All posts by Chuck Fager

Northwest Update: The Expulsion Plot Thickens

When it comes to West Hills Friends in Portland, Oregon, expelled from its association for becoming LGBT welcoming, , the main positions are pretty well laid out:

— If the expulsion is overturned (West Hills can stay), then some are clear NWYM is headed for hell in a handbasket, and they may head for the door.

— If West Hills is indeed forced out, then some others are sure the YM will be barreling toward Hades in a Prius, and they may look for an exit.

— If there’s no decision?

(This last is the only possibility that’s much interesting to me. That’s because there have been numerous times in Quaker history when yearly meetings have been in conflict, and decided to stay together and live/work them through. Taking such a path in NWYM might also provoke some attrition, but would be both novel and for many, uplifting — even Christian.)

Oops! Standing Rock “Facebook Check-Ins” Are Another Internet Legend

Oops! Standing Rock “Facebook Check-Ins” Are Another Internet Legend Chuck Fager is at SNOPES.COM, standing in solidarity with the small and scorned remnant who check such things before helping spread viral baloney. Snopes has debunked the viral rumor that faking “check-ins” on Facebook will somehow protect protesters at Standing Rock from police surveillance. Yes, another … Continue reading Oops! Standing Rock “Facebook Check-Ins” Are Another Internet Legend →

Senator Richard Burr, Sex talk, and Sex Torture

Senator Richard Burr, Sex talk, and Sex Torture North Carolina Senator Richard Burr initially denounced Donald trump’s talk of groping and sexually assaulting women. NBC News quoted Burr tweeting that Trump’s statements were “inappropriate and completely unacceptable.” That’s good, and he was right. But Sen. Burr’s tweet left me feeling surprised and unsatisfied. Surprised because it … Continue reading Senator Richard Burr, Sex talk, and Sex Torture →

Cloudy Skies for Friends General Conference — Part II

Nevertheless the Gathering has taken on, not only the work of facilitating fellowship and worship; but it now includes, on practically every hand, an extensive experience of imposed improvement. Indeed, it’s becoming like a week in rehab.
Let me count some of the ways: The Gathering tells me what kind of soap and shampoo to use, what kind of water not to drink. It bids me to mind and shrink my carbon footprint, insists we take naps on Wednesday afternoon, and shames those who insist on gathering and talking instead. It instructs me on bathroom etiquette, and the hazards of proliferating pronouns.

And this is not to mention that it has shouldered the even heavier burden of curing all my (must be) retrograde attitudes: racism, sexism, homo- and trans-phobia, cultural appropriation, plus the myriad ways I am personally destroying the planet, with classism on the rise but not quite there yet, — with the advisement that any demurral is a sure sign of guilt on one or more scores, with no appeal.

Oh — and when someone raises their arm in the dining hall, I am to shut up and sink into a “transforming” silence.

FGC’s one ecumenical triumph: the food line. Many options for finicky Friends; no hectoring, no coercion. You’d even think we had paid for this.
These things did not happen all at once; rather bit by bit. But now their burgeoning has almost totally obscured the presence among them of an older, much more sucessful alternative, namely that regarding diet. In the cafeteria, FGC’s Food Committee has done remarkably successful work at making conveniently, quietly, and non-intrusively available a wide range of dishes for the nearly infinite variety of Friendly food fetishes. I am grateful to them three times every day.

For me the shift from fellowship and worship to hectoring and paternalism has passed a key point: one I was a devotee of the Gathering; now I am a customer. And not a very contented one. I’ve skipped a couple in recent years. And as for next summer — I’m just not sure.

Update-Northwest YM Gay Expulsion: The Power In Posing The Question

With the trial balloon of a joint statement being shot full of holes; the Administrative Council met on October 13, and set December 9-10 for a special meeting of meeting representatives (to include one “young Friend” from each group) to deal with the matter.

And at this point, we come back to the opening question about how what is called “Quaker process” can be, er, managed.

Basically, it’s quite simple, and based on this precedent: once a decision has been made, to change or repeal it requires that the body “reach unity” to do so.

So the technique comes down to how the decision is presented.

The Case of Pumpkin Spice Cake
For instance: suppose a meeting decided at one business session to serve pumpkin spice cake at the Fall Festival. But then at the next business meeting, some said they couldn’t stand pumpkin spice anything. To remove the pumpkin spice cake, the meeting would need to “reach unity” to reverse its earlier decision.

But what if the Clerk was a big fan of pumpkin spice cake, and wanted to make sure it stayed on the menu?

And what if the Clerk knew there were strong divided feelings about the matter?

Then the Clerk could pose the question in a way that would ensure her desired outcome. How?

Simple: The Clerk could ask:

“Does the meeting wish to RESCIND the decision to have pumpkin spice cake?”

[The ensuing discussion is divided.]

Clerk: “It’s clear there is NO UNITY to change the menu.”

[Ergo, Pumpkin Spice cake stays.]