations of impropriety and conflict of interest. Justice Clarence Thomas faced criticism for accepting luxury travel, vacations, and other benefits from wealthy donor Harlan Crow that were not initially disclosed on financial reports. Justice Samuel Alito was scrutinized for taking a luxury fishing trip financed by individuals with interests before the Court and for declining to recuse himself from related cases. Both controversies raised concerns about judicial ethics, transparency, and potential conflicts of interest.

With an expended Supreme Court, we could overturn these unpopular and anti-democratic decisions:

• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) Overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the federal constitutional right to abortion. This was  major setback for reproductive rights and runs counter to what the majority of American want. 
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010). Allowed corporations, unions, and outside groups to spend unlimited amounts on independent political advertising. This decision has vastly increased the influence of wealthy donors and corporations in elections. [
• Shelby County v. Holder (2013) Struck down a key section of the Voting Rights Act that required certain states and localities with histories of discrimination to obtain federal approval before changing voting laws. This weakened voting-rights protections.
• District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) Recognized an individual constitutional right to possess firearms for self-defense. This severely limits gun-control measures.
• Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and UNC (2023) Effectively ended race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions.  It undermines efforts to address racial inequality.
• Janus v. AFSCME (2018) Held that public-sector unions cannot require nonmembers to pay agency fees. This decision weakened organized labor.

• Rucho v. Common Cause (2019) 

  Ruled that federal courts cannot adjudicate partisan gerrymandering claims. This ruling permits extreme partisan manipulation of legislative districts.
• Trump v. United States (2024). Held that presidents enjoy substantial immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts. This ruling ruling places presidents above the law.

Roughly 45-46% of Americans currently express trust or favorable views of the Supreme Court, while a majority are skeptical or disapprove. The current Supreme Court is on the side of big corporations and expansive Presidential power (as long as the President is Republican).  It is time for new justices to restore balance and democracy to our nation's highest court. 

Suspend or abolish the Senate filibuster. A simple majority should be able to enact major democratic reforms and confirm judicial appointments without requiring a sixty-vote threshold in the Senate. This already has wide Democratic support:

 

• Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has repeatedly called for ending the filibuster, arguing that it blocks voting-rights legislation, reproductive-rights protections, and other major reforms.
• Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who has supported eliminating or greatly curtailing the filibuster to allow major legislation to pass with a majority vote.
• Jeff Merkley (D-OR), perhaps the Senate's longest-running critic of the modern filibuster. He has advocated either abolishing it or restoring a "talking filibuster" that would require senators to continuously hold the floor.
• Chuck Schumer (D-NY) supported efforts to create filibuster exceptions for voting-rights legislation and has been open to changing Senate rules, although he has not consistently endorsed complete abolition.
• Kamala Harris, while Vice President and a U.S. Senator, supported weakening or modifying the filibuster to enact voting-rights and abortion-rights legislation.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who has consistently called for ending the filibuster.
• Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has advocated eliminating the filibuster.
• Ed Markey (D-MA) has supported abolishing the filibuster for major democracy and climate legislation.
• Cory Booker (D-NJ) has backed significant filibuster reform.
• Pete Buttigieg, though not an elected official at the federal level currently, has publicly advocated ending the filibuster.
• James Talarico (D-TX), has also called for ending the filibuster.

End the MAGA War on Immigrants. One option is for the President to follow the example of Ronald Reagan who signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which legalized approximately 2.7 million undocumented immigrants, and publicly expressed support for granting legal status to immigrants who had established roots in the United States. Another option is for Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented residents who have lived in the United States for more than seven years, have no record of violent crime, and pass a citizenship examination. There are between 14.6 million and 15.8 million undocumented residents lived in the United States in 2024, according to the Center for Migration Studies and the Migration Policy Institute. If these undocumented residents became citizens and voted, this could have a profound effect on electoral politics. A number of elected officials already support broad legalization measures. Senator Padilla has introduced legislation providing a pathway to permanent legal status and citizenship for many long-term residents. His efforts have been supported by Senators Dick Durbin, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Ben Ray Luján. Representative Zoe Lofgren has introduced companion legislation in the House, while Representative Sylvia Garcia and Senator Chuck Schumer have also advocated pathways to citizenship.

Restore and Strengthen the Voting Rights Act which was gutted by the Trump Supreme Court.

