July 2009 • $6 ~uaker Thought FRIENDS and Life OURNAL Today
Why Bottled Water is aBlessing Up On the Mountaintop Friends Within God's Light An • AMONG FRIENDS independent magazine serving the GoodNews Religious Society ave you found that your income doesn't go as far as it used to? That your retire of Friends ment accounts have shrunk or disappeared? Perhaps your job has disappeared Editorial H as well. Do you worry about how you're going to make it through this com Susan Corson-Finnerty (Publish" and fucuti~ ing year, or this coming decade, or when you retire? In a world fraught with anxiety over Ediwr), Robert Dockhorn (Smior Ediwr}, Rebecca Howe {AssMate EdiUJr), Judith Brown (Poary Ediwr), diminishing resources, in which we hear alarming predictions ofimpending societal col Catherine Wald (Book &view Ediwr), Eileen Redden lapse, it is worth taking time to pull up a chair, sit down, take some deep breaths, and (Assistant Book &vii!W Ediwr), Mary Julia Street (MiksUJntS Ediwr}, Guli Fager (Assistant MikstontS focus on what's going well. Doing so is good for your health, both mental and physi Ediwr), Robert Marks, George Rubin (Nt!Ws Ediwn}, cal. Focusing on the positive is a tremendous antidote (and it's also a great motivator). Kara Newell (Columnist}, Lisa Rand, Marjorie Schier (Proofoadm}, Pat!)' Quinn (Volun~er), Hilary Bisenieks, There's certainly good news to share here at FRIENDS j OURNAL. In this issue, you will Allison Butler, Katherine Carlson, Daniel Coppock, Joshua Kinney, Katherine Toran (In~) find an article written by Paul Buckley, sharing information from our 2008 Survey. Unlike years past, this time we surveyed not only j OURNAL readers, but also adult young Friends, Production Barbara Benton (l 2 july 2009 FRIENDSjOURNAL 2009 55, NO. 7 • FEATURES • DEPARTMENTS 6 Up On the Mountaintop 2 Among Friends James A. Fletcher Forum An African American Friend describes his experience at 4 the inauguration ofBarack Obama as U.S. President. 5 Viewpoint 9 The Top Ten Reasons (Plus Three) Why On Quaker unity Bottled Water Is a Blessing 26 Memoir Chuck Fager Beyond all understanding The author responds to critics ofthe widespread use of 28 Books bottled water. Young Friends' bookshelf 12 Friends within God's Light 35 News Jnana Hodson Bulletin Board What exactly have Friends, including early Friends, meant by "the Light"? 40 Milestones 15 Christ-Centeredness and Quaker Identity 44 Classified R. Scot Miller He urges Friends to pay attention to our spiritual roots. 46 Meetings 17 The Nuclear Energy POETRY Debate among Friends: • II Wondering Another Round Stan Carnarius Karen Street She addresses reponses to 14 What Was It, John? her article in the October 2008 William Jolliff special issue, which called for the expanded use ofnuclear power. June Poetry 24 The 2008 Subscriber Last month's ljune F]) Survey contents page foiled to list Paul Buckley two poems. "Quaker Ladies Here are the results ofthe first Lunching," by Katherine Jager, survey ofFRI ENDS jOURNAL appeared on page II. "If," by subscribers since 2001. julie Cadwallader-Staub, appeared on page 35. We regret the omission. -Eds. Cover photo by Klaus Bernpaintner FRIENDS JoURNAL july 2009 3 Florida's original inhabitants. By the late point that careful, moderate discipline is a The cost is not the issue 18th century they were no more." necessary companion to active spiritual I commend FRIENDS JouRNAL for the That this tragic era is so little known nurture in the life of a healthy meeting. October special issue on "Energy, Climate, underscores the horror I feel at this My own experience working with and Building Communiry." I was deeply terrible loss. meetings that are trying to deal with disturbed, however, about one article in Fran Palmeri difficult people or behavior prompts two particul!J.r: "A Friend's Path to Nuclear Nokomis, Fla. additional comments. Power" by Karen Street. She compares the First, I offer an eldering "metric" for deaths caused by coal production with the Overcoming fear in the action, a trigger that could set the eldering deaths caused by the 1986 Chernobyl . . process into motion: When the first person accident without taking into account all Witness against war taxes withdraws from your meeting because of the factors of the nuclear picture such as the Can there be a similarity between difficult person or behavior, it's time to act, "fallout" from the limited protection of Friends' historical resistance to confronting if you haven't done so already. As soon as piled-up nuclear waste, to say nothing their compliciry in enslavement and to you lose a person you know you want in your about the mass destruction of humanity confronting their complicity in paying for meeting, you might as well have lost the that can be caused by nuclear weapons. war? The long denial by Friends in the person causing the trouble. Ifyou have not I urge Karen Street to do more homework moral tragedy of slavery, well documented acted decisively by this point, now is the time on the nuclear power issue and examine in the recently published book by Donna .to do so. Not that you should automatically such issues as: 1) Does nuclear power really McDaniel and Vanessa Julye, Fit for expel the source of your troubles, but you provide safe, clean energy? 