Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

    Thanks, Richard. Mike, do you know if there are any Quaker meetings
    in the vicinity of Nashua? 
    
    Thanks,
    
    Eileen

    Eileen, there don't seem to be any meetings right in Nashua.  There
    might be some meetings elsewhere in New Hampshire, or perhaps nearby in
    Massachusetts.  If I get a chance I'll take a look.
    
    -- Mike

Not all Friends Meetings or Friends Worship Groups* are well publicized.
I notice that Colorado Springs Friends Meeting, for example, is not listed
in the directory which is in every issue of a magazine called Quaker Life,
a publication of Friends United Meeting.  This is partly because there
is a yearly fee to be included in the directory.

I found the local Friends Meeting (which was then a worship group*) by looking
in the yellow pages directory under "Churches," sub-category "Friends."

As I recall, Eileen, you're involved with the UU's (Unitarian Universalists),
are you not?

Richard

*A Friends Worship Group is a fledgling Meeting.  They typically are very
informal, having no official membership, conducting little business and
gathering in livingrooms.

>    Thanks, Richard. Mike, do you know if there are any Quaker meetings
>    in the vicinity of Nashua? 
    
    Dover is probably outside the Nashua area but there is a meeting there.
    I suspect that if you called there, sorry I don't have a number, they
    could tell you. I am friendly with some Friends from that meeting and
    if I can remember I'll ask them when I see them next.
    
    			Alfred

    Richard, does "Quaker Life" list many unprogrammed meetings?  "Friends
    Journal" might have a more complete list.  The only comprehensive
    listing that I know of is a small book published by FWCC, but I don't
    think I have a recent copy of that book any more.
    
    -- Mike

    "Quaker life" does include Phoenix Friends Meeting (unprogrammed)
    and the Cokedale (Colorado) Worship Group (unprogrammed), but does
    not include Boulder Friends Meeting (unprogrammed) or Friends
    Church of Colorado Springs (programmed).
    
    So, it's kind of "iffy."
    
    FWCC stands for Friends World Committee for Consultation, as I recall,
    which has an office located in the United Nations building.
    
    Richard
    

    Thanks, Mike and Richard. I am involved with the UUs, but they take the
    summer off, so I have a chance to explore something else. The Nashua
    area phone book turns up nothing, but I will keep trying.
    
    Eileen
    

Eileen,

	I commend your sense of adventure and ecumenical spirit!

	I've noticed more than one local UU visiting the local Friends
Meeting on occasion, particularly UU's who seem to feel an affinity for
meditation.  When you find a Meeting near enough, I suspect you'll
find your visit to be a very cordial one.

Peace,
Richard

    I found a copy of the FWCC Friends Directory for 1989 and 1990.  It
    lists NH meetings and worship groups in the following places:

    	Amherst-Mt. Vernon
    	Concord
        Dover
        Gonic
        Hanover
        Henniker
        Keene
        Lancaster
        Nelson
        North Sandwich
        Peterborough
        South Pittsfield
        Unity
        West Epping

    In northern Massachusetts, I see right off hand that there is a
    worship group in North Andover and a meeting in Lawrence.

    -- Mike

                   (excerpts of) FACTS ABOUT FRIENDS 
                       a pamphlet by Ted Hoare,
                   member of Australia Yearly Meeting

Our Christian Background
 
	The origins of the Society are found in the seventeenth
century in England, a time when many were questioning the established
beliefs of the age.

	George Fox (1625-1691) did not find answers to his questions
in any of the churches of his day.  Out of his searching came the
spiritual message which swept a large part of the country and which
resulted in the formation of the Religious Society of Friends.

	Friends witnessed to an Alternative Christianity quite
distinct from the churches of the time.  As a result they were
persecuted both the Cromwell's Puritan government and by the restored
government of Charles II.  Fox did not intend to start a new sect.
He wanted to persuade the church to return to what it had been in the
days of the Apostles.  He proclaimed the early preaching of Peter
(Acts, chapter 2 and 3) that Jesus, who had been present in the
flesh, had risen from the dead and was now come in the Spirit.  That
Jesus acted in the hearts of his followers purifying and empowering them.

	Pursuing Peter's teaching, Fox called for a radical,
egalitarian, spirit-filled Christianity that would not be oppressive
of people on account of race, sex, or class.  He maintained that the
message of the early church had been lost when the church became
insitutionalized and believed that he, and others with him, could
stand in exactly the same state as Apostles, with the same power to
teach, to heal, and to prophesy that the Apostles had. 
 
