Dear Friends: The fearlessness in Quaker tradition (including the pamphleteer) is speaking truth to power. As a Quaker, I am reminded of the words of Mary Dyer, who said, “We came not to cause discord, but to live in peace.”
I am currently writing on the subject of the Tipping Points of ecological justice and Quaker spiritual experience within my experiences of Justice and inclusion. As John Woolman once wrote, “May we look upon our treasures, and the furniture of our houses, and the garments in which we array ourselves, and try whether the seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions.” This is where I was and am. It is a vexing point.
The future I seek is one in which a renewing peace process will emerge as a post-capitalist, post-racialized, eco-harmony. Because of Gaia interconnectedness, AI is not artificial, but is artifice; and it is a system that humans and all beings with agency or “life” will migrate towards. This is also my working definition of transhumanism.
But let us continue to imagine and enjoy our path to “Way Open.” And let us remember that the questions we bring forward have no easy answers, but they are necessary tools of Right Sharing and Right Ordering. Without these questions, where would we be?
– Nathan Shroyer, Chester River Friends Meeting