Reform the Electoral College. The President could require states to establish nonpartisan redistricting commissions as a condition for receiving certain federal funds, with the goal of reducing partisan gerrymandering. Another more democratic approach would reform presidential elections by replacing winner-take-all allocation of electoral votes with either proportional allocation within each state or adoption of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The current Electoral College system disproportionately amplifies the influence of voters in swing states and has twice produced presidents who lost the national popular vote, namely George W. Bush in 2000 and Donald Trump in 2016. Under a national popular vote system, every vote would carry equal weight regardless of where The good news is that Democrats won control of the EXACT states needed to elect the president by popular vote. And the best part is it doesn’t even need a vote in Congress.  The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is simple. States that join agree to give all their electoral votes to whoever wins the most votes nationwide, instead of whoever wins their own state. The Constitution lets each state decide how to hand out its electoral votes. It only kicks in once member states hold 270 electoral votes, the number it takes to win the White House. Virginia joined in April, bringing the total to 222. That left 48 to go. During the midterms Democrats flipped both chambers in Wisconsin for the first time in 18 years (10 votes). They flipped the Pennsylvania state Senate for the first time since 1993 (19). They took back the Michigan House (15). And they won full control of Nevada (6). That’s 272. If Democrats hold Arizona, its 11 votes push the total to 283.  Right now, a vote in Wyoming counts nearly four times as much as a vote in California when it comes to picking a president. Under the compact, every vote counts the same. Republicans know exactly what that means for them.  Democrats have won the popular vote in seven of the last nine presidential elections, which is why conservative groups spent the final weeks of the campaign warning about these exact races. Voters showed up anyway. Twice in the last 25 years, the candidate with fewer votes moved into the White House. George W. Bush did it in 2000, and Wannabe-King Donald did it in 2016. It would also end the swing-state circus. Candidates would have to fight for votes in Texas, California and everywhere in between instead of camping out in six states. Now the new legislatures have to pass it, and they have until July 20, 2028 to get it done in time for the next election.

Besides these structural reforms, we should:

Reduce military spending by at least 10-20% percent and redirect those resources toward universal health care and tuition-free public higher education. The Trump administration's FY 2026 national defense request was totaled about $1.01 trillion, including both discretionary and reconciliation funding.  Several members of Congress have advocated reducing Pentagon spending or imposing stricter oversight:

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has repeatedly called for reducing Pentagon spending and redirecting funds to domestic priorities. He also sponsored amendments to cut the Pentagon budget by 10% and recently pushed legislation that would penalize the Pentagon financially for failing audits.
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) have joined Sanders in supporting significant Pentagon budget reductions.
• Sen. Ed Markey introduced the "Slash the Pentagon Act," proposing to cap Defense Department spending at $750 billion and make major cuts to military spending.
• Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), co-chairs of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, have criticized military budgets exceeding $1 trillion and called for reductions in Pentagon spending.
• Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) have sponsored legislation and amendments to reduce Pentagon spending and shift resources to domestic needs.
• Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) was among House members who supported a 10% Pentagon budget reduction amendment. A few Republicans focus more on reducing waste than on broad budget cuts.
• Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has long advocated lower military spending and supported efforts to restrain Pentagon budgets. He is also a co-sponsor of legislation imposing consequences for failed Pentagon audits.
• Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) support stronger Pentagon financial accountability through audit legislation.

Fully fund the Internal Revenue Service to improve enforcement against tax evasion, which the IRS has estimated costs the government hundreds of billions of dollars annually. About $700 billion in taxes are lost each year due to fraud (tax gap). Spending money on IRS enforcement yields approximately $6.40 collected for every $1 spent.

Increase taxes on high-income households to reduce deficits and finance expanded social programs. The White House Office of Management and Budget and Council of Economic Advisers estimated that the 400 wealthiest billionaire families paid an average federal individual income tax rate of 8.2% between 2010 and 2018 when unrealized gains in wealth are counted as income. ProPublica estimates the "true tax rate" for billionaires to be 3.4%. Some billionaires have paid zero federal income tax in particular years when they had little taxable income despite large increases in wealth. In contrast, households earning $50,000-$100,000 often pay roughly 10-15% of income in federal income taxes after deductions and credits. Households earning $100,000-$200,000 often pay roughly 15-25% of income in federal income taxes. When you add Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, plus state and local taxes where applicable, the combined tax burden for many middle-class households is often in the 20-30% range of income, We need to ensure that billionaires pay as least as much, if not more than middle class tax payers. By taxing the capital gains of billionaires, we could make them pay their fair share of taxes.

