Resource Information

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Democracy, Earthcare Witness, and Holy War

Three remarkable events over the next three months:

Healing the Heart of Democracy
Noted writer, teacher and activist Parker Palmer and one of the definitive voices of the heartland and progressive spirituality, singer/songwriter Carrie Newcomer, will be presenting a evening of song and spoken word on “Healing the Heart of Democracy: A Gathering of Spirits for the Common Good” through a a three-stage journey of hope celebrating ‘we the People’, exploring the power of ‘The Broken-Open Heart’, and inviting reflection on ‘How The Shall We Live.’ This evening with these two Quakers will be on Saturday, September 29 at the Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboration at Aurora University (407 S. Calumet Ave., Aurora, Illinois).  The event is free. However, reservations are required as seating is limited.  To register, please visit auartsandideas.com, email artsanddideas@aurora.edu or call 630-844-4924.

Quaker Earthcare Witness
The Quaker Earthcare Witness October Gathering and Steering Committee meeting will be held at the Cenacle in Chicago, October 4-7, 2012. The theme, for this year, will again be Food and Biodiversity and will be commemorating 25 years of bringing earthcare concerns to Friends. In addition to ILYM’s Noel Pavlovic and Jim Kessler, farmer and environmental educator from Iowa Friends United Meeting, speaking Friday and Saturday evening on food and biodiversity, Jose Aguto, FCNL Legislative Secretary for Sustainable Energy and Environment, will address the challenges of FCNL in working on the environment today; a panel of QEW members will address special aspects of food and biodiversity. We will celebrate with stories from our 25-year history, and we will be planning for our future work: what will our priorities be and how will we work with Quaker organizations and others who share our concerns? Please consider joining the committee for the entire three-day gathering. Bring your stories, your passions and your ideas. Registration is due by September 7. If you have questions or want to register for the Gathering either full-time, for a day or two, or as a commuter, please contact treadway@ilstu.edu or call 309-454-1328.

The Holy War Conference
How do religious traditions link God and war? How have these linkages been misconstrued or exploited? Is religious violence distinct or do appeals to religious justification for violence serve as an excuse or smokescreen? The UIC Holy War conference will examine iterations of religious violence across temporalities and space. Conference presenters will speak to the internal categorizations of war and violence and their relations to imperial, national, and religious political forms. While individual papers will address specific religious traditions, the panels and conference as a whole is comparative and will bring out specificities and similarities among conceptions of holy war. The Keynote Address will be at 5pm on November 15 and is titled “Revelation and Militancy in the Traditions of Abraham” to be presented by Michael Sells, John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic History and Literature, University of Chicago, and member of 57th Street Meeting. This conference is free and open to the public: November 15-16 at the University of Illinois at Chicago Institute for the Humanities (701 South Morgan Street, lower level Stevenson Hall); more information. Preregistration is not necessary, but is appreciated so attendance can be calculated. Click here to register.

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Alternatives to Violence: When you hear the word VIOLENCE

[vimeo 37108812 w=500 h=281]

When you hear the word VIOLENCE from Blaze Nowara on Vimeo.

Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) is a nonprofit organization that creates peaceful solutions to potentially violent conflict. Beginning in an upstate New York prison in 1975, AVP has now spread to over 50 countries around the world.

This video focuses on AVP within the United States prison system. Experience an AVP workshop behind bars and listen to those whose lives have been transformed by AVP. (Length: 15:28)

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Quakers Divest from Caterpillar!

The “End the Occupation” campaign is proud to announce:

After a roller coaster United Methodist divestment campaign ending in partial victory, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is so excited to announce that the Quaker Friends Fiduciary Corporation (FFC), which holds over $200 million in assets, has divested from Caterpillar! FFC divested $900,000 in shares of Caterpillar, which continues to feel the pressure from all sides for its production and sale of weaponized bulldozers to Israel, used to violate Palestinian rights and destroy Palestinian homes, schools, hospitals, olive groves, and lives.

Ann Arbor Quakers asked FFC to divest and issued this warm statement of thanks:

“Ann Arbor Friends welcome the decision by Friends Fiduciary Corporation (FFC) to divest from Caterpillar Corp. This is a significant step since FFC handles investments for over 250 Quaker meetings, schools, organizations, trusts, and endowments around the US. In taking this action, FFC is truly upholding the core commitment of the Society of Friends to peace. We ask Friends and people of faith everywhere to join us in expressing thanks to FFC and asking them to continue divesting from all companies that are helping to sustain the Israeli occupation.”

Click here to thank FFC for its decision to divest from Caterpillar!

