A Quaker Vision for Political Activism

Politics is on our minds this week. Marge Abbott and Noah Merrill explore how Friends have been called to engage in the political conversation in the past and offer a vision for the future.

This is a re-release of an earlier video that we did with the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

Jon Watts

Jon Watts launched and directed the QuakerSpeak project for its first 6 seasons. Keep up to date with Jon’s work at his website.

8 thoughts on “A Quaker Vision for Political Activism

  1. So timely! So encouraging! I’m sending it to my despairing children, 2 grandsons, and many friends and Friends. I h ope you can get it on Public media! This is the saving grace bestowed by Trump quite inadvertently.

  2. I’m not
    A Quaker
    But I attended a Quaker school in highscool. I’d really like to join a Quaker group of activists. Can you help guide me tword someone?

  3. Can Friends Journal please find and present the voices of those who are who are currently serving in elected office? I would also ask that FJ find those Friends who are actively open about their role as a leader in one of the major political parties in their local county and/or city and/or state.

  4. I was bowled over by the following words spoken by Noah:
    “We are politically insignificant in so many ways, but it’s not “our Power” we’re bringing to these conversations. We are being as faithful as we can to the Truth that’s being revealed to us and we’re trusting that if we follow that through, that that will speak in others as well, that that same Power we’re encountering is also at work in every heart.”
    This describes how our activism should be in a nutshell.

  5. I’ve waited out a long illness, two moves, the death of one son, and a time of groping to belong. I found the Friends meeting in Ashland, OR, and am, with their help spinning off a worship Group in Grants Pass where its intimacy and safety to be oneself are factors in my social activism. I am gradually becoming active in this blooming of consciousness spurred by Trump’s election. After a surprisingly big initial meeting of Indivisible, I offered to form a council of elders. We are now recruiting. All through this time (after retiring as a clinical Art Therapist in Arizona, and trying to put down roots in Oregon) I have done SoulCollage(R) workshops. I consider this model for self-understanding and soul-making my new peace work, environmental work, and women’s movement work.

    The more I do, the more energy I seem to be given. In spite of my forgetter getting better and better, this political/spiritual/artistic activism seems to be making me younger! My 87 years work in my favor!

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