In light of recent events, permit me to share a photograph or two. Selma, Alabama, March 1965. I stood on the church steps behind John Lewis, Hosea Williams & Andrew Young. Then John & Hosea marched over the Pettus Bridge & were beaten & teargassed; John got his head busted, was almost killed. I got … Continue reading John Lewis vs. Little Hands: Talk vs. Action
Two Nights & a Lifetime with Dr. King Next Monday will be devoted to the work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was my good fortune to work under Dr. King in the great voting rights campaign he led with others in Selma, Alabama in 1965. Besides being historic for America, that experience … Continue reading For MLK Day: Stories from Selma, January 16
Northwest Yearly Meeting is notorious for its institutional culture of secrecy; indeed, I think they could teach the CIA some tricks.
So imagine my surprise when a clandestine collective which can be called “Quaki-Leaks” passed along some emails hacked from the listserve for NWYM pastors. There were other posts,but these offer an illuminating glimpse of what goes on behind one of the numerous veils that shroud much (too much, in my view) of NWYM’s proceedings.
The posts dealt with the impending midyear session this weekend, and its hot issue of what to do about gay-friendly meetings. The samples presented here offer three distinct views of the situation, with some qualifying comments by the NWYM Superintendent. We’ll finish with some brief comments.
First up is a Friend who dislikes the petition, because he hopes to avoid a purge. We’ll let him explain:
I mean, who gives a fig about blatant Russian hacking & corruption of a presidential election, when we can obsess some more over whether a Friends church or two in Oregon might actually marry a samesex couple, or even change a couple of restroom signs?
And in the nick of time, here it comes again: another ultimatum: pull the trigger to stop that, or else.
The occasion is the mid-year session of NWYM, set for this weekend (January 13-14, 2017), a conclave like unto the Roman college of cardinals, with attendance strictly limited to the properly-credentialed.
And high on the agenda will be the question that has smoldered and flared unbanked now through more than eighteen months, two yearly meeting sessions, several closed meetings in between, and yet another specially called, carefully vetted assembly last month: will NWYM carry out the decision to expel West Hills Friends in Portland. And then will it follow up by purging Camas Friends, which has recently adopted its own affirming stance? Plus impose firm order on any others who go wobbly?
Thinking over the Friday “revelations” about how the big intel agencies (CIA, FBI, NSA) are agreed that Russia hacked the election to favor the President-elect (Or P-E), I’m recalling that African proverb about how when elephants fight, it’s the grass & the mice that get trampled.
And I’m taking a mouse-eyed view of what just happened.
Here’s how I think it looks from there: those with eyes to see witnessed an opening round in what could be a death struggle between the Deep State vs the Dupe State.