Pages tagged "Economic inequality"

George Fox and the early Quakers made their witnesses to authentic and original Christianity public by their testimonies. The English word, testimony, derives from the Latin word for “witness,” which is primarily an outward expression “to the whole world … actions and words, intended to proclaim, demonstrate and convince” (from The Quaker Peace Testimony, Friends House, London, 1993).

Dear Friends, Many of you have heard the story: Two old Quaker farmers are working together, repairing a fence. One farmer pauses, looks up, and comments that among a flock of white sheep, he sees a black one. The other farmer looks up at the flock and replies, “Well yes, it is black on this side.”

At times, addressing the scourge of gun violence in the United States can feel impossible, especially when we seem to hear of a new violent incident every day.

Traveling cross-country by train is a good way to see the disparity of wealth in our nation today. From the railroad tracks we see not only the underbelly of working America, but also the opulence of over-consumption. Deserted brick factories share space with sleek shopping malls. Junk-infested waterways pour into bays festooned with shrink-wrapped sloops and cocktail clubs. Is there any hope of bridging the gap of abject poverty to ridiculous wealth? What, as Quakers, could we be doing? Our nine-member worship group in Moab, Utah (pop. 6,000) has changed over the years in our responses to these questions.

Members of Moab Monthly Meeting have been working with our neighbors for several years now to find solutions to a pair of related issues in Moab, Utah: that large amounts of food are wasted in our community and that some of us do not have enough to eat. These issues challenge our testimonies of simplicity, equality, and community, and we have tried in various ways over the years to find creative solutions in our diverse community.