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Enough with Paying for War

• Authored by:
• David Hartsough

Friends: It is that time of year again when we are asked to pay our federal taxes, half of which goes for war and preparations for more wars. In the last century over 180 million people died in wars. Our country continues to spend about one trillion dollars a year of our tax dollars on wars and other military expenditures – for nuclear weapons, bomber planes, drones, over one thousand military bases around the world, and for the soldiers who do the killing for us.

On Time (March 2014)

Tax Season

• Authored by:
• Elizabeth Boardman

Dear Friends: April is the season for pondering the U.S. income tax system and the fact that about half our tax dollars are used to support the Department of Defense, even when the US is not engaged in any major conflict in the world. 

On Time (March 2014)

Making Something of Myself

• Authored by:
• Gary Miller

Gary Miller helped found the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club in 1971 and served as its president in 1975. He was the first openly gay person to serve as the chair of the Sacramento Democratic Party and was Sacramento’s first openly gay human rights commissioner. As a staff person in the 1970s with Friends Committee on Legislation in California, Miller worked to defeat Proposition 6, the Briggs Initiative, which would have banned gays, lesbians, and their supporters from working in California public schools. Miller is a member of Sacramento Friends Meeting (PYM). He spoke to Western Friend by phone on June 18, 2014. Following are edited excerpts from a transcript of that interview.

On Pride (July 2014)

Calls to the Annual Sessions 2015 – Abridged

• Authored by:
• Sara Keeney,
• Tom Rawson,
• Steve Smith

Intermountain Yearly Meeting, June 7 - 14, 2015; Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM

On Knowing (March 2015)

A Faith Frame on Climate Disruption

• Authored by:
• Jose Aguto

An interview with Jose Aguto

On Needs (May 2015)

The Light Within, Then And Now - Review

• Authored by:
• Jay Thatcher

Rex Ambler is a British theologian, teacher, and writer. In several previous small volumes, he has made major contributions to Friends’ theology (for example, The End of Words) and spirituality (Light To Live By). The Light Within: Then and Now (Pendle Hill Pamphlet 425, 2013) extends that precedent.

On Difference (July 2015)

The Children's Meeting of 1663

• Authored by:
• Elizabeth Boardman,
• Marie Schutz

“The children’s meeting” of 1663 is famous among Friends. In 1906, some Friends made a book about it, told in the words of fourteen-year-old Judith, who was there in 1663. Near the start of the book, Judith says:

On Play (September 2015)

Surmounting Limits in Quakerism

• Authored by:
• Anthony Manousos

When I asked Mary Klein if she would publish an article about the 2016 meeting of Friends World Committee on Consultation, she suggested that I write one for the issue on “Limits.” My initial response was: “Is she kidding?” I was grateful for her offer, but something in me bristles at the word “limits.”

On Limits (May 2016)

Prophets on the Field of Play

• Authored by:
• Jay Thatcher

Competition has a bleak reputation among Friends. It brings out extremes in people, and Friends are inclined toward moderation. For some competitors, the demands of adversity arouse a vile nature in them, and Friends would rather ignore our shadow sides. However, for most of us, particularly most children and youth, our most extreme selves also express the best in us.

On Competition (January 2017)

Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration

• Authored by:
• Bill Durland

The following article was excerpted from the text of a presentation that Bill Durland made to the Colorado Regional Society of Friends, April 23, 2017. To read the full text of this presentation, see: westernfriend.org/media/resistance-resilience-and-restoration-unabridged.

On Politics (July 2017)