Just before Christmas, I wrote a post about what the second phase of the Occupy movement might look like. Moving beyond camping, I suggested that we focus our energy and resources on developing local assemblies – in neighborhoods, workplaces and other pre-existing communities. I encouraged occupiers to redouble our efforts to find ways to collaborate…
Since the Occupy movement began almost two months ago, we have been under steady pressure. From the beginning, in New York, we suffered unprovoked violence on the part of the police. In recent days, these attacks have only increased in severity as the Occupation spreads across the country. The good news is, the attempts to…
Peace requires justice. Justice requires law. Law requires government. Not only within nations, but also between nations. – William Penn, 1693 (As paraphrased by Paulette Meier in Timeless Quaker Wisdom) Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted…
On the 15th, I flew from Greensboro, North Carolina to Portland, Oregon and spent a number of days with my cousin, Ben, who lives in the city. It was a blessing to be able to stay with him, relaxing for a few days without any responsibility beyond waking up at a certain point in the…
It occurs to me that where Friends are very privileged and protected by Caesar’s might, we are far more likely to set up “reasonable” arguments for the Peace Testimony, as a matter of public policy, or to abandon it altogether. The third alternative, to justify the Peace Testimony as a recognition of an inward reality,…