Quaker Universalist Voice

Speaking truth in the global public square…

Topic: Quaker testimonies

Quaker Giving

A Book Review of Rob Reich, Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better (2018)

The author of Rob Reich,  Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better ,

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Alpha Order

A Place for Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order (2020), by Judith Flanders - A Book Review

Judith Flanders, A Place for Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order (2020) describes the evolving idea of alphabetical ordering of…

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Terror Talk

A Book Review of Jonathan Powell,Terrorists at the Table: Why Negotiating is the Only Way to Peace (2015)

Terrorism is universal in all cultures, in all traditions, in all times. Terrorism is only a means not an end, in human behavior.  When other means are not perceived as effective, terrorism is among the final options.  The only way to…

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Facing hostile nationalism: Quakers in Nazi Germany and now

Hans Albrecht and German Yearly Meeting in the 1930s

Children of the German School at Eerde … America is rounding up and imprisoning people labeled as so-called “illegal aliens,” taking children from families and detaining people in crowded, sometimes abusive conditions. Increasingly, the arrested include American-born…

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“The Church, the Draft Board, and Me”

Sharing the memoir of George Amoss, Jr.

“The Church, the Draft Board, and Me” recounts my conflicts with the Catholic Church, whose ethics were called into question by the war in Vietnam, and the U.S. Selective Service System, which refused to honor my conscientious objection to participation in war.

In telling that story, it sketches my evolution, despite encounters with predatory priests and a vindictive draft board, from youthful candidate for the Catholic priesthood to adult a-theistic Quaker who still asserts that “God is love.”

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Words, Words for World Communication

In the last few months in the U.S., we are testing our language, searching for the right words. For examples, do we use “not guilty,” exoneration, vindication, exculpation, absolution, assoil, absolve, or acquittal? These are all related, but each is different in nuance and significance for our future.

Selecting the right words is a universal human challenge. How do we to find and use language to express and communicate to others in public discernment processes?

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Reflections on QUF’s 2019 Themes

A response from the Philippines

Quaker’s faith is all about practical Christianity, both in personal and communal prayers, and personal and communal good works.

Faith can’t be complete without good works. Mere good work without faith to God, the creator, author, and the beginning and end of all things, isn’t also enough. These are inseparable as intertwining. Real faith is walking with good actions in genuinely free-will practice.

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