Restore the expanded Child Tax Credit to reduce child poverty,

Raise the Social Security payroll tax threshold to $500,000 to strengthen the program’s long-term solvency, rehiring federal workers dismissed during the Trump administration, and restoring funding for foreign aid programs.

Encourage statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, which would add congressional representation for residents of those jurisdictions.  This reform would require elimination of the filibuster to pass Congress.

End subsidies for the oil and gas industry and redirecting those resources toward renewable energy development.   If you count direct government support such as tax breaks, royalty discounts, and other federal subsidies to oil, gas, and coal producers, recent estimates for fossil fuel subsidies are generally in the range of $30–35 billion per year.  If you use the International Monetary Fund (IMF) definition, which includes not only direct subsidies but also "implicit subsidies" such as the estimated costs of air pollution, climate damage, and other externalities not reflected in fuel prices, the figure is much larger. The IMF estimated U.S. fossil-fuel subsidies at approximately $757 billion in 2022, of which only about $3 billion were explicit subsidies and the rest were implicit costs borne by society. These subsidies would be better spent on renewable energy.

Eliminate the mortgage interest tax deduction and use the resulting savings to expand affordable housing programs, including Section 8 vouchers and other forms of housing assistance for low-income households. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the mortgage interest deduction will reduce federal revenues by roughly $25–30 billion per year in the mid‑2020s. Higher income homeowners receive the most benefit from this deduction. $30 billion could produce between 60,000-80,000 homes for low-income renters and people experiencing homelessness.

Taken together, these proposals represent a vision for restructuring American political institutions, expanding voting and citizenship rights, strengthening the social safety net, and addressing economic inequality. What I have proposed is just a start. I welcome your ideas and hope to see them evolve into a blueprint for a democratic future for our nation.

Resistance, Renewal and Restoration: How To Defend Democracy as a Quaker

Last night I had the pleasure of being on a panel with Tom Hoopes at Southern California Quarterly Meeting at Temescal Canyon. The theme of this year's Quarterly, under the able clerkship of Lawrence Alderson, was "Resistance, Renewal and Restoration." My fellow panelist is a remarkable Friend with a very moving story, according to Lawrence: 

Tom's son, Jacob, is currently serving a nearly 2 ½ year sentence in a federal penitentiary for throwing a rock that struck an ICE officer during a protest in Portland earlier this year that turned violent. Tom will share his story of relinquishing his distinguished career as a Quaker educator and leader and moving to Portland so that he and his wife could better support Jacob during his incarceration.

I was sorry not to be able to hear Tom's presentation since I am part of MHCH's annual celebration today, but he told me his story as we had pizza together last night. I was deeply impressed by his commitment to his son--he and his wife have moved to Oregon so they can visit him in prison as often as possible. They are also encouraging people to take action for social justice and let him know while he is imprisoned. What they are doing is what makes Quakerism distinctive and real. To learn more, click here. 

A gifted educator, Tom did a great job of facilitating last night's discussion while I shared some of my insights and experiences as a Quaker activist and how to resist authoritarianism as a Friend.  Here are some of the points I made:

·       Prayer, both individual and collective, can be a powerful form of resistance. Prayer vigils can be especially empowering. Leadings to take action to resist authoritarianism sometimes arise during meeting for worship or during a daily time set aside for prayer and/or meditation. (This can include walking or gardening, which can be forms of meditation.) Listening to and following the divine stirring in one’s heart can be a form of resistance to external pressure to give in to an autocratic takeover of our nation.

·       Join a group that shares your concern and offers hope. E.g. FCNL’s Advocacy Team, Indivisible, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, etc. The longer your commitment to a group focused on justice and peace, the more effective you will be. Be part of what Dr. King calls the long and bitter but beautiful struggle for justice.

·       Envision what a truly democratic future for the USA would be like, and how to make it happen. The MAGA movement had a plan, Project 2025. We need a plan for a progressive democratic future. See https://www.laprogressive.com/author/anthony-manousos

·       Seek a clearness committee if you feel led to special or risky action, such as getting arrested or going to Iran on peace delegation.

I also shared some of my recent personal experiences in Pasadena, in hopes that I could inspire and challenge Friends to become more engaged in the struggle for democracy.

