tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4856893156680873562.post4072081572993047794..comments2023-10-10T06:47:21.655-07:00Comments on Quaker Explorers: "Orthodoxy - The Spirit of Elias is Upon Me" by TonyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4856893156680873562.post-37430039117759414772010-07-31T12:46:36.442-07:002010-07-31T12:46:36.442-07:00I honor the impulse to seek unity in a divided rel...I honor the impulse to seek unity in a divided religious body, especially when that impulse is grounded in love. But my concern is that the effort so easily morphs into a drive toward resolution at the expense of the exploration. Suddenly conformity in doctrine, practice or structure becomes the aim, and the passions of the few are sacrificed or muted to arrive at a statement, however pale, that attempts to speak for the many. <br /><br />What if, instead, we humbly identified the questions that we find ourselves exploring at this particular point in our faith journeys? What if we deliberately set out not to come up with a common vision statement but rather a picture of the religious questions and issues that we are struggling with and living out at this point in our history? What if we saw unity as mutual respect and fellowship rather than uniformity in practice and belief?Holly Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07571405119540086256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4856893156680873562.post-21018088088149023752010-07-26T14:37:23.354-07:002010-07-26T14:37:23.354-07:00that's what many of us believethat's what many of us believeTonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03082479918423673292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4856893156680873562.post-54713033368362473542010-07-26T14:33:53.614-07:002010-07-26T14:33:53.614-07:00JJS,
That's certainly what many of us thinkJJS,<br /> That's certainly what many of us thinkTonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03082479918423673292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4856893156680873562.post-33846418960255437862010-07-26T14:22:47.256-07:002010-07-26T14:22:47.256-07:00What if, instead of continuing the tradition of tr...<i>What if, instead of continuing the tradition of trying to shut out different voices begun by the clamor over Friend Elias back in 1827, we tried welcoming those with a different point of view and trusted the Spirit within instead of our own selves to guide us into Truth?</i><br /><br />Friend speaks my mind!Taniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08779680819545525601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4856893156680873562.post-83069745329886580502010-07-22T10:09:56.954-07:002010-07-22T10:09:56.954-07:00Many Friends have advocated the ideal of a Quaker ...Many Friends have advocated the ideal of a Quaker denomination without sub-denominations. It assumes that schism is a catastrophe, and that it could be avoided if Friends were more willing to dialogue concerning differences and exercise heroic toleration for others. This vision led to the merging of many yearly meetings that had previously split, and to the joint affiliation of others with both FUM and the FGC. We are living in the historical shadow of this style of Quaker ecumenism; it is an idea that has already been tried!<br /><br />Many of these mergers and joint affiliations involved differences that had lost their sharp edge, and no longer mattered. Usually, there was a minority for whom the differences did matter, and the minority got pushed aside!<br /><br />This “intra-Quaker ecumenism” is how the FGC got meetings with pastors, and how FUM got meetings where Christian faith is a moot point or even an unmentionable topic. This is how the Philadelphia Orthodox Friends virtually disappeared in what is now a sea of non-theism. This is how the Conservative yearly meetings in Canada and New England lost their spiritual and organizational integrity. This is how many devout Friends found themselves in an unacceptable religious environment, and became ex-Friends or unaffiliated Friends!<br /><br />Please don't misunderstand me. I favor friendly dialogue with Friends of other religious traditions. What I find hard to accept is the idea that these differences can be dealt with by submerging them in a “common Quaker tradition” that probably doesn't exist.<br /><br />My wife and I were members of a yearly meeting which in fact consists of two or three different religious groups pretending to be one. The existence of of diverse factions in the yearly meeting created a continuing power struggle and backroom manipulation which was more Machiavellian than Christian! Over the years many yearly meeting members dropped out because of all the toxic spiritual waste they were exposed to!<br /><br />I believe that Friends would be better off if they sorted themselves out into relatively homogeneous groups, preferably based on faith and practice—not ethnicor socio-economic factors. This would allow each group to pursue its own vision, without wasting energy coping with “irreconciliable differences” in a badly divided meeting.Bill Rushbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00579099372065932809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4856893156680873562.post-26717569899734279892010-07-20T08:56:00.101-07:002010-07-20T08:56:00.101-07:00Good morning,
Pardon my ignorance but isn't w...Good morning,<br /><br />Pardon my ignorance but isn't welcoming those with a different point of view and trusting the Spirit within, the mainstay of Quakers?<br /><br />As one of the "convinced" that needed no convincing but needed only the knowledge that being Quaker was were I always belonged but was lead the circuitous route to my Worship Group it was the afore mentioned paragraph belief that drew me and allowed me to know I was "home". <br /><br />Are we victims of over thinking and not enough positive action and outreach?<br /><br />Jacquie from Vancouver Island<br />(at 50 I am a "baby" Quaker)JJShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00327416152042809109noreply@blogger.com