The Ministry of All Believers
 
	George Fox challenged the belief of the Roman Catholic and
Episcopal churches in the necessity for, and the authority of, an
heirarchical structure of Priests and Bishops.  He claimed that
everyone was able to have a personal relationship with the living
Jesus without having to depend on the intercessions of a Priest or
Minister.  He taught that there is one, Jesus Christ, who can speak
to each person's condition and the responsibility for ministry
therefore rested upon all.
 
The Place of the Bible
 
	Friends hold that the words of the Bible should not be taken
as the final revelation of God.  The Books had been written by men
who were acting under the power of the Holy Spirit and it was
necessary to read the words in the power of the same spirit and to
listen to what the Spirit then spoke in your heart.  The words were
active agents in the sense that, when read in the Spirit at the
appropriate time, they would spring to life for the reader and take
the reader forward on his or her spiritual journey.
 
The Inner Voice
 
	One of the most important messages that Quakers have to offer
is that religion, or belief, is experiential.  It is not just a
matter of accepting words or practices but of experiencing God for
oneself.

	Friends believe that if they wait silently upon God there
will be times when God will speak to them in the heart.  The silent
Meeting of Friends is therefore the sacrament of communion with God
during which Friends lay themselves open to the leading of the
Spirit.  George Fox often wrote about his ``openings'', meaning
revelations and it has been the experience of Quakers over the
centuries that ``openings'' will occur in the mind of that ``a way
will open''.

	Openings can come to individuals when they are alone or may
come out of the silence of a gather Meeting for Worship.  It is a
perennial question as to whether a leading comes from God, from one's
own ego, or from another power and it is the practice in the Society
of Friends to test a leading or a concern in a meeting with others.
 
Equality before God
 
	From the beginning Friends gave women and men equal status
for the fact that we are all children of God bestowed an equality
upon all.  This concept led to the testimony that one person should
not set himself above others through human honors and distinctions
which were meaningless in the sight of God.  From this came the
Quaker practices of simple living, plain dress and plain speech.

The Peace Testimony
 
	As a Peace Church, the Society of Friends has always played a
leading part in opposing preparations for war.  The Peace Testimony,
which is a very important Quaker principle, arose out of the belief
in the indwelling Light or ``that of God'' in people.  If that of
God was a reality within oneself it would be denying the inner Spirit
to take up arms against another.
 
Summary
 
	The Religious Society of Friends is an alternative
Christianity which emphasizes the personal experience of God in one's
life.  Quakers understand the necessity of first listening to God
before working in the world.  They affirm the equality of all people
before God regardless of race, station in life, or sex and this
belief leads them into a range of social concerns.

	Being "Children of Light" they find recourse to violence intolerable.
Quaker thought is both mystical (waiting upon God) and prophetic
(speaking truth to power).  Friends believe that God's revelation is
still continuing, that God is not absent or unknowable but that we
can find God ourselves and establish a living relationship thus being
able to live in the world free from the burden and guilt of sin.  It
is the search for a closer relationship with God that is the Way.

    Thank you very much Mike and Richard!
    
    I'm sorry it took so long to say so. Just about all my time has been taken 
    over by Digital since the beginning of August. Any personal time I had in
    August had to be devoted to work I had committed to at the UU church.
    Tonight I just decided to pop in for a minute while a job is building.
    
    I'm amazed at what you say about the Quakers, Richard. They sound just
    wonderful! I am in total sympathy with the Quaker message. I can't 
    believe that none of the meetings Mike listed are anywhere near where 
    I live, at list at first glance. After November 5 or so (my project is 
    in crisis until then), I ought to have some personal time back. Most 
    of it will be spent at home learning the PC. But I will go to one meeting 
    anyway just to try it. 
    
    Again, thanks so much to both of you!
    
    Eileen
    

    Eileen .11,
    
    On behalf of Mike Valenza, who is no longer a Digital employee, I'll
    take the liberty to say, "You're welcome!" on behalf of both of us.
    
    :-)
    
    Peace be with you,
    Richard
    

    Am I the only one who knows Mike is no longer here? I'm very sorry
    to hear it. Please point me to the note he wrote, if he wrote one,
    in case I can't find it.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Eileen

    Mike Valenza didn't write a farewell.  John Covert was kind enough
    to inform us of Mike's departure (67.277).  He is missed.
    
    Peace,
    Richard

	"Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the
soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may
continuously return.  Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-
torn lives, warming us with the intimations of an astounding destiny,
calling us home unto itself.  Yielding to these persuasions, gladly
commiting ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the
Light Within, is the beginning of true life.  It is a dynamic center,
a creative Life that presses to birth within us.  It is a Light Within
which illuminates the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories
on the faces of men.  It is a seed stirring to life if we do not choke
it.  It is the Shekinah of the soul, the Presence in the midst.  Here is
the Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul
we clothe in earthly form and action.  And He is within us all."