I’m thrilled, as no doubt many of you are, by what happened this week. It feels as if a spiritual as well a political sea change has occurred in our nation. It seemed miraculous that a dynamic young Democrat with a progressive Christian faith would overcome a trillionaire Goliath, win a Senate seat in Texas and preach about the “politics of love.” It was amazing to see so many women, so many people of color, and so many people of compassionate faith win elections in deeply conservative places. This is certainly a time to celebrate but it’s also a time to be humble. We must remember to thank God and all those who made sacrifices to bring about this renewal and restoration of our nation’s democratic values. We also need to ensure that everyone feels included in this powerful new movement that is seeking to unite our nation around values such as decency, equity, diversity and truth.

Over the past two years we have seen how nonviolent resistance has made a difference and prevented an authoritarian regime from completely taking over our nation. Many have spoken out, resisted and faced serious consequences. It is worth remembering that this resistance movement started with a barefoot rabbi named Jesus who confronted the unjust imperial powers of his day with truth, love, and courageous witness. Friends have long understood that Jesus rejected the domination system and were inspired by his example and teachings. When Roman occupation, corrupt complicit religious leaders, and political violence oppressed those living in Palestine, Jesus responded not with weapons but with what Quakers call the power of the Spirit. He taught, “Love your enemies,” healed those whom society cast aside, and entered Jerusalem knowing that faithfulness might cost him his life. His crucifixion revealed the cruelty of empire; his resurrection proclaimed that God's love is stronger than fear and death.

That same spirit of nonviolent resistance appeared in Pasadena, California, where many people of faith drew upon those traditions as they responded to the war in Gaza after October 7^th, 2023. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Quakers, and others gathered in prayer vigils, rallies, and public meetings in front of the office of Rep. Judy Chu, calling for a ceasefire. Faith leaders spoke at these vigils, proclaiming that silence in the face of mass suffering would be a betrayal of their deepest convictions.

We also attended Pasadena City Council meetings calling for a ceasefire resolution. Our efforts culminated in a special meeting of the Council on March 18, 2024, held at the Pasadena Convention Center because public interest exceeded the capacity of City Hall. Over 500 residents attended, several hundred spoke out passionately, and the meeting lasted until 11 pm. Muslims spoke of family members living under bombardment, Christian clergy invoked the teachings of Jesus and the prophets, and some Jewish residents invoked Jewish values to call for a ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and a peaceful resolution of this conflict.

 The council considered whether Pasadena should make a public statement regarding the conflict in Gaza. After months of organizing and testimony from community members, the council unanimously adopted a declaration calling for the release of hostages, a bilateral ceasefire, increased humanitarian aid for Gaza, and continued pursuit of peace.

For many faith activists, the moment was significant not because a municipal declaration could end a war, but because it represented a public moral witness.

This declaration also had an influence on Rep. Judy Chu. A month after the City Council declaration, on April 20, 2024, she voted against the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 8034). She voted "Nay" when the House considered a stand-alone bill providing approximately $17 billion in additional military assistance to Israel.

The same faith-rooted resistance to violence emerged again the following year. On June 18, 2025, masked ICE thugs detained six workers near Orange Grove Boulevard and Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena. The operation occurred near a bus stop where workers had gathered who were working to help with the Eaton Canyon wildfire recovery. It was near my home and only a hundred yards from the Orange Grove Quaker Meeting.  A couple of hours after the abduction, some “rapid responders” assembled at the site when a masked ICE thug returned. When someone tried to photograph his car, he jumped out of his car and pointed his gun at bystanders. This sparked community outrage.

NDLON, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, quickly organized an emergency vigil and demonstration at the site. Thousands gathered by evening and protested against the raids, with demonstrators demanding respect for immigrant workers, many of whom were involved in wildfire recovery and rebuilding efforts.  Religious leaders joined immigrant-rights advocates in condemning the detentions and calling for solidarity with immigrant families. NDLON also brought their mobile cumbia band Jornaleros del Norte, and we all danced in the street. Pablo Alvarado, a leader of NDLON, calls this “joyful resistance.”

I hope we can take to heart these examples of nonviolent resistance as we seek to realize our Quaker vision for society free from war and injustice, where everyone’s potential can be fulfilled, and where our earth is restored. As Doroles Huerta famously said, “Si, se puede!”

Is the Bible a Dangerous Book?

                                                                                                                                      

I have not doubts that the Bible is a dangerous book,  perhaps the most powerful and dangerous book ever written. Take, for example, this story by Shane Claiborne, a Jesus-loving, Bible-loving Evangelical activist. In 1995, a group of homeless mothers decided to occupy an abandoned cathedral in North Philadelphia. The Archdiocese announced that they had 48 hours to leave or be arrested. Standing with these mothers, Shane writes:

"When we were arrested around these housing issues, a police officer took us to jail for standing with homeless friends facing arrest. He searched me, found my Bible, and said, "I'm going to have to hold on to this.,,, It's a dangerous book." He smiled, but I thought---it is a dangerous book. For hundreds of years this book has gotten people in trouble, locked up, executed."

