Summary - 11.1.2007

Dear Friends,

Welcome back to QiN.

There is good news and bad news this period.

William Penn's 23 ships landed at Chester
near Philadelphia in October 1682 - 325 years ago.
Please see Quaker History

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Good and sad news come together with the passing of Quaker Friends from this earth. Bittersweet are these reports, in that living generations hopefully learn timeless truths from the description of the lives of those Friends who have passed away. Please see Obituary. We might also learn from unexplainable and tragic losses of life in Nickel Mines, PA and Blacksburg, VA. Please also see Religious Faith.
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Now for the bad.

The membership decline of modern day Quaker Friends may be the result of political polarization. The Quaker Church has relied upon diversity of experience and independence of opinion in decision making and self governance for centuries. Yet, a recent study by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM: Who We Are) says that almost of all of its members are politically 'liberal'.

Potential financial and governmental malfeasance within the American Friends Service Committee might be a sign that the few remaining politically polarized Friends, cannot properly oversee their 'institutions' any longer. The AFSC, now largely a communications committee of non-Quakers, may have become or is becoming the de facto mouthpiece for the Quaker Church considering its 500+ employees, and its $43 MM annual operating budget. The Editor of QiN has also noticed its substantial public relations efforts, and of affiliating itself with what is left of Friends' membership, when expedience calls.

If you'd like to read the Editor's comments with links to various 'bad' news articles, please click on the following links:

AFSC Editorial and News links:

• The Latest Questionable Conduct by the AFSC

• Is the AFSC still a 'Quaker' institution?

• Is the AFSC hiding behind the historic integrity of Friends?
  

• How are the AFSC and the Philadelphia Quakers Doing a Year After their Laundry was aired in the News?

• Questions Friends might ask themselves about the AFSC

• Why is this public exposure of AFSC needed?

• AFSC's change in self-description between 2005 and 2007

Other Editorial and News Links:

• Lack of Oversight in a Retirement Community?
  

• Shame on a Large Wealthy Quaker School?

• Decline in Quaker Morality in the Arts?

In Sadness,
The Editor
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For an up-to-the-moment snapshot of the face of modern Friends, please click on the following links:

War
Religious Faith
Quaker Schools
Quaker History
Quaker Council for European Affairs
Politics and Economics
Outreach
Obituary
Natural Science
Quaker House - NC
Membership Decline
Integrity
Humanitarian Assistance
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Crime and Punishment
Church-State / Mary Dyer
Business
Book Review
Arts
American Friends Service Committee
Agriculture