2) Where does Freedom, Not for Friendship, and the recent should probably do something you think nuclear waste come from and where does it rationalizations by Friends for paying their might make a difference. go? 3) Will nuclear power help ameliorate personal income tax (see "What Is the The second comment has to do with our global climate problems? and 4) What Quaker Testimony on War Taxes?" by membership, specifically with our clearness are the real economics of nuclear power? Peter Phillips, F] Feb.) appear similar. committees for membership. Not that we Karen Street claims she "searched During the 17th and 18th centuries, should do a better job of recognizing without success for scientifically reliable Friends bearing witness to the moral troublemakers and then keep them out. sources to support claims that nuclear energy degradation that keeping slaves caused, But we. should let people applying for was too dangerous to be worth the risk." It such as Woolman, Benezet, Mifflin, and membership know that we consider both is obvious to me she read only what she others, were ignored or denounced. Today, nurture and discipline to be necessary parts wanted to read to support her claims. the small number of Friends witnessing of meeting life, and we should ask them I have not calculated the cost differences their conscientious objection to paying for whether they are willing to see this as part between nuclear power and other power weapons, such as cluster-, white phosphorus-, of their wider membership commitment. options. However, given the other factors and "smart" bombs, used on civilian This could lead to a deeper exploration of related to nuclear power use, even if the cost populations, are likewise ignored or what membership means, both to the meeting were far less, it is a very dangerous option. discounted: "voices crying in the and to the seeker approaching the meeting. wilderness" of Quaker affluence. Since most of our members probably jane M. Madsen I suspect that as Friends became more have not had this kind of conversation State College, Pa. affluent in the early years of enslavement about membership, it might provide a useful they feared losing their properry. Similarly, topic for a religious education program-or, More on Native Americans today, Friends may fear the specter of the better yet, some time for open discussion in Florida Internal Revenue Service hovering over during a meeting for business in worship. their bank accounts. Regarding Dana Reinhold's comments Those who deny the witness of those Steven Davison about my article in the February issue, refusing to pay for the military appear to . Hopewell, N.J. "Making Peace with Mother Earth" in her deny the strength of the spiritualleadings letter, "There are Native Americans in of others like myself. Until the strength of A message from one who Florida" (Forum, F]May): Yes, there are the Friends is felt speaking out against was visited Native Americans in Florida, descendants of paying for war, as was their lobbying ethnic groups who came south into Florida against the slave trade and then for My heartfelt thanks to Amy Runge in the 18th century. They managed to manumission, Congress will ignore our Gaffney ("The Ministry of Prison Visitation," F] April) for seeking, finding, survive against great odds. The indigenous spiritual testimony. It has been my peoples of Florida I referred to did not. experience, over 37 years of witnessing, and disclosing her answers to the question . Jerald T. Milanich, a leading authority that "all we have to fear is fear itself" posed by the inmate at Federal Correctional on Florida's native peoples, estimates that Institution in Dublin, California, "Why as many as 350,000 were living on the Perry Treadwell do you visit people in prison?" peninsula at the time of the Spanish Atlanta, Ga. During my four years as a Federal inmate, Conquest in the 16th century. Historians I was gifted with visits from five participants agree that they disappeared within a few in Prison Visitation and Support (PVS). In hundred years after colonial occupation. In Discipline and membership a variery of ways, .all expressed their The New History ofFlorida, Milanich spells I really appreciated Herb Lape's article appreciation for what I brought to t!J.em. out some reasons: "The European presence ''A Case for Eldering and Discipline" (F] At first I was stunned. Wasn't the dear brought diseases and slaving raids that April). It is full of wise and practical advice, lady there out of dutiful pity? severely reduced and ultimately destroyed and I couldn't agree more with his basic No. They each brought a respect born 4 july 2009 FRJENDS J ouRNAL • VIEWPOINT On Quaker Unity nity during meeting for wor about our differences is not unity. Lives can stand in for beliefs. To find ship for attention to business is At first it struck me as remarkable that our collective identity as Quakers we can U familiar to Quakers. It