Indeed, the Bible has been seen as a threat by those who support or profit from what Walter Wink calls the domination system:  imperialists, plutocrats, oligarchs, Fascists, Communists, and even some Christians, such as enslavers who edited the Bible to emphasize the parts urging slaves to obey their masters. 

On the other hand, I could give countless examples of how the Bible has inspired those seeking to end slavery, war, the oppression of immigrants and women, and other evils. 

But to be honest, I would also have to add that the Bible has been misused to justify all these evils. For this reason, the Quaker Elias Hicks condemned Christians who believe that the Bible alone can bring about peace, justice and the Kingdom of God. In a sermon he preached in 1828, he alluded to the Protestant Reformation when the Bible was translated into the vernacular and circulated widely by the printing press. This did not lead to peace and love, but rather "the worst of persecutions and sanguinary wars were introduced among Christians" (The Journal of Elias Hicks, ed. Paul Buckley, p. 419). 

I know from personal experience how hurtful the Bible has been to the LGBTQ community. When I was a youth service project coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee and Southern California Quarterly Meeting in So Cal back in the 1990s, I took the Quaker youth to the Rev. Carl Bean AIDs Center in LA where those dying of AIDs were being cared for. It was a profoundly moving experience for our youth. Many of those in this center not only suffered from a life-threatening disease, they had also experienced heart-breaking rejection because of their sexual orientation. We sang "Happy birthday" to a man who told us this was the first time in his life that his birthday had been celebrated. We learned that he passed away several weeks later. 

After our service project I took the youth to Rev. Carl Bean's Unity Fellowship Church, which seemed like a typical Baptist Church but had many LGBTQ members who were Black and Latino. Many were street people who suffered poverty and rejection. During his sermon, Rev. Bean lifted up a Bible and said, "If this book has been used to make you feel unworthy because of who are or who you love, don't let it." With that, he threw the Bible to the ground. There was a stunned silence. Than he stooped over, picked up the Bible and said, "But if this book helps you to see that God loves and accepts you and wants the best for you, then take it to heart." With that, he held the Bible to his chest.

It was a dramatic moment, like the moment when Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah in his home synagogue in Nazareth.

Rev. Bean's understanding of the Bible as not condemning LGBTQ people has been confirmed by the diligent research of Kathy Baldrock,  a straight Evangelical Christian who "saw the light" and became an advocate for the LGBTQ community. , I highly recommend her book Walking the Bridgeless Canyon: Repairing the Breach Between the Church and the LGBT Community. I also recommend a documentary inspired by her work called 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture, which shows how a mistranslation of the Greek caused untold harm to people who are seeking to be Christian but have faced rejection and condemnation. 

One of the most hopeful developments in this election cycle has been the  rise of James Talerico, the dynamic young Texas candidate for the Senate who uses the Bible to call for social justice. He is seen as heretical by Christian nationalists but I feel he understands the Spirit that inspired the Bible far better than his critics who idolize Trump, the antithesis of Christ. My wife Jill, an Evangelical Christian, loves Talerico and bestows on him the highest compliment an Evangelical can give: "He knows the Bible!"

How can we approach the Bible in a life-giving, Spirit-led way? One way that I have found helpful is the "Friendly Bible" approach by Joanne and Larry Spears. This was simplified by a Pacific Yearly Friend named Steve Matchett as the "Come as You Are" Bible study approach. In either case, there is no leader, no expert, providing a "correct" interpretation of the Bible. Instead, there is a convener who chooses a passage (sometimes with help from the group), explains the ground rules, and allows the group to be guided by the Spirit. We begin with silent worship and then each participant reads a verse from the chosen passage. Participants then take turns sharing and don't speak twice until everyone has had a chance to speak. They can ask questions, express doubts, offer insights. What they can't do is argue or challenge another person's interpretation. I have found this approach to be helpful in bringing participants closer to each other and to the Spirit. 

