“Policies, laws and received wisdom held by the powerful are extremely path dependent. When a Quaker speaks truth to power we are saying ‘I know what you think the truth to be, or are constrained by circumstances to think it must be, but somewhere along its way through the hierarchies of power, the basic humanity or morality of the question has been lost.’”
“In 1658, at the age of 35, Mary Fisher felt prompted to travel in a group of six Quakers to the Mediterranean and visit the Ottoman Empire to expound her faith to the Sultan. When their ship reached Smyrna, she asked the English Consul how to contact the Sultan. He told her that to proceed would be unwise and tricked the party of Quakers into boarding a ship bound for Venice. Realizing this when at sea, Fisher asked the captain to land her on the Morean Coast of Greece.”
“A group of Quaker congregations is suing the Department of Homeland Security for changing a policy that prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from carrying out operations in so-called ‘sensitive locations’ such as houses of worship, playgrounds, schools and hospitals without approval from supervisors.”
“Sir, suffer me to recall to your mind that time, in which the arms and tyranny of the British crown were exerted, with every powerful effort, in order to reduce you to a state of servitude […] This, Sir, was a time when you clearly saw into the injustice of a state of slavery, and in which you had just apprehensions of the horrors of its condition.”
“We are two Quaker women who raised our families in towns dominated by the U.S. military. Rather than shun the military and look away, we have lived our witness amidst strong military presences. […] The military has certainly created plenty of occasions for us to talk about our testimonies and our practices in the face of headwinds. Both of us have found that our situations have actually helped strengthen our faith, since we often have to live our witness when sustained by faith alone.”
“Early Friends were very concerned about […] being truthful, but also [about] not giving credit to pagan gods and goddesses. For example, on Sunday, one might worship the sun. On Monday, one might worship the moon. […] But Friends didn’t believe in these gods. So why say their names?”
“Often in the course of running workshops or making presentations on global themes I have met people who care very deeply about the world’s ills, who feel that they would like to do something to promote global justice and world betterment, but who don’t know where to begin. They feel responsible, and perhaps even guilty that their lifestyle or their government may be contributing to the world’s problems, and yet they fear that they don’t know enough about the complexities of planetary issues to contribute anything more than their own good intentions.”
“Too long have wrongs and oppression existed without an acknowledged wrongdoer and oppressor. It was not until the slave holder was told ‘Thou art the man’ that a healthy agitation was brought about. Woman is told the fault is in herself, in too willingly submitting to her inferior condition, but like the slave, she is pressed down by laws in the making of which she has no voice, and crushed by customs which have grown out of such laws. She cannot rise therefore, while thus trampled in the dust. The oppressor does not see himself in that light until the oppressed cry for deliverance.”
“‘Politics’ cannot be relegated to some outer place, but must be recognised as one side of life, which is as much the concern of religious people and of a religious body as any other part of life. Nay, more than this, the ordering of the life of man in a community, so that he may have the chance of a full development, is and always has been one of the main concerns of Quakerism.”
“What we need is a program or movement based on what we believe in rather than on the things to which we are opposed… Negatives cannot cast out negatives. Fear will never rid the world of fear. We must begin to base our actions solely on what we know to be right, not on expediency.”
End of content
End of content