Podcast: Introduction to the Quaker Faith
The Ripley Quaker Meeting in the UK has put out a nice, brief Introduction to the Quaker Faith on MP3. You can listen to it by clicking here.
Monday, April 27, 2009
About Me
- Name: Daniel P. (Danny) Coleman
- Location: Seattle, WA, United States
- Presence and Process: A Path Toward Transformative Faith and Inclusive Community
- Available at Amazon or at a book store near you
9 Comments:
I'm sorry but this guy isn't speaking about my Quaker faith!
Yes but he is talking about mine!
And mine too...
Perhaps you need to re-conside rwhat is you call 'Quaker'.
I was considering looking deeper into Quakerism as I thought it looked like a breath of fresh air compared to the organised religions that I have seen so far. However the comments on this page seem to point to the same type of internal arguments that are found in all the others... That's really sad... My search continues it seems :(
Hi Anon,
I think the only religion you will find where there is an absence of internal argument is one in which you are the only member! As soon as two or more people are involved in something together, there are going to be different viewpoints. This is certainly true of Quakerism; although I find that, by and large, Quakers deal with their differences of opinion in a gracious and humble manner.
Hi Danny, Firstly I didn't mean to be anon above, I guess I ticked the wrong box ;) I think you have misunderstood my post and for that I'm sorry, I should have been clearer. I used the term 'internal arguments' and that is perhaps where I misled you. I was actually referring to what amounts to the religion or faith forming internal schisms. Some faiths try to minimise the effect of this divergence on seekers by calling these splits simply diverse ‘traditions’ or other such terms but what they all amount to in effect is splits from the original belief or a ever diverging difference of viewpoint on the way forward.
Where this difficult to reconcile is when both ‘sides’ claim to take their direction from some form of divine leadership or guidance…. This of course is an obvious self defeating contradiction.
When it goes yet further to the point where one person describes his faith in, shall we say’ a podcast for instance ;) and then immediately someone from the same faith claims not to even recognise that description, well then I hope you can see my point.
Please understand that this forum was only the last little bit of incidental reading into Quakerism after a much longer period of research and the widening gap between Liberal, Conservative, Pastoral and Evangelical ‘traditions’ and obvious increasing acrimony between them. If the widening schism isn’t obvious from an internal view point, or even perhaps if it’s being ignored in the hope that it will just go away…well, perhaps that’s part of the problem?
There are many historical presidents to learn from and from what I have seen of the faith I truly hope that the four traditions can become reconciled and perhaps even reunited but I also believe that history tells us that the healing can’t start until the problem is acknowledged.
All the very best to you :)
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the clarification! You definitely are much more knowledgeable about Quakers than I assumed. The sense I get is that many Quakers from different "traditions" are working hard on reconciliation and there is a lot of promising movement. My friend Jan Wood has been doing quite a bit of work in this regard. Here is a recent account from someone who participated in a meeting with representitives from FGC, EFCI and FUM in which a powerful movement of healing and reconciliation took place:
http://www.fgcquaker.org/enewsletter/v2/i2/apology?utm_content=00vA000000BkyPHIAZ&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Read+his+reflections&utm_campaign=eNewsletter+-+gathering,+quaker+quest,+&+morecontent
Hi Danny,
Thank you very much for that link :)))
That story touched me quite a bit actually. I'm not sure why but it really did.
I don't know where to go from here but I guess I have no choice after that if I'm honest with myself... I'll just try to find a next step towards finding out more.
Thank you again from my heart for that info Danny.
(lol i've just re-read this post in preview and I'm not usually this gushing, sorry... perhaps I'm on to something at last? lol)
Thanks for letting me know, Kevin! I'm glad I was able to be of assistance. ;^)
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