is a com the concerted action of a faith community look to our shared lives. Membership mitment to move forward together and, does not require agreement on faith, but does not have to signify that we hold significantly, it does not mean we have we all know people who disagree and still the same beliefs but can simply be a rec to hold the same views. This method of love each other and act together. We see this ognition of the place of the meeting in doing business has long been character in families that embrace different faiths. the life of the individual, and of the in istic of Quakers. We also see it when we worship with those dividual in the life of the meeting. To my surprise, the approach also with whom we disagree- something we do All this seems paradoxical because applies to another kind of unity every week. And this is not new: looking we have thought of unity of belief as the that of the meeting community. The back through history, we see people mani path tO unity of action, but Quakers two senses of the word are fundamen festing excellent values accompanied by know that unity does not require una tally one: unity during meeting for different faiths. nimity. Quaker unity is larger than that. business is the formation of a small There have been many varieties of Quak The embrace of religious diversity community around a particular issue; ers and there still are, even within individu in our midst can be our gift co the unity of the meeting community is a al meetings. Differences in religious experi world around us where differences in commitment to each other and to our ence do not prevent cooperation. Shared belief matter so much. Let us be pat lives together. practice does not require a shared explana terns of living together and loving each There are many implications of ap tion of the practice; we just have to love other, differences and all. Let us openly plying what we know of unity in meet each other as we love those who believe as and joyfully celebrate our peculiar com ing for business to the life of the meet we do. Common purposes do not require a bination of Quaker diversity and Quak- ing community. One is that we do not common religious language; we can each er unity. need to agree. We can differ-in fact, speak and write as we are moved, respond Os Cresson we need to know when we differ and ing to the essence of what we hear and read Os Cresson, a retired special education teach acknowledge it. Unity based on silence rather than tO its specific form. er, attends West Branch (Iowa) Meeting. of looking for and expecting to find that of of radiation was $125 billion. Shouldn't it owners to download, we all shall be God in each person. As I gradually relaxed be $125 million? completely out of the loop. I would hope and released my fear fueled by shame and john MacDougall caring Friends might give appropriate guilt, I began to respond to their love. We Cambridge, Mass. concern to this trend. came to extend and receive mutual caring, BobMabbs appreciation, forgiveness, and laughter. Indeed, the amount should be $125 million, Sioux Falls, S.Dak. I'm now at a halfway house, have been not $125 billion! Thanks to our careful The trend toward reliance on the Internet hired full-time despite marking "Yes" to reader for noticing this. -Kristin Grabarek seems relentless; we hope you have access to the felony question on countless job someone who can help you out when you applications, have found a welcoming Don't forget those of us who need information. But rest assured: FRIENDS church, and I am moving forward with a jOURNAL has no intention ofdispeming with strength given by the Christ within. depend on ((snail mail" its paper version! -Eds. Thank you, PVS members, for being Knowing the caring for minorities faithful witnesses tO the promise in Isaiah traditionally attributed to Friends, I am 42:3: ~ bruised reed he will not break, and becoming concerned about the A response to the May issue smoking flax he will not quench." abridgement of communication for the on the Peace Gathering You are each the bearer oflight and love admittedly dying-off generation of those of My interest (not relish, mind you) in co every prisoner. us not owning computers or without access ]ejJDeVore thereto. Your advertisements and stories, war goes back to a time in my very early Garden Grove, Calif. and now the letter "William Penn lager beer?" childhood when I had not yet even entered (Forum, April), all use email addresses. In school. But my reasoning powers were this last case, I'd dearly like to contribute my developing all the same. Off by three orders of I was born in 1943. My first childhood protests to the powers-that-be on behalf of magnitude those of us who need snail mail addresses. remembrances were those of the years 1946 I enjoyed the article "On the Cutting Is it possible that in the present joblessness to '48. World War II was over. The war, the war, the war-that was all anyone could Edge: The Peace Activism of Earle of our international economic crisis, a whole It Reynolds" by Kristin Grabarek (FJ April) underclass will be enlarging the