Author: Friendssocialconcerns
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Do we need to update our testimony on Equality to better reflect our commitment to Equity?
Friend Beverly Ward, the Field Secretary for Earthcare of Southeastern Yearly Meeting, recently posted a piece linking environmental concerns to transportation equity: Equality -> Equity -> Justice: The Transportation Case Example She effectively quotes Friends George Fox, Hal Weaver and Tom Hoopes to show that treating everyone equally might exacerbate social disadvantages, but seeking equity…
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William Penn or Ben Franklin: Who Was a Better Friend to Indigenous People?
by Jonathan Betz-Zall, University Friends Meeting, 24 October 2021 Some years ago Pablo Stanfield and I paid a visit to a class at Franklin High School; the student government group was concerned that Friends might be offended by the combination of their “Quaker” team name and their logo of a pilgrim with a blunderbuss. [It’s…
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Worship Sharing and Dialogue with Attention to Ouch, Oops & Whoa
[shared by Susan Marcus on the Friends for Right Relationships listserv 7/18/2021] Worship Sharing and Dialogue with Attention to Ouch, Oops & Whoa By: Pacific Yearly Meeting (PacYM) Racial Justice Subcommittee (RJSC) of PacYM Ministry Committee Last updated: April 14, 2021 Welcome, dear Friend! We are excited to have you participate in the upcoming RJSC…
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Actions for Building and Maintaining Right Relationships with Indigenous Cultures
At North Pacific Yearly Meeting’s 2021 Annual Session, I presented an Interest Group on “Toward Right Relationship with Indigenous Cultures”: ‘As we consider the Earthcare minute, let’s reflect on how the ethics and worldviews of Indigenous cultures can help us decolonize our own. We’ll consider some ideas for Friends as a group to act upon,…
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Seattle Peace Park and University Friends Meeting, a brief history
Floyd Schmoe was one of University Friends Meeting’s most well-known Friends, and he played a large part in making our Meeting what it is today. Not only was he one of the first rangers at Mount Rainier National Park, but he felt so strongly about the mistreatment of Japanese Americans in the early 1940s…
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Quaker Social Concerns Network fulfills its purpose and is laid down
At a meeting on 4th month 27th, 2021, the participants in the Quaker Social Concerns Network agreed that the group has served its initial purpose and that some Meetings’ Peace and Social Concerns Committees have been established or revived. The group therefore agreed to lay down the network, to be re-formed either in the same…
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Peace and Social Concerns reports from Pacific Northwest Quarterly Meeting, Spring 2021
One of the benefits of attending Pacific Northwest Quarterly Meeting is getting to hear from other Friends meetings and worship groups in our area how they are doing. The State of Society reports that are published on the PNQM website often include notes of their activities for social justice. Here are excerpts from reports submitted…
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NPYM Earthcare Minute, with suggestions for action
A passionate group of people in North Pacific Yearly Meeting have proposed an “Earthcare Minute” for seasoning by monthly meetings and worship groups. It was brought up at Annual Session last summer and, though not adopted there, was widely distributed to Friends across the Yearly Meeting. Friends are requested to send reports of their meetings’…
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Friends form a Seattle Quakers Affinity Group: “Count Every Vote!”
Several members of University Monthly Meeting today agreed to form the “Seattle Quakers Affinity Group” to participate in the “Choose Democracy–Protect the Election” campaign. The initial gathering will be a called Meeting for Worship to be held on Fourth Day [“Wednesday”], Eleventh Month [November] 4, from 5 pm to 6 pm Pacific Standard Time, at…