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.]

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A Marker for her Mother: A Survivor’s Journey

The case itself was old news – from 1974, in fact. But only in 2007, thirty-three years later, was a marker to be placed on the victim’s grave, by her daughter.

The victim was Beryl Mitchell, killed by her Army Green Beret husband on December 1, 1974: stabbed, strangled, and dumped nude in a wooded area of Ft. Bragg. Her husband was later convicted of murder and spent several years in an Army prison.

Their daughter, Christine Horne, was in elementary school. She worked for decades to overcome the impact of that trauma. As a closing part of that process, Horne was coming to Fayetteville to organize a memorial for her mother and install a headstone; the fact that the ceremony took place at the beginning of what is called Domestic Violence Awareness Month was entirely not coincidental.

The memorial became an impressive public event; both the police chief and the Cumberland County sheriff were there –though the army did not respond to her invitation to send someone. The event climaxed in the release of thirty-three lavender balloons at the cemetery. A crowd of fifty-plus watched the balloons rise into the blue sky. Among them were many women, survivors of domestic violence, who showed up unannounced to be part of the witness.

I was Director at Quaker House in Fayetteville then; and Quaker House became a quiet part of this story. Domestic violence was not one of our program priorities then, though of course we heard about it in our counseling, and as part of the life of the community. (The military has an ongoing epidemic of domestic violence, which it works diligently to downplay and keep quiet. Of course, much the same thing could be said of the rest of our society as well.)

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The Northwest Gay Expulsion Impasse: Is A Break In Sight?

The Northwest Gay Expulsion Impasse: Is A Break In Sight? At its September business meeting, West Hills Friends (WHF) in Portland Oregon considered a statement accepting its expulsion from Northwest Yearly Meeting (NWYM) for having become a LGBT-welcoming congregation. If approved, the statement would be issued jointly with NWYM. The decision to expel West Hills was made … Continue reading The Northwest Gay Expulsion Impasse: Is A Break In Sight? →

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Free Speech, Islamophobia & The Murder of Innocents

I’m mindful of, and disturbed by the steady stream of articles I see decrying there decline of free speech on and around U.S. universities. Many of these come from rightwing pundits; but others come from worried but otherwise progressive observers.

A Carolina memorial to three victims of anti-Muslim violence, February 2015.
I’ve held back from joining the fray, mainly because it’s almost twenty years since I worked on a college campus, and it’s way too easy to succumb to hand-wringing fads and facile generalizations about “kids these days”; to moan about how academia is abandoning rational discourse, and its millennial occupants are all going to hell in a handbasket woven from organic fair trade dried kale.

Perhaps it’s so; but how would I know that? I live near some large campuses, but don’t hang out there.

But then a week or so ago, an advocacy group I’m part of was asked to sign on to a letter. The missive, written by Manzoor Cheema, for the Movement to Ed Racism and islamophobia, called for a lecture series in Chapel Hill NC, to be shut down. The letter’s money quote was:

“we urge Extraordinary Ventures to say no to the voices of hatred and bigotry. We request Extraordinary Ventures to cancel Diana West’s upcoming speech and the future lecture series by ICON.”

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