Bob Dockhorn, my predecessor as Friends Journal senior editor, has been doing a lot of writing since he’s retired and one of his big projects involves a vision of a world free of its addiction to violence. Somewhere in the process he lost a step (there’s only 11).
Having been raised a Friend, I assume a hopeful stance toward the future. Unlike many others, we generally presume that the human world is not meant to be adversarial. Even decision making by voting is rejected among Friends as unnecessarily confrontational. Friends participate in local and national elections, but often with misgivings since these contests, lawmaking, and even courts can be settings in which privilege is preserved and fought for.
One evening a few years ago, as I sat in silence at Southampton (Pa.) Meeting, my attention turned to a 12-Step poster on the wall, left behind by a Narcotics Anonymous group that meets weekly in our space. As I stared at it, I experienced a flash of insight — that our entire culture is addicted to competition and violence.
I appreciate how the steps start simply (“Clear One’s Presumptions,” “Access Multiple Sources of Information”) and then build into proposals that seem pie-in-the-sky “(Transform Military Institutions,” “Implement World Government”), especially with current world trends. But that’s the nature of a journey: it starts with steps but maintains vision toward a destination.
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