This approach can also inspire us to take action. For example, at Pacific Yearly Meeting's annual session in Monterey in 2026, a women felt led to share her passionate concern about a detention center that was being proposed not far from where our annual session was taking place. It felt clear to me, and to others, that she was being led by Spirit to share her concern with the entire Yearly Meeting. When she did, the clerk asked for a committee to be formed and we met and crafted a minute opposing detention centers that was approved by the Yearly Meeting. This has never happened this way before--we usually go through a laborious process--so I feel confident that Spirit was at work. Here's the minute that was approved:

As Quakers, we at Pacific Yearly Meeting affirm that of God in all people. We stand in opposition to the violation of human rights and human dignity, including, but not limited to construction and operation of immigration-related detention centers. They deny due process, disrupt families, harm children, and damage the fabric of healthy communities. We call on Quakers and people of conscience everywhere to take spirit-led action to confront these immoral developments.

In the past, members of Orange Grove Meeting visited detainees at Adelanto and worked for immigrant rights. I hope we continue to find ways to support our immigrant neighbors and those in detention. 

It's also worth pointing out that this minute is in keeping with Biblical teaching. The Bible frequently tells us to treat immigrants like those who are native born (see Exodus 22:21,Numbers 15:15-16,  Jeremiah 22:3, Matthew 25:35). In Hebrews 13 we are told to treat strangers as if they are angels in disguise and to treat those in prison or being tortured as if it is happening to us. 

Treating others as we wish to be treated is of course the most important teaching of the Bible. It's an ethical imperative shared by all the world's major religions. 

Quakers believe that to understand the Bible, we must live in the Spirit that inspired it. We know how Jesus and his followers lived their faith: they practiced love, peace, healing, and caring for the poor. How do we know that our reading of the Bible is guided by that self-same Spirit? The Apostle Paul tells us that we will know by the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22-23 NASB). 

I am grateful for the Bible and all that it teaches me. I don't see it as a rulebook, but as a spiritual guide that encourages me when I am struggling, and challenges me when I am complacent. I don't read it literally but I take it seriously. It inspires and empowers me to be my best self and to work for the good of society and the world.  

For those who would like to deepen their understanding of the Bible from a social justice perspective, I recommend the work of Ched Myers (who used to be the director of the AFSC in So Cal) and Bert Newton, a dear friend who is the executive director of Making Housing and Community Happen. Both of these men are activists as well as scholars of the Bible who challenge the domination system just like Jesus.

Here are their bios in brief:

Ched Myers is an American theologian, biblical scholar, and activist known for integrating Scripture with movements for peace, justice, ecological stewardship, and economic equity. Author of the influential Binding the Strong Man, he co-directs Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries and has spent decades teaching radical discipleship and public theology.

Bert Newton is a Pasadena-based housing justice advocate, Mennonite minister, author, and community organizer. As Executive Director of Making Housing and Community Happen (MHCH), he mobilizes faith communities to support affordable housing. A former associate pastor and "housing navigator" helping those with mental illness to find housing, he also writes and teaches on biblical interpretation and social justice/ His book Subversive Wisdom: Sociopolitical Dimensions of John's Gospel explores the social and political themes embedded in John's Gospel and their implications for faith and justice. His podcast Parody and Subversion in Matthew's Gospel. examines the Gospel of Matthew, exploring its literary, cultural, and historical context and interpreting Jesus' movement as a nonviolent challenge to existing systems of power.

"Not for irksome toil but for delight God made us"

I must confess that I often feel overwhelmed by all the activism I'm involved with, not to mention the assaults on my moral sense that I experience daily and sometimes hourly when reading about the demented man in the White House and his shameless MAGA henchmen. I am grateful that I am called to do important social justice work at this trying time for our nation and the world, but sometimes I need a break. I need what  Saundra Dalton-Smith calls "sacred rest" in her helpful book of the same title. 

Yesterday my "sacred rest" time consisted of a stroll through Huntington Gardens with a dear friend named Robert who is a therapist and a landscape gardener. He is  a joy to be around  because he has a beautiful heart as well as a wealth of knowledge about plants. We celebrated his 82 birthday and talked about many things from politics to spirituality, and also about workaholism, something we both struggle with. 

Huntington Gardens is a perfect place for recovering workaholics. It has an amazing variety of garden types to engage with: desert, English, Japanese, Chinese, tropical, and more. There are also water features to charm the eye and sooth the soul: a Japanese pagoda overlooking a pond, a Chinese garden with a small lake, and an abundance of waterfalls. The landscape gardeners at the Huntington are masters at the art of displaying nature's beauty. 

