If all goes smoothly on the technical front, tomorrow I’ll be interviewing Doug Bennett for Friends Journal. In this month’s feature article, he argues that the Quaker controversies over homosexuality could be an opportunity to bring us closer together. Reply below with a question for Doug (<20 words) and we might use it for the interview!
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President Obama’s been attributing some of his so-called “evolution” on same-sex marriage to his daughters. As he told ABC’s Robin Roberts:
You know, Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table, and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and, frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.
So where do Obama’s daughter’s independent friends come from? Like most tweens the likeliest answer is school – in their case, Sidwell Friends. It’s not unlikely that the “evolution” owed something to the Quaker environment there.
Most elite Quaker schools have only a token base of Quaker students and teachers, so we can’t assume that Malia and Sasha’s friends are Friends. Like many outward-facing Quaker institutions, modern Friends schools’ strongest claim to Quakerism is the values and discernment techniques they share with the wider world. They consciously transmit a style and pedagogy and create an environment of openness and diversity. Of course the Obama kids are going to rub up against non-traditional marriages at a East Coast Quaker school. And no one should be surprised if they bring a little of that back home when the school bus drops them off at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
NYTimes: Obama Girls Influence the President — Again
President Obama often uses his daughters, Malia and Sasha, as object lessons in explaining his reasoning behind important policy positions.
I’m part of a discussion at the Pendle Hill conference center outside Philadelphia next month. Everyone’s invited. It’s a rare chance to really bring a lot of different readers and media producers (official and DIY) together into the same room to map out where Quaker media is headed. If you’re a passionate reader or think that Quaker publications are vital to our spiritual movement, then do try to make it out.
Youtube, Twitter, podcasts, blogs, books. Where’s it all going and who’s doing it? How does it tie back to Quakerism? What does it mean for Friends and our institutions? Join panelists Charles Martin, Gabriel Ehri and Martin Kelley, along with Quaker publishers and writers from around the world, and readers and media enthusiasts, for a wide-ranging discussion about the future of Quaker media.
We will begin with some worship at 7.00pm If you’d like a delicious Pendle Hill dinner beforehand please reply to the Facebook event wall (see http://on.fb.me/quakermedia). Dinner is at 6.00pm and will cost $12.50
This is part of this year’s Quakers Uniting in Publications conference. QUIP has been having to re-imagine its role over the last ten years as so many of its anchor publishers and bookstores have closed. I have a big concern that a lot of online Quaker material is being produced by non-Quakers and/or in ways that aren’t really rooted in typical Quaker processes. Maybe we can talk about that some at Pendle Hill.
Of course, that is not the part of the story that motivates me. I am not seeking to be abused and betrayed, let down by my best friends and hunted by those in power. I may recognize the necessity of suffering, but by no means do I seek it out. I think most of us gravitate towards the triumphant victory and joy of Jesus\’ resurrection
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On the blogs, Robin Mohr wrote about Friends leadership and vision and the “Nakedness/You’re Not a Quaker” responses continue with two more follow-up’s among this week’s Editor Picks. Elsewhere, the Modern Quakers and Clothing project has been collecting some great personal stories. And on a housekeeping note, donations for QuakerQuaker have been pretty light lately; please consider helping out.
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Naked Leadership? [QuakerQuaker This Week, 2/26/12] — QuakerQuaker
Naked Leadership?
On the blogs, Robin Mohr wrote about Friends leadership and vision and the Nakedness/You’re Not a Quaker responses continue with two more f…
What might it mean that one of the best-selling new novels revolves around a Quaker plot line? Yes indeed, “The Marriage Plot” by “Virgin Suicides” author Jeffrey Eugenides apparently does. I’ve ordered it and will try to write up impressions too, According to this piece in Commentary, another current book has a Quaker theme. Curious. #books #eugenides
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Jeffrey Eugenides « Commentary Magazine
I am writing about Jeffrey Eugenides’s magical novel The Marriage Plot at greater length elsewhere, but a remarkable coincidence — an instant of serendipity in literary history — struck me upon re…
The January issue of +Friends Journal will include an interview with +Robin Mohr. One of the classic Quaker tracts that’s inspired her is a 1944 speech that Rufus M Jones gave to young Friends in Baltimore Yearly Meeting. We couldn’t locate a copy online so we scanned, copied and typed it in and will use it as a supplemental link to Robin’s piece. #blog
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What Will Get Us Ready | Friends Journal
By Rufus M Jones Web-only feature Rufus M. Jones’ 1944 lecture for Baltimore Young Friends Yearly Meeting.
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Not that exciting yet. We’ll see.
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Friends Journal
Quaker thought and life today
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