proportions talk about. dominated conversation everywhere-in the living room, at the it is most interesting and inspiring. of our computerless aging generation, so it However I think there's one typo. The becomes a "significant" minority? dinner table, at gatherings, and most author writes that spending by the Aromic When (in the name of tree conservation) Energy Commission on studying the effects FRIENDS JouRNAL goes online for computer Continued on page 44 fRIENDS ]OURNALjury 2009 5 UPON THE by James A. Fletcher he morning was freezing cold in versity during the Idaho presidential swayed, right and left, hands over our Mitchellville, Maryland, as we caucuses, trying to cram into a room heads, singing a most beautiful song, drove to the train station. Maria planned for only 500 attendees, which the title of which I couldn't remember and I had flown into Philadel itselfwould have been a record high. Sen then, but later recalled that it was "Love phia from Idaho a couple of days ator Barack Obama swept the Idaho Train." I know I had gotten to the spiri before, and then driven to Mitch- caucuses by an almost 80-percent tally. tual mountaintop about which Martin ellville to stay with friends, since all the One thing led to another in all of the Luther King had prophesied so many hotel rooms in D.C. were taken or sky excitement. I was elected a delegate, years ago. I had a vision of a Council of high in price, and since affordable flights pledged to Obama, to our State Con Elders, including my own father and to D.C. were impossible to find. vention in Boise. And then I was elected grandfather, along with famous past But we had to go to this Presidential as a delegate, pledged to Obama, to the black personages such as Martin Luther Inauguration-it was the fruit of so National Convention in Denver. King Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, many labors that began long before the When the votes were cast at the Con W.E.B. DuBois, Sojourner Truth, Paul primaries and continued with dramatic vention in Denver that made Obama Cuffe, and so many others of this great highs and lows as we slogged through the Democratic Presidential nominee, it cloud of witnesses, seated in a circle like the extensive round of primaries and was one of the highest experiences of a holographic projection in mid-air. caucuses in what seemed like a never my life. Although everybody knew it They rose and were now standing at this ending campaign. Both my sons and would happen since the votes were glorious moment, and my father said, my daughter were also active in- the abundantly there, the actual confirma "This was well done!" campaign. I remember the astonish tion of that known reality when the But that was then, in the warm sum ment and joy I felt when some 1,900 at votes were actually cast sent off an elec mer. This was now, in the freezing cold tendees turned out at Idaho State Uni- tric shock of joy and celebration of winter in Washington, D.C. Maria throughout the Convention Hall. Emo and I knew these events were all linked, james A. Fletcher, a member of Pocatello tion overflowed. People were singing, and we had to see them through to the (Idaho) Worship Group, is vice president for finance and information ofIdaho State Uni dancing, praying, and crying-and all climax of this special moment in time. versity. He was one ofthe founders ofthe Fel of this with a special intensity by those In truth, I felt that all the work of so lowship of Friends ofAfrican Descent. He is of us who were African American dele many decades of my life with the Civil treasurer and a member ofthe National Board gates. As if in a dream, I felt my fingers Rights and Human Rights movements, ofAmerican Friends Service Committee. interlocked with fellow delegates as we the Freedom Struggle in South Africa, 6 july 2009 FRIENDS JoURNAL in American Friends Service Commit The crowd surged up and out of the tee, Friends Committee on National station, and we followed the signs that, Legislation, and various other Friends after walking a long way, led to the var committees dedicated to racial justice ious entrances to the Capitol area. Ours had been moving toward this moment. was the "Blue Gate," which later be And I knew that these few efforts of my came the infamous site of a major crowd own life were joined as a drop of flow control and logistical tragedy and the ing water with many other similar subject of a Congressional investigation, drops, large and small, in a river flow but we didn't know that at the time. We ing with the hopes and dreams of mil only knew that after our very long walk lions more, now and in centuries past, and thinking we had finally gotten who had not hoped and prayed in vain somewhere, it was as if we had gotten and would have loved to see this day. nowhere because we stood in line How does it feel when the dreams ofag for hours. We moved no more than 15 es are realized? I felt a rush of ultimate feet in the hour after the Blue Gate vindication after the centuries-long suf opened at 8:00AM, about two hours af feri ng ofa people, and I knew these feel ter we arrived. ings