During our latest visit to the Huntington, we went to a plant sale and I was thrilled when I saw a plant I'd been looking for: white sage, salvia apiara, meaning bee-attracting sage.  This plant is sacred to the Chumash and is used for "smudging"--a ceremony in which the smoke from burning sage is used for healing. A Tongva leader told us that if you buy bundles of sage, it loses its spiritual potency. It must be gathered and shared for free to have healing powers. The same might be said for many other aspects of life.

Robert and I weren't pressed for time so we spent several hours  "saunterring"--one of my favorite words for leisurely walking. This word derives from the French "sainte terre" ("holy land") and refers to pilgrims who "saunter" to holy places. Pilgrims aren't in a hurry. They can take time to smell the roses and praise God. They also have time to share stories, as is evident from Chaucer's  Canterbury Tales. (The Huntington has a priceless Ellesmere manuscript of this classic work.) Sharing stories is what makes us fully human.

I am feeling the need for more "sacred rest" time like my bi-monthly visits to the Huntington. Gardening can be a time of sacred rest if I am not under pressure to "get the work done." If I am my best self, I "play in the dirt" for as long as it's enjoyable and then move on. This approach brings to mind the famous hymn "In the Garden."

1. I come to the garden alone,
   While the dew is still on the roses,
   And the voice I hear falling on my ear
   The Son of God discloses.
   • Refrain:
     And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
     And He tells me I am His own;
     And the joy we share as we tarry there,
     None other has ever known.
2. He speaks, and the sound of His voice
   Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
   And the melody that He gave to me
   Within my heart is ringing.
3. I’d stay in the garden with Him,
   Though the night around me be falling,
   But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
   His voice to me is calling.

When I am pottering in the garden, I often feel that deep connection with Spirit that  C. Austin Miles beautifully described in this timeless hymn written in 1912. I feel it not in my head, but in my hands and in my heart as I feel the damp dirt and the sunlight--the elements that plants use to grow in a miraculous process we call photosynthesis. The more I study, contemplate, and experience life, in its biological complexity and unfathomable beauty, the more I am in awe of its Creator.

One caveat: as soon as I "work" in the garden, I lose my connection with Spirit. This happens when the "workaholic" demon takes over and tempts me "to get the work done,"

I am reminded of what Adam told Eve in Milton's Paradise Lost. Eve suggests to Adam that could garden more efficiently if they work apart since being together, they are often tempted to dawdle. Adam responds that being apart, they are more likely to be tempted by the devil. Besides, he says, "not for irksome toil but for delight God made us" (IX, 241).

I love that line and all that it implies: the perfect antidote to workaholism is delight.

I have been reflecting on the things that delight me. Being with friends, sauntering, reading and writing poetry, writing in my blog, taking naps. These are some of my "favorite things." I am writing this to remind myself that I need to focus more on delight and less on "irksome toil."

What is it that brings you delight? What are your "favorite things?" How do you think God feels when you experience delight? 

Let me conclude with a poem I wrote over 40 years ago when I first became a Quaker and was living in West Philly.  "Surrender Garden" alludes to the "Surrender Group" that was started in Princeton Meeting by a Taoist Quaker elder named Herrymon Maurer. I was part of this group which was inspired by AA, only it was for "ego-holics" rather than alcoholics. Surrendering meant surrendering to one's Higher Power and avoiding ego-holism, of which workaholism is a symptom. The cure is to to connect with the Way, the Truth, and the Life, otherwise known as the Tao or Inward Light, to which this poem points. 

The Surrender Garden

(for Wendell Berry)

I farm a room-sized plot of earth
where once a factory stood.
In spring, I'm met by eager volunteers--
onions and leeks, Swiss chard and kale
green and sweet as those in paradise.

But as I turn the soil for the first time,
bricks the size and shape of potatoes
stick in my digger's stubborn teeth.
My brow sweats. My winter-weary muscles ache.
I feel the effects of the fall.

My seeds are scattered to the sound
of kids and cars, trolleys and boom boxes.
I use my hands instead of a digger
because I love to mold and stroke the earth,
to feel it touch my skin.
I sit in my garden like a kid in a sandbox
and think of my Greek grandfather
for whom gardening was no game.

With the sun and rains
weeds rise up like angry peasants
insisting on their squatter's rights.
I can't blame them.
I've been an absentee.
Down on my knees, I make a space
for my seedlings as I pull the weeds
carefully by the roots,
roots that go on and on
like my compulsions and obsessions.
This is the work that never seems to end,
the work my father and his father handed down.

Some evenings I come here simply to sit alone,
and watch things grow.