FFC has a “zero tolerance for weapons and weapons components,” and said, “We are uncomfortable defending our position on this stock.”

FFC is not the first Quaker institution to avoid companies that support the Israeli occupation. In March 2008, the Board of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a US Campaign member group, approved an Israel/Palestine investment screen, stating:

“Investments should not be made in any company that provides products or services, including financial services, to Israeli governmental or military bodies… or to Israeli or Palestinian organizations or groups that are used to facilitate or undertake violent acts against civilians or violations of international law.”

The AFSC investment screen is based on a 29-company “no-buy” list — originally compiled by the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church — which includes Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions, Veolia, and Hewlett Packard. In June 2011, AFSC also joined the “We Divest Campaign,” which calls on financial giant TIAA-CREF to divest from the Israeli occupation.

We Divest
Illinois Yearly Meeting and St Louis Monthly Meeting support the “We Divest Campaign.” 

And that’s not all. Illinois Yearly Meeting and St. Louis Monthly Meeting of Friends also came out in support of the “We Divest Campaign,” Sandy Springs Monthly Meeting called on FFC to divest from all companies profiting from violence in Israel/Palestine, and the Ann Arbor Meeting agreed to a call from its Palestine-Israel Action Group(PIAG) — a member of the US Campaign — to boycott companies supporting the Israeli military and Israeli settlement products, building on a similar decision by Britain Yearly Meeting.

FFC’s decision is a new step forward for aligning Quaker values with investments. Please click here to thank FFC, whether or not you are a Quaker!

We are hopeful that these actions will put wind in the sails of the exciting divestment campaign at Earlham College, another Quaker institution. The campaign, led by US Campaign member group BDS Earlham, aims for “Earlham to divest from Caterpillar, Motorola, and Hewlett Packard because they are profiting from Israeli violations of international law and principles of human rights.”

In less than two months, the Presbyterian Church (USA) will vote on divestment from those same companies. In addition tothanking FFC, please click here to sign a letter of support for Presbyterian divestment if you haven’t done so yet!

The snowball is gathering momentum. Let us continue our support for courageous churches and other institutions that are putting their money where their mouths are.

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Poetic Reporting from FWCC World Conference, courtesy of Friend Adrian Nelson

From Adrian’s final blog post from the recent FWCC World Conference:

It has been a tremendous week. Even looking back at what I’ve written, I’m not sure I can capture it fully. This was the question we were all asking ourselves: how are we going to bring this back? How are we changed? Do we go forth, as young Quaker Samuel Bownas was challenged, as we came, none the better for our coming? Or do we leave with a fire ignited, and ready to spread the light, burn as it may?  Click here to read the full post.

Adrian Nelson attend the April gathering as a representative of ILYM and blogged every day about her experiences.

I find myself at once overwhelmed and overjoyed to be here. This is my first true glimpse at the wide international Quaker community, and indeed the face of the majority of the world’s Quakers – Kenyans. I delight in the variety of ways the message of the first Quakers has leaped across the oceans and continents, across time and tongues, so that the question of “What canst thou say?” is answered in every other language besides its own.

On her first day in Kenya, Adrian wrote:

Tomorrow, I will be among a thousand other Quakers from all corners of the world. We will not all speak the same language, we will not practice or worship the same way, and we are all coming from different backgrounds.

But we are of this planet and this universe, and we will unite under the name of Friends, and will meet as strangers and depart, I pray, as f/Friends. We must be mindful of our differences and compassionate with each other, and gentle with ourselves and with others. I believe that all of us will be coming with open hearts and minds, and no matter what tongues we know or don’t, we’ll all at least speak the language of love.

What are your thoughts upon reading of her experience? Please share your reflections, along with any questions for Adrian and other ILYM delegates about the experience.

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Kony 2012 Mirrors US Foreign Policy

David Zarembka (Coordinator for the African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams) has authored a report in response to the spotlight being shone on the head of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, thanks to a 30 minute video by the American advocacy group Invisible Children.

The video has now received more than 30 million views, and has sparked a debate about the West’s role in Africa. [You can listen to WBEZ’s Worldview program for recent analysis by clicking here, where you can also view the original video.]

Read Dave’s full report here. 

From Dave’s report:

To be sure, there is a lot to be done in Africa. And Americans can help. But we must help by standing with Africans. Not over them. Not by imposing our will and believing we have all the answers. But by really engaging with people on the ground, listening to their stories, understanding their wants, needs and desires and helping them achieve those goals. The African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams has just released an eleven-minute video, “A Story of Healing” which examines what HIV+ women in Burundi are doing to support one another in difficult times. No Americans appear in the video. It was made with the involvement of Burundians who have seen and critiqued the draft of the video. This, to me, is the way to work with and for Africa.