must be akin to what the ancient Tickets at the Blue Gate generally Hebrews must have felt as they experi- came from Congressional and Senate of fices. The positions they led to, whether standing or sitting, were close to the Inaugural Stand, unlike the far more nu merous ones at the Silver Gate, which were far away and be- .... yond the Reflecting Pool. It was .S interesting to note that there ~ were a far greater number of ~ whites in this line with us than ~ in the massive crowds stream- ~ ing past to the Silver Gate. ~ We had hand warmers and t! ;:! foot warmers and were wrapped d with heavy coats, scarves, hats, enced the Exodus. gloves, and boots, but after having stood The parking lot at the train station in motionless for so long in line, all this Mitchellville was overflowing, even at seemed to no avail. My dear wife, Ma- . 5:00AM. The trains were fully packed ria, said she was colder than she had ev- l as we rode into D.C., but the almost to er been in her life as the tears streamed ~ tally black crowd was in very high spir down her beautiful face. This really ~"' its. We rode anxiously and with a little hurt me. I tried everything to help, but ~ uncertainty as we heard periodic reports nothing seemed to work, and as time ~ of stations near the Capitol being shut passed I felt the deep cold penetrating ~ down for crowd control reasons. A Eu all my layers of clothing. The people in ~ ropean camera crew in my car was do line grew surly as they saw others far- ~ ing person-to-person interviews. When ther back break the lines and push to ~ we arrived at the Federal Center sta the front while still others, who they be- -~ tion, we got off the train and flowed in lieved had forged tickets or no tickets, 6 to a massive human wave of black folk tried to join the line farther up. Crowd surging through the station and up all control was lax and people grew very ~ lanes of the escalators, chanting, "Yes, frustrated when they saw those they ~ we can! Yes, we can!" Some people with viewed as cheaters getting through. ~ cameras turned around to take pictures A couple ofobvio usly well-connected ~ of the impressive sight. I knew we were Congressional assistants ahead of us t! at the heart of a people's movement like called their Congressmen to say that § no other in the United States since the they didn't believe they could make it ~ 1960s. It reminded me somewhat of through the Blue Gate in time, and .§ the jubilation I experienced in Soweto, made other arrangements to see the In- -~ South Africa, the night of Mandela's auguration at their Congressional offic- ~ historic victory. es. Still others just gave up and went t55 FRIENDS j OURNAL jury 2009 7 home to watch it on TV in warm sur happened was a definitive moment in roundings. Maria safd she thought we the history of race relations in our coun should do this, and even though I felt try and the world. In many ways it was my heart sinking, I agreed with her, comparable to the ending ofslavery, the since I couldn't ask her to stay here in Supreme Court school desegregation this condition. Then she said, "But let's decision in 1954, the Civil Rights Move wait just a little while longer before we ment, and the passing of the Civil go." I looked at her beautiful face, en Rights bills. In this instance, we had closed in her Eskimo-like headpiece, just witnessed a decisive shattering of a smiling radiantly through the deep cold key part of the glass ceiling, and be even as a few tears still flowed, and I cause of this, life, especially for those of knew again why I loved her so, and al African descent, but also for all our ways would. non-African brothers and sisters, will Then a sudden insight came! We never be the same again. Untold hopes were only two feet from the corner of and dreams of black children now and the walkway perpendicular to the path in the future can take wings and .fly leading up to the gate. And, people were with a sense of potential fulfillment that moving relatively much faster in this had never before been possible. path, since several lines fed into it. In but when they realized it was being When President Obama began to fact, as some ahead of us turned this played the last time for President Bush, speak, the clouds parted, the sun began corner, they looked back at the rest of us a widespread audible booing was heard. to shine, and I noticed that even more and cheered, "I made it, I made it! " Af People clearly expressed their feelings, of the bitter cold of the morning had ter we, too, turned the corner, a giant although I felt that out of respect for the subsided, even if only by a few degrees. surge carried us eventually along this office, this should not be done no mat The crowd was transfixed, hanging on pathway and around several other con ter the person occupying it. Loud cheers every word and applauding and cheer voluted turns until we were swept came with any mention of the Obamas. ing at every key phrase. I was taken by through the gate and eventually to the When Pastor Rick Warren gave the in how somber the address was, somewhat metal detectors. The ground was