“Registering for Peace.”

by Tobin Jacobrown
(YES!) August 6 - On Wednesday, the 29th of July, I filed a lawsuit against the federal government declaring that, because of my religious beliefs, I should not be required to register for the draft unless it could be officially recognized that I claim to object to all war. 
I grew up believing not only [...]

“Dance Party Erupts During Quaker Meeting for Worship.”

Probably NOT my Meeting this morning, but wev…

(H/t Stasa.)

“Quakers make the right decision.”

by Rosemary Hartill
(The Guardian/UK) August 3 – Following the decision by the Religious Society of Friends on Friday to become the first historic church to say “yes” to same-sex marriages, Saturday’s Guardian ran an editorial entitled In Praise of .. the Quakers. It highlighted the long history of Quaker trail-blazing – in the reform of [...]

“Selective Service Is Sued by Quaker.”

(Washington Post) July 30 – A Washington state Quaker filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the U.S. government is discriminating against him because it will not recognize his status as a conscientious objector on military draft forms.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit on behalf of Tobin D. Jacobrown, 21, in the District’s [...]

Retreating again.

Later today, I’m off again to the New Jersey Pine Barrens, for the second and final retreat part of the ongoing journey that has been my Spiritual Formation Group these past nine months.  I am looking forward to it, of course, and the weather forecast is looking good for a fine couple of days, but part [...]

HUH?

WASHINGTON (CNN) April 30 – The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.
More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” [...]

Yes, I’m a bad Quaker.

I was recently visiting the blog of one of my favorite Quaker authors, J. Brent Bill, and I found a post that started out like this:

“So you’re a Quaker?” I get that question a lot since I travel a good bit schlepping my books. People always seem a bit intrigued — as if surprised any [...]

Another f/Friend lost.

Pardon me if I sound like I’ve been punched in the stomach.  Yesterday was a rough day.
After a two-week absence, I went to Meeting yesterday, arriving much earlier than usual to help set up for our monthly covered dish, which was to be accompanied by the annual book sale sponsored by the Meeting’s library committee, [...]

Rest in peace, Friend.

An amazing Quaker activist and local hero, Lillian Willoughby, has died.
Philadelphia, PA (Daily News) January 26 – Lillian Willoughby had a vision of a world at peace.

She and her husband, George, dedicated Quakers, chased this impossible dream all over the world, conducting nonviolent protests against war and preparations for war for nearly 70 years.
They [...]

Revising and extending my remarks…

… from Meeting for Worship yesterday. 
Really extending.
[Today] my students and colleagues and I all get a day off from school to celebrate the commemoration of the anniversary of the birth of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  On Tuesday, by administrative edict, all school work will come to a close at around 11:30 am [...]

What I almost said at Meeting today.

Meeting was very full today, and we had lots of visitors as well as old, familiar f/Friends, which is always nice to see.  There was a very positive vibe in the air, aided, no doubt, by the fact that we finally had a bright sunshiny morning here today, after five straight days of rain and yuck.
There [...]

Retreating, and advancing.

During the last couple days, I was thinking about how I might post about the Quaker retreat (entitled “Spiritual Formation”) I went on this past weekend. 
I was trying to figure out how I might explain to you about what took place, the intriquing and very “deep” exercises we did, the wonderful and stimulating readings [...]

Guess who’s coming to dinner?

Oh, the Corporate Radio Gasbags are gonna have a field day with this.
Quakers, Mennonites to dine with Iranian president
(Winton-Salem Journal) September 20 – Keepers of Protestantism’s pacifist traditions will showcase just how far they’ve come from their humble roots in Europe’s persecuted peasantry when they share an intimate dinner in New York on Thursday with [...]

“Marriage is for everyone.”

(I put the title of this post in quotes because I stole it from the same place I get the video: Fran over at FranIAm.)
I like this video because it pretty much sums up perfectly the whole issue for me in a five-and-a-half minute nutshell. 
This is what I understand the [...]

“What Obama might have seen in Ramallah.”

By Max L. Carter
GREENSBORO, NC (News-Record) August 16 – Recently, Barack Obama spent several days in the Middle East on a fact-finding trip, including a little more than a day in Israel and an hour in Ramallah, the governmental seat of the Palestinian National Authority. His visit to that West Bank city coincided with our annual [...]

For Flora.

One of our Meeting’s weighty Friends, Flora, passed away this past week. She was in her early ninties and had been in declining health for many months, but she still managed to get out to Meeting for Worship most First Days, with the help of her devoted husband, Howard.  Her death was not unexpected, but [...]

Your tax dollars at “work,” 7/20/08.

Spying Uncovered: Douments Show [Maryland] State Police Monitored Peace and Anti-Death Penalty Groups
BALTIMORE (Baltimore Sun) July 18 – Undercover Maryland State Police officers repeatedly spied on peace activists and anti-death penalty groups in recent years and entered the names of some in a law-enforcement database of people thought to be terrorists or drug traffickers, newly [...]

“Eyes Wide Open,” Medford, New Jersey.

The New Jersey state exhibit of the American Friends Service Committee’s “Eyes Wide Open” visited Medford Friends Meeting this past weekend.  As Medford is just down the road from me, I visited there yesterday for Meeting for Worship and to see the memorial.
(Please excuse my lack of skills as a photographer.  My “work” here doesn’t do [...]

Quakerism as a radical activity.

One of my conservative comment-leavers (I won’t call him a troll, because that would be mean and because he hasn’t been abusive – yet) told me that, with the post upon which he was commenting, I’d “truly come out on the side of hardline political radicalism, so [I] can’t hide in the Quaker shell,” exposing myself, I [...]

Today is World Refugee Day, 2008.

This is an issue about which very few of us probably know very much.  I know that, beyond the situation in Darfur and the plight of those in refugee camps there and in the neighboring country of Chad, I don’t know enough.
My good blogging buddy Catherine, who is an activist in this [...]