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Pages tagged "refugees"

Freedom, Fraternity, and Friends (abridged)

[The following text was excerpted from: https://westernfriend.org/media/freedom-fraternity-friends.]

On Freedom (January 2022)

Love Always Protects

Friends who gathered at Pacific Yearly Meeting (PYM) in July 2014 were moved by a refugee crisis unfolding on the US-Mexico border. Thousands of children continue to escape violence in Central America and seek reunification with family members working in the US. The crisis has many causes that require thoughtful analysis to discern long-term solutions, but for us the causes do not matter. As members of PYM’s Latin American Concerns Committee, we seek not to ascribe blame, but rather to follow God’s will. We are led to show love to these children.

On Family (September 2014)

Minute on Immigration

Equality, community and integrity are foundations of Quaker belief. Therefore, as immigrants and refugees in our community encounter trials such as family separation, incarceration, internment and deportation, Santa Fe Monthly Meeting is called to put these beliefs into action. We will support these neighbors in their daily lives, providing aid, companionship, friendship and safety in whatever ways we are able.

On Weapons (January 2019)

Trapped in the Temporary

Part One: Chios, Greece, May 2017 – Each morning we wake to the contrasts of this place. A sea of luminous blue, rugged mountains, and clear skies – these surround a lively tourist strip along the water, with its overpriced but friendly cafes and restaurants. From the vantage point of a cafe chair, it is hard to imagine the underside of this place. If one ventures just a bit further down the coast, though, one finds a long strip of UN tents and “containers” – large plastic boxes that serve as tiny temporary houses – awkwardly set beside the remains of an old castle wall.

On Politics (July 2017)