lit vocation, I expected that because of the in contradiction to the extreme jubila tered with coins people had no time to controversies surrounding his presence tion of the audience. I had had the same pick up. The ticket-checking was per at the Inauguration, there might have feeling during his speech the night of functory, at best. The security officers been negative reaction, but there was the election. His manner well conveyed merely asked everyone to hold their not. He concluded his invocation with the seriousness of our current situation tickets high, so that they could be seen. the Lord's Prayer, and as he did, the en and this moment in history. And yet, After getting through the gate, peo tire audience joined in. I have been in the air was pregnant with the over ple were not as compacted. It felt great the midst of group prayer before, but it whelming sense that so many pent-up to be able to move freely with some open was a special experience indeed to be hopes and dreams were about to be ful space, and many lined up for the por part of a group of up to one-and-a-half filled, as in the words of Scripture, table latrines after the long wait in line. million people all saying the Lord's "Surely, those that have waited patiently Everything was walled of£ To enter the Prayer in unison. Aretha Franklin's for so long shall not go unrewarded." South Capitol viewing area, you had to singing was magnificent. And then, the Still, I noticed that in President Obama's climb the 15 or so stairs to the top of a ensemble began playing the Shaker gift for understatement, he did not dwell wooden platform, then descend the hymn, "Simple Gifts," which is so dear on the historic occasion this represented same number of stairs on the other side to many Friends, and I softly sang along. in his being sworn in as the first African of the platform. As many people were I heard a middle-aged white man be American President in the history of the unsatisfied with the view they got, there hind me say, "This is the day that the United States, who would now occupy a was a reverse movement of people back Lord has made," and I felt that every White House built by slaves, in a city up the stairs and down to the outer thing was worth it to be here at this mo that had been legally and rigidly segre pavement ring so that they could try an ment. Anticipation rose, and the excite gated, and still reflects those cleavages other entrance. We decided to stick with ment built up right up to when the oath long after the laws were changed. But he the entrance we had since the event was of office was given. Although ChiefJus did speak clearly to the occasion when beginning and everything was packed. tice Roberts slipped a bit giving it, once he spoke about the changes that had We stood with others on the platform, the oath was concluded and the chief come in our lifetimes by noting that, which, being elevated, gave us a some justice said, "Congratulations, Mr. Pres not that many years ago, his own father what better view of the proceedings, al ident," the audience erupted with shouts would not be allowed to sit and eat a though a big tree did interfere some. of joy, the cannons boomed out the 21- hamburger in many restaurants close to People reacted as the announcements gun salute, "Hail to the Chier' was this very spot where now his son is tak were made of who entered onto the of played to a new President, and all of this ing this most sacred oath. Tears flowed. ficial Inauguration platform. When was followed by rapturous chants of I thought: How can President Obama "Hail to the Chief" was played, some "Yes, we can! Yes we can!" · mistakenly thought it was for Obama, I knew within me that what had just Continued on page 37 8 july 2009 FRIENDS j OURNAL The Top Ten Reasons (Plus Three) Why BOTTLEDW · !sa BLESSI by Chuck Fager T. crusade •gainS< bottled w"er claim it to be. Quite the contrary: at the tnath and other calamities. In almost all has become something of a standard end of the day, I believe we're very lucky ' such events, public water systems are feature of environmental acuv1sm to have it around. Why? Below are my made unusable almost immediately, among Friends. I discovered this a cou Top Ten Reasons (plus three), a descrip- f sometimes for a long time. Then it's BW ple years ago when some self-appointed tion of which will also suggest much of 1 or death by thirst or toxic poisoning. I eco-elders came after me for having or why I regard the anti-BW jihad as un- would hope Friends think long and hard dered several cases of bottled water with sound. Here we go: before joining efforts to make this re- distinctive labels. I 1 source more scarce. Good heavens, I wondered as their ire 1. Safety-a major anti-BW complaint crashed down-what had I done? To is not about water, but about the plastic ..1 3 . Bottled water is not a significant listen to the indictment, giving away containers most of it comes in. And to , contributor to actual water problems. bottled water at a Quaker event was a be sure, there are drawbacks to plastic. . This is a very important point, so before mark