						- Thomas Kelly
						  "A Testament of Devotion"

	Thomas Kelly articulated Quaker concepts with hauntingly beautiful
imagery.  Kelly's prose reads like poetry.

Peace,
Richard

	Joining the Religious Society of Friends is not as easy as joining
a lot of other collectivities of faith.  One must write a letter requesting
membership.  A Committee on Clearness meets one or more times with the
prospective member and ultimately makes a recommendation to the larger
body of Friends at a regular business gathering, usually called a Monthly
Meeting.  Friends don't vote.  There must be a consensus, a general unity
among Friends in attendance, for an applicant's membership to be accepted.
This way of doing business is consistent with the unified conduct of the early
church as described in the Acts.

	Upon my acceptance as a member of Phoenix Friends Meeting in the
early 1970s, I was presented, as a remembrance of the occasion, with a book
of poetry signed on the fly pages by all the members of the Meeting.  For
that alone, the book is a great treasure to me.  The name of the book?
"Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well," by a poet I'd never heard of
before -- Maya Angelou. :-)

Peace,
Richard

	"We met together in the unity of the Spirit, and the bond
		of peace...And holy resolutions were kindled
	in our hearts as a fire which the Life kindled in us to serve
		the Lord while we had a being."

						- Francis Howgill 1672

>Note 1036.5      what drives me really nuts about christianity

>    Parlimentary procedure at business meetings.  
    
Quakers don't use parliamentary procedure, but another, equally agitating
process.

Shalom,
Richard

      AUTHOR:  Kent, Stephen; Spickard, James
      SOURCE:  Journal of Church & State. v36 n2, Spring 1994, p. 373. 
   PUBLISHER:  J.M. Dawson Inst. of Church - State Studies

 An exerpt from the TEXT:
 THE "OTHER" CIVIL RELIGION AND THE TRADITION OF RADICAL QUAKER POLITICS

 HISTORY OF QUAKER CIVIL ACTIONS

 No religious group has been more involved in sectarian civil religious      
 action than the Quakers, and this insight holds as true for Britain as it   
 does for the United States. As one scholar observed,[45] "Friends, in       
 fulfillment of their peace testimony, have remained at the core of nearly   
 every important twentieth-century peace organization and, indeed, in every  
 movement that defends and insists upon the sanctity of human life."[46] 
 What makes Quaker radicalism worthy of sociological scrutiny is its 
 religious basis. In the three and a half centuries since its founding, 
 Quakerism has opposed an array of governmentally sanctioned policies on 
 religious grounds.

 In Cromwellian England, for example, Quakerism harbored those who opposed   
 paying tithes to ministers and gentry.[47] During the bloody persecution    
 that followed the return of the Stuart monarch, fifteen thousand Quakers    
 were imprisoned for their refusal to conform to the established church. At  
 least 450 died in jail,[48] making their group the most persecuted 
 religious faith in England during the Restoration era.[49]

 A few generations later, prominent Friends began a trans-Atlantic movement  
 to oppose slavery. By the end of the century, even George Washington knew 
 of the Quaker-run "underground railroad" (as it later came to be called) 
 for slaves who were trying to escape their bondage. In this effort, "the 
 Friends were undoubtedly the most persistent Anglo-American lawbreakers of 
 the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries."[50] By the early nineteenth 
 century, of course, the anti-slavery cause had been taken up by other 
 groups. But in reaction to these groups' exclusion of activist women, a 
 Quaker, Lucretia Mott, issued a call for the full rights of women in 
 society.[51] The Equal Rights Amendment, a celebrated cause for American 
 feminists in the 1970s, got its name from Mott's early efforts.[52]

 Quakers have continued their interest in civil fights into the current      
 century. Prominent civil rights organizer and pacifist Bayard Rustin--the   
 person most responsible for the success of the 1963 "March on               
 Washington"--was raised by his Quaker grandmother, and "through the 
 Quakers, Rustin was introduced early to the idea of pacifism, of service, 
 and of racial equality."[53] The legendary peace and civil rights 
 leader A.J. Muste--who, among other things, was head of The Fellowship 
 of Reconciliation and a founding member of the Congress of Racial Equality--
 joined the Society of Friends sometime after World War I.[54] Martin Luther 
 King, Jr. first encountered Gandhi's teachings through a book by a 
 Quaker he read while a divinity student. This book, Richard Gregg's The 
 Power of Nonviolence (1934), "more than any other source helped to 
 popularize Gandhi's teachings in America."[55] Both Quakerism and 
 Gandhianism--and their mixture--had a significant influence on other 
 civil rights leaders as well.