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The spiritual fire of George Fox himself: World Conference of Friends

It is finally here! After five years of planning, in a few short weeks Illinois Yearly Meeting is sending four representatives to a once-in-a-generation, global gathering of Quakers: the Sixth World Conference of Friends, to be held in Nakuru, Kenya starting April 17th.

The last World Conference was in 1991, and there hasn’t been a conference of this size since 1967!

We urge you to unite in spirit with our representatives, Adrian Nelson, Rose Dennis, Mark Amos and Dawn Rubbert, as they cross the oceans and continents to worship and seek the Spirit with 1,000 Quakers from Africa, Asia, the West Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Every kind of Quaker worship style will be practiced, and every kind of Quaker way of living will be witnessed. I can affirm that the spiritual fire of George Fox himself can be experienced in a gathering like this.

A large percentage of the delegates are young adults, so this promises to inspire the next generation of Quakers to bring their share of Truth and vitality to the Religious Society of Friends and the Quaker Church.

You and your meeting can stay involved by using the study booklet at
http://www.saltandlight2012.org/materials, and by watching the official conference site, the FWCC Section of the Americas site, or the ongoing Global Change Initiative site where you are likely to find live blogs, transcripts, reports, minutes and other forms of Friends’ witness.

Many of you have contributed to help ensure the diversity of this gathering, and it is not too late to chip in to the world travel fund. You can do it online at http://saltandlight2012.org/donate.html.

Please hold all the world’s Friends in the Light and in your prayers during this blessed time.

Dawn Amos
past ILYM representative to Friends World Committee for Consultation

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A Letter To Other Occupiers by Staughton Lynd

On Tuesday, February 28, 2012 author Staughton Lynd published a letter to explore the role of consensus decision-making and nonviolence in building a community of trust. Upon reading it, Friend David Finke asked that Peace Resources Committee publish a link here, writing: “Staughton is prophetic, and we must help get this message out, I believe.”

Click here to read the letter in full, which addresses:

I – Every local Occupy movement of which I am aware has begun to explore the terrain beyond the downtown public square, asking, what is to be done next?

II – Here, in brief, is the history that I pray we will not repeat.

III – Although I am concerned that small groups in the Occupy Movement may contribute to unnecessary violence in Chicago, it is not violence as such that most worries me.

IV – So what do I recommend? I am eighty-two and no longer able to practice some of what I preach, but for what they may be worth, here are some responses to that question.

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What are your thoughts about the Occupy Movement’s next steps? Are you an active supporter? What do you think this movement has to gain from consensus decision-making and nonviolence in building a community of trust?

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Find out more: Catholics for nuke cuts

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is calling on Catholics to “urge [the president] to end outdated US nuclear war-fighting strategy, dramatically reduce the number of US nuclear weapons and the number of submarines, missiles, and bombers that carry those weapons, and take US nuclear weapons off high alert.”

Click here to read the full letter and add your name.

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Learn to develop good relations with your elected officials: workshop details

The Oak Park Friends Meeting would like to extend an invitation to a unique interfaith opportunity being sponsored by the Meeting: a training workshop designed to help persons of faith develop good relations with their elected officials. The leader of the session will be Jim Cason, the Associate Executive Secretary of Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington DC .  FCNL is the largest peace lobby group in the USA , and Jim has had many years of leadership experience in this area.  We are very excited he has agreed to visit us in Oak Park and facilitate the workshop.

The training session will be held on Saturday, March 10 from 9:30 AM until 12:30 PM at the Oak Park Main Library at 834 Lake Street. Garage parking is available and it is about one block from the Oak Park Avenue stop on the Green CTA line. The training workshop is free and open to the public. There will be light refreshments during the session and an optional Dutch Treat luncheon following at a local Thai Restaurant.

We hope that a group of persons from your faith committee will plan on attending. If you need any additional details, please send queries to Wil Rutt (willrutt @sbcglobal.net) or call Kelly Maynard at (773) 824-0722.

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Hosting AFSC’s Eyes Wide Open Exhibit

This document is a manual of instruction for a community or faith community or organization hosting the AFSC Eyes Wide Open Exhibit.

Eyes Wide Open is an exhibition on the human cost of war:  Over 230 pairs of empty boots-tagged with names of Illinois soldiers who have died in the Iraq war-will be displayed, together with a visual representation of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have died during the conflict.

AFSC_EWO-pamphlet (download here)