of moral turpitude that fell some Yet, consider the alternatives. No, not going any further let me repeat that wa where between recruiting torturers for the ten-dollar or more stainless steel ter problems are very real in the world, Guantanamo and handing out heroin mini-jugs that are fashionable in some and in the U.S. But all the BW in the to preschoolers. quarters; their appeal is strictly limited. U.S. accounts for less than one hun Well, call me clueless and provincial, Glass containers are the primary alter- 1 dredth of one percent of water con- but this notion came out of the blue. In its native containers in the marketplace, sumption. If it all disappeared tomor- wake, I figured it would be a good idea and they were what plastic supplanted. row, this would have no measurable ef- to find out what all the shouting was Glass containers are pretty benign in feet on the very real water problems the about, so I did some reading and digging. recycling terms. But they have a real t U.S. faces (ditto the world). Much of the ami-bottled water (or downside: their broken remnants are l BW) propaganda can be traced back to the cause of thousands of serious inju- 4 . Bottled water has a substantial shelf an outfit in Ottawa, Canada, called the ries each year, especially in poorer neigh- life. This is especially valuable for emer- Polaris Institute. On the other side, the borhoods, which is the main reason gency preparedness, but also for many defenders of BW seem centered in the they were largely replaced by plastic in other purposes. International Bottled Water Association, the first place. The switch was made a trade group in Alexandria, Virginia. initially by moms, because kids could ~ 5. The anti-BW indictment paints the After considerable study, I came to carry the bottles safely. Beware of trying ' product as an intolerable luxury, point- two conclusions on this topic. First, the to take this away from them. (A 1998 ing out that its price can be several dol- water problem, in the U.S. and the study in distressed Philadelphia neigh- Iars per gallon. But of course, one typi- world, is very real and very serious. And borhoods showed that broken glass in- ' cally does not buy BW by the gallon, second, the ami-BW crusade is a mis juries from bottles incurred in public but by the pint. And in such serving siz taken, misleading, and misguided way spaces, especially by children, were still es, BW is in fact within the economic to tackle these issues. quite common. See FRIENDS ]OURNALjury 2009 9 form of water. That's because if there's healthiest of these prod one thing that's just about beyond dis ucts? In our consumer so pute regarding the real water issues, it is ciety, young people have that solving them will mean that water numerous options for re is going to cost us more, probably a lot freshment. Even once we more. Buying BW can be useful in pre have all simplified our lives paring us for that eventuality. in good Quaker fashion, it's hard to imagine sugary, 6. Bottled water is an excellent adver colored drinks, beer, or ~ rising medium- it conveys a sense of water, disappearing from § wholesomeness, which is well-deserved, the retail scene .. (Drinking d and it is very serviceable for positive bubbly water is a custom i:i brand imaging. Using it as such, which that's millennia old; "soda" ~ I did, is not a crime. has been around for more ~ than 200 years; and lem ·~ 7. The fact that only about one-fifth of onade 350.) Is it wise or ~ plastic BW bottles are currently recycled even prudent to help stig ~ is perhaps the most substantive item in matize what would be by ~ the case against it, along with the fact far the most wholesome """' that this plastic is made from petroleum. choice among them? Surely, efforts at recycling need to in A truckload of bottled water enroute to New Orleans after crease, and oil consumption needs to 1 0. Bottled water has a Katrina, donated by Wal-Mart. decrease. Fortunately, there is light at better safety record than the end of the tunnel: A sidewalk bottled water compostable water bot display outside an organic des made from plant market. This display suggests products, without petro that the anti-BW campaign is leum, are already com longer on rhetoric than actual ing onto the market, and market impact. BW in these containers is on sale in some areas. I predict it will soon be widely available in retail markets, providing a ..... much more environ men ~ tally friendly option. els of lead in the-public wa i:i ter system in Washington, ~ 8. Bottled water is a D.C., a scandal covered up 6 nearly ideal consumer by local officials for years? product: it is healthy, ( 10 july 2 009 FRIENDS }OURNAL V 1 0 ' I feed animals that are eaten, particu- wonaerzng 13. Bottled water is highly conve larly cattle and hogs. So if one want nient for our complex and rushed ed to make a serious dent in actual Wouldn't it be really fine lifestyles; and this convenience is water issues-a very desirable goal ifwe cou,ld fmally define not a crime, or even a sin. Neither is crusading against cheeseburgers would what life is .