I just read a long thread on a Quaker Facebook page, filled with semi-hysterical advice-giving about elaborate steps for paranoid parents/grandparents to take NOW to keep their precious sons out of the iron clutches of the military draft, and smooth their path into the safety of C. O, (Conscientious Objector) status. Threads like this pop … Continue reading A recipe for calming parental panic about the military draft
From Marian Rhys, “Life: The Great Balancing Act,” in Passing the Torch Despite [a youthful] service-work connection with Friends, it was not until my early twenties that I became engaged with them on any regular basis. By that time, I had begun to feel the need for some spirituality in my life, and started attending … Continue reading “Passing the Torch,” Author Speak #5: “I stopped trying to talk with Friends about evil . . .”
Quakers are often very interesting people. And generations come and go. These are the modest theses behind the new book, Passing the Torch. In fifty-plus years among The Religious Society of Friends (our rather pompous official name), its members, attenders, hangers-on and even antagonists, I have kept bumping into and hearing about interesting people. And … Continue reading Why “Passing the Torch”? And Why Now?
Helena Cobban I was born into a very traditional (Church of England, Conservative-voting) family of the British upper middle class. I was 14 when the Israeli-Arab war of 1967 broke out. As I recall it, just about all the news coverage on our grainy black-and-white television and in the two newspapers my father took, the … Continue reading “Passing The Torch” Authors Speak #3: “I utterly and humiliatingly lost my nerve. . . .”
In 2004, like the rest of the world, at Quaker House we began to learn about U. S. torture in the “War On terror.” In one way, it wasn’t much of a surprise. Situated next door to Fort Bragg, we knew that besides being home to the 82nd Airborne Division (Airborne means they troops jump … Continue reading Quaker House at 50: We tried everything to stop U.S. torture. Even Bible study.