I believe that our group is seeking deep understanding before turning our focus towards actions. A longtime source of wisdom for me has been the Indian spiritual philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, and I was drawn to look into what he said over the years on the theme of “partial action”. The following was compiled by doing … Read more
I found the recent presentation “Bonhoeffer and Resistance to Tyranny and Organized Stupidity” with Larry Rasmussen hosted by Fr. John Dear of The Beatitudes Center to be very informative. In the ensuing discussion after the presentation I learned of the connection from Bonhoeffer to William Stringfellow to Walter Wink and the theme of Principalities and … Read more
Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in Americaby Christian Smith, Oxford University Press, 440 pp., $34.99. The main premise is: For a growing number of Americans, traditional religion, particularly Christianity, has simply become obsolete. Smith’s judgment of obsolescence does not imply that most people have come to view religion as false or disproven, brought down … Read more
From video series Journey to American Democracy by Helen Cox Richardson. Episode 1: British Subjects
This week was the birthday of Thomas Kelly (June 4, 1893 – January 17, 1941). Thomas Kelly was an American Quaker who wrote about his mystical experiences and his direct experience with authoritarianism. When Hitler rose to power, he traveled to Germany to encourage Friends who were living under Hitler’s regime. His book, A Testament … Read more
Daniel Hunter is the speaker at the June 1, 2025 Quaker Call to Action national Zoom call. He is co-founder of of ChooseDemocracy.us. A Quaker and colleague of George Lakey, Daniel Hunter is one of the foremost thinkers and trainers in the field of nonviolent direct action campaigns, particularly in resisting and preventing autocratic takeovers. … Read more
I highly recommend a talk on authoritarianism and Jesus by Dr. Brian McLaren, Dean of the core faculty of the Center for Action and Contemplation. It’s the clearest presentation I’ve found on the central dynamics of authoritarianism. Authoritarianism concentrates power in one person, party, or ideology using four techniques: I would add a fifth: dehumanizing … Read more
On Sunday I felt a nudge to attend Quaker meeting, During the silent worship my mind was drawn to the issue of climate change. In particular the action by the Trump administration to shut down the project by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to track billion dollar weather disasters. I was attending the meeting … Read more
Monday, June 2, 6-7:30 pm MT. We’ll discuss Wink’s chapter 4, “Breaking the Spiral of Violence.” Background Wink’s work challenges many conventional Biblical and Christian assumptions. Here are some quotes that stood out for me. Merely winning does not satisfy the Powers; they must win big, in order to demoralize oppositions before it can gain … Read more
Substack was down for a while today. It was worth the wait to read Heather Cox Richardson’s April 28 column devoted to a rousing speech! There has been a change afoot in the Democratic Party for a while now as its leaders shift from trying to find common ground with Republicans to standing firmly against … Read more