 Working for peace always has been at the heart of the Quaker agenda. In     
 1801, the American Congress so disapproved of the peace efforts of a        
 self-appointed Quaker diplomat that it passed the Logan Act to keep private 
 citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. Quakers, though,        
 continued to violate that law as a matter of conscience. During the Vietnam 
 War, for example, a Quaker delegation tried, though unsuccessfully, to      
 negotiate directly with Hanoi.[56]

 World War I saw the birth of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), 
 which, despite its somewhat patriotic origins, became "one of the world's   
 leading charitable organizations."[57] Along with its British counterpart,  
 it won the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize for its relief work in a Europe 
 devastated by World War II.[58]

 In its years of operation, however, the AFSC's "less popular" projects 
 often have found it at the forefront of disputatious causes, to the 
 occasional discomfort of government officials in the United States.[59] 
 The AFSC's Stewart Meacham, for example, was a key figure in the New 
 Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam, under whose direction grassroots 
 anti-war groups  were established across the U.S. Perhaps the most famous 
 non-violent protest against nuclear weapons took place in 1958, when a 
 Quaker convert named Albert Bigelow attempted to sail his boat into a 
 nuclear test zone in the Pacific.[60] After U.S. agents in Hawaii seized 
 Bigelow's boat, his friends, Earl and Barbara Reynolds, rerouted their 
 round-the-world voyage through the area. They were arrested by the U.S. 
 Navy on the high seas, in violation of international law. Though not 
 Quakers at the time, both Reynolds later converted and became well-
 known Quaker activists.

 Moving into the next decade, one Quaker's dramatic form of anti-Vietnam     
 protest "shocked many Americans into asking--for the first time -- why are  
 we in Vietnam?" In November 1965, Norman Morrison doused himself with       
 kerosene, lit a match, and immolated himself within sight of the Secretary  
 of Defense's office. Seven other Americans replicated Morrison's protest by 
 1970, including an eighty-two-year-old Quaker named Alice Herz.[61] Quakers 
 later sustained a ten-month peace vigil in front of the White House, and    
 frequently were arrested for their anti-war activities.[62] To keep the     
 anti-war movement peaceful, they set up programs to train demonstration     
 marshals in non-violence techniques, a tactic that has been used in         
 demonstrations ever since.[63] Perhaps the most famous Quaker anti-war       
 protester from the 1960s was Joan Baez, the protest singer who assimilated  
 the tradition from an early age under the influence of her father.[64]

 The fundamental right to dissent in American society is guaranteed by the   
 Constitution and a Bill of Rights whose very foundations early Quakers      
 helped to lay. When the first-generation Quaker, Edward Byllynge, acquired  
 land in the trans-Atlantic colonies, he (perhaps working with another       
 Quaker, William Penn) enacted into law "what has been termed one of the 
 most remarkable documents in American history: 'The Concessions and 
 Agreements of the Proprietors, Freeholders, and Inhabitants of the Province 
 of West New Jersey'."[65] These Concessions of 1677 guaranteed religious 
 liberty (even  more broadly than did the liberal Rhode Island Charter of 
 the period), "trial by jury, fair public trials, and freedom from 
 imprisonment for debt." These ideas mark "an important step in the 
 development which culminated in the federal Bill of Rights."[66] Moreover, 
 its provisions about "the common law or fundamental rights and privileges. 
 . . agreed upon. . . to be the foundation of the government," against 
 which no contradictory laws were to be passed, represent an early form of 
 "a binding Constitution and the doctrine of unconstitutional legislation"
 that serve as pillars of American governmental protections.[67]

 Byllynge's contemporary Quaker, William Penn, instituted two documents for  
 his colony of Pennsylvania that were, "in many ways, the most influential 
 of the Colonial documents protecting individual rights."[68] Arguably the 
 most significant of the two was the Pennsylvania Frame of Government of 
 1682. It established "for the first time the fully representative type of 
 government that has come to characterize the American polity," and it even 
 contained an amending clause--"the first in any written Constitution."[69] 
 Penn drew directly upon "his own experience as a persecuted Quaker" by 
 conceiving "of a government limited in its powers by the rights possessed 
 by the governed." The Frame of Government's most direct influence on the 
 American Bill of Rights had to do with judicial procedure, whereby 
 citizens were guaranteed trial by a jury whose members had the freedom to 
 decide guilt or innocence of accused parties.[70]

 With the changing decades have come changing issues, but the tradition of   
 protest has remained. In the 1980s, Quakers formed a major part of the      
 Sanctuary Movement. Recently the AFSC challenged the legality of a law      
 directed against illegal aliens.[71] (The challenge failed.) The            
 organization continues to counsel victims of political torture,[72] and     
 remains active in international efforts to provide food and material to     
 underprivileged nations.[73] Demonstrations against war and nuclear 
 weapons, of course, continue as well.