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Rekindling the Fire

• Authored by:
• Betty Devalcourt,
• Diego James Navarro

Looking towards the future of Quakerism, we see that the power to rekindle our fire for social justice lies within our local meetings. Supporting individuals to pursue the spirit’s leadings to work for peace and social justice will strengthen the Religious Society of Friends overall and connect us back to our historical roots.

On Power (March 2013)

War Tax Conversation

• Authored by:
• Peg Morton

To the Editor: I am delighted by the correspondence in Western Friend concerning war tax resistance. (I will use the term “refuser” in this statement. I like this fairly new way of expressing out war tax actions.) I have been a war tax refuser since 1980, and David Hartsough’s letter reflected well my own view. Nancy Haimes argues that war tax refusal is ineffective, maybe even counter-effective. She believes that we should devote ourselves to influencing Congress and to effective participation in the political system. I say that these are not either/or responses. Most of us who are war tax refusers also write and lobby our members of Congress. We demand a vast reduction in the U.S. military spending, and we yearn for and seek the passage of national legislation that would make war tax refusal legal. For information about the bill that is currently before Congress, go to peacetaxfund.org.

On Consumption (May 2013)

Call to IMYM Annual Session 2014 - Unabridged

• Authored by:
• Sara Keeney

Call to the Annual Gathering of Intermountain Yearly Meeting, 2014 What do we have to offer as Quakers in these challenging times? June 8 -15, 2014; Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico

On Production (May 2014)

A Courageous Step

• Authored by:
• Maren Sinclair Hurn

My mother, Clare Sinclair, chose to stop eating and drinking at the age of 92. She died nine days later. Her whole life had led up to this courageous step – a life full of optimism, deep feelings, adventure, and stubbornness.

On Beginning (March 2016)

On Flesh

• Authored by:
• Mary Klein

Dear Friends: Back to basics.

On Flesh (November 2016)

Quakers and Gun Violence

• Authored by:
• James Summers

In the United States, gun violence is not a mere veneer on the surface of an otherwise peaceful society, but something deep and dark, with roots in the colonization of the continent and the founding of the nation, in ethnic cleansing, enslavement and the seizure of land from Mexico. White settlers, armed to the teeth, faced the constant prospect of insurrection by Native peoples and enslaved populations, as well as violence on contested borders.

On Weapons (January 2019)

Evolution of The Peace Testimony

• Authored by:
• Sharon Doyle

[The following article is abridged from a more complete original text, which is available at: westernfriend.org/media/evolution-testimony.]

On Rules (November 2020)

Quakers for Abolition Network

• Authored by:
• Jed Walsh,
• Mackenzie Barton-Rowledge,
• Jeff Kisling,
• Fatema Jaffer,
• Elliotte Enochs,
• Megan Wilson

by Mackenzie Barton-Rowledge and Jed Walsh

On Cliques (September 2021)

Alternatives to Prison

• Authored by:
• Susan Cozzens

Prisons rank high on the list of institutions that Quakers want to eliminate, very close to war. The most recent statement of legislative priorities by the Friends Committee on National Legislation (possibly the most widely-discerned document in the Quaker world) includes advocating for a system that “eliminates mass incarceration and promotes law-enforcement that is community-oriented and demilitarized.” The Board of the American Friends Service Committee, after producing an extensive background paper, took the position – back in 1978 – that it supports the abolition of prisons. Clearly, Quakers by and large want to live in that Light and Love that takes away the occasion of all prisons – along with jails, detention centers, and other places where people are held in cages.

On Alternatives (March 2022)

Dignity and Civic Life

• Authored by:
• Kevan Insko

We can envision a universal parameter of dignity for individuals: Each person is owed fundamental respect simply by virtue of being human. We can also appreciate the importance of ensuring dignified treatment of the myriad of groups that comprise our society, and in particular, those that have been exploited, marginalized, and disempowered. For Friends, the importance of human dignity rests on a strong spiritual basis:

On Dignity (July 2023)