It's quiet and still as a church.
At the far end of the garden
a woman waters her flowers,
and the smell of wet earth rises
like a prayer, an offering,
into the darkening sky.

Philadelphia, 1985

Being Blessed by the Black Community and by Pastors Kerwin and Madelyn Manning

I have been reflecting on how blessed I feel by my connection with the Black community of Pasadena. Jill has been connected with this community since the 1990s when she moved to Pasadena and apprenticed herself to John Perkins, an amazing African American religious and Civil Rights  leader who founded the Christian Community Development Association (CCD). She moved into the Harambee Center which was started by Perkins in what was the most dangerous and gang-ridden part of Pasadena. The goal of the Harambee Center was to foster youth development, education, arts, leadership formation, and Christian discipleship. Perkins became Jill's mentor.  For decades she has lived in the heart of the Black community, formed deep friendships, became active with the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA, the oldest association of Black pastors in the greater Pasadena area, and earned their respect and love. 

When I married Jill 15 years ago, a Black pastor told me: "When you married Jill, you also married the city of Pasadena." 

These words proved prophetic since over the years I have come to love Pasadena,  and especially Northwest Pasadena, the most diverse area of our city. For the last ten years Jill and I have been working with residents of the N. Fair Oaks area, once a thriving Black Main Street, that has suffered decline because of discriminatory policies. This work has culminated in the City's decision to name this area "The Black Legacy District" and to adopt almost all the community's recommendations for revitalization. 

This brings me to an event that Jill and I attended this week: the joyful celebration 25 years of service by two of the most loving and dynamic pastors I know, Kerwin and Madelyn Manning (shown here with us). Their service to God and people and our city is always inspiring.

The event took place at the fancy Noor restaurant, with a couple of hundred people in attendance, all dressed to the nines. Attendees included church members and friends of the Mannings, like Jill and me.

Pastor Kerwin has played a key role in our city, stranding up for righteous causes like police accountability and affordable housing.

He is always a joy to be around and makes you feel loved. He's not only a gifted preacher, he's also very funny. He likes to joke that he loves his wife with all his heart--and his kidney and spleen and intestines, etc. He invited a Black comedian named Broderick Rice to Emcee and he had us rolling in the aisles with laughter, making fun of the quirks of Black pastors.

We also heard music from a praise band called "Salty Chips" and a gifted pianist named Darin Atwater.

People who knew and served under Pastor Manning gave beautiful and moving testimonials. They described him as someone who always encouraged them to find their gifts and do what God was calling them to do. Others spoke of his kindness and love. Pastor Kerwin is a true man of God and follower of Jesus Christ, an embodiment of Good News.

Pastor Kerwin is the Senior Pastor—affectionately known as the “Head Coach”—of Pasadena Church, a vibrant multi‑racial, multi‑ethnic congregation committed to living out God’s purposes in the city and beyond.

He likes to say that he has a congregation of 186,000 people--the population of Altadena and Pasadena. He sees his ministry as not only serving his church community, but also the cities where his church is located. He loves Pasadena/Altadena and demonstrates his love in countless ways, such as helping victims of the Eaton Canyon fire.

A dynamic preacher and gifted worship leader, he has ministered globally in settings ranging from university chapels to international conferences, with ongoing work in South Africa, Japan, Cuba, and other nations.

Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, Pastor Manning earned his B.A. in Religion from Anderson University and has served the wider Church of God through numerous national leadership roles, including President of the National Inspirational Youth Convention and longtime Chair of the Clergy Community Coalition of Greater Pasadena.

Since 2001, he has led Pasadena Church alongside his wife and ministry partner, Madelyn. They are the proud parents of Madison Denise and lovingly honor the memory of their daughter Morgan Danielle.

Morgan Manning died at age 14 from cardiac arrest caused by CPVT (Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia) — a rare genetic disorder that disrupts the heart’s electrical system.

After Morgan’s passing in 2017, the Mannings created A Piece of My Heart Foundation in 2018 to support CPVT research and raise awareness. They also took immediate, practical action to protect other children: upon learning that Pasadena Unified School District middle schools lacked Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), they purchased AEDs — along with training and maintenance — for all eight middle schools. Their decision was intentional and deeply personal, as Morgan died just before graduating 8th grade.

Their work has since inspired the district to expand AED access across all campuses, turning their grief into a life‑saving legacy for other families.

Because of their deep faith and love, the Mannings turned a personal tragedy into a life-saving ministry. I can't help loving them!