•. simple and benign it an offense against Quaker funda point the propaganda guns at a real mentals; convenience can contribute target instead of a bogus one. perhaps, so all could understand. to simplicity. Another suggested symbol is: The puzzle spreads on every hand So that's my list of reasons for find 2. Las Vegas. (Or Phoenix; take involving everything from sand ing bottled water "not guilty" of be your pick.) Talk about foolish luxu to ocean depths, the changing land, ing an environmental or social blight. ries-the U.S. cities that are built in BW does not deserve to be banished deserts are unsustainable, massive the way we use it up; the will from Quaker circles as a sign of spiri water and human disasters waiting to dominate, the drive to kill tual, moral, and ecological depravity; to happen, indeed, already starting whatever-whales or krill. its users are not heedlessly ruining to happen. (And keep in mind, when the planet. these disasters become full-blown catastrophes, bottled water in mass I think perhaps we're out ofluck; quantities will be a crucial survival the puzzle ends in paradox: item for the victims. See FRIENDS )OURNALju(y 2009 II y initial experiences of tradi ment passages of Light and Christ that sentations were often passionate, pro tional Quaker worship left me embody a concept of Logos, which is usu found, and even radiant, but their argu wondering just how Friends, ally translated as "the Word," as hap ments ultimately emerge as circular, or working within Western Chris pens in the opening of the Gospel of tautologies. They never quite said exact tian teaching, had essentially John. Logos, a stream of Greek philoso ly what this Light was in ways that peo rediscovered silent group medi phy predating Jesus by at least five cen ple who hadn't encountered it might tation, something widespread amot:J.g turies, has been traced to Heraclitus (ca. understand. Part of the problem origi yogis and Buddhists in the Far East. 535-475 BCE); the term is described nates in the New Testament passages of Coming, as I was, from life in a Hindu variously as a "principle," "agent of cre Light that Friends applied to their own ashram, I could criticize the postures ation," "agent through which the hu discoveries. A more difficult part of the and breathing of individual Friends man mind can apprehend and compre problem, however, originates in the blas within the room, but I could not escape hend God," "intermediary," "soul of the phemy laws facing early Friends. Sys acknowledging the underlying current. universe," "reason," "plan," or even the tematically following their arguments to I was home. underlying connection between oppo logical conclusions would have led too Only much later would I also discov sites-a means of reconciliation. This is far into what would have been consid er how much of the Quaker practice is certainly the sense of both Light and ered heretical, prompting authorities to also found within and supported by Christ I find in the close reading of ear invoke the death penalty. Friends were biblical texts. First, there are the many ly Quakers. under enough persecution as it was, passages, especially in the Hebrew Bi "Mind the Light" is an ancient coun something that forced them to couch ble, urging people to wait for God sel among Friends. Indeed, when our their words carefully despite their ap much as a good waiter stands ready to movement first swept across the British parent boldness. As a result, crucial gaps respond, when needed. As Quakers, we Isles, we frequently referred to ourselves developed in their message, so we are maintain a "waiting worship." as Children of Light, applying a name left without key parts of the equation. Second, and of particular impor found in Luke 16:8, John 12:36, Ephe In the process, Friends never satisfacto tance to Friends, are the New Testa- sians 5:8, and 1 Thessalonians 5:5. rily counterbalanced their expressions of While early Friends were hardly Light against trinitarian Christian argu ]nana Hodson is a member and clerk ofDover alone in using Light as an element of re ments regardihg the crucifixion, resur (NH) Meeting. Raised in a mainstream ligious discourse, their encounters and rection, and atonement of Jesus. I am Protestant household, Hodson came to Friends descriptions did advance Light as a de convinced that this reconciliation can after dwelling in a yoga ashram in Pennsylva nia, not realizing many ofhis ancestors had fining element of Quaker faith. In re be accomplished, but only after me been Quakers and Dunkers (German Baptist jecting dogma and creed, while empha thodically working our way through the Brethren). An editor for the daily New sizing instead direct spiritual experi veiled implications of early Quaker Hampshire Union Leader, he is also the au ence, Friends spoke of Light in ways in thought. Indeed, it appears the failure of thor oftwo published novels, and his poetry tended to direct others toward what the original Quakers to fully articulate has appeared widely. they themselves had felt. Their repre- their revolutionary understanding of 12 july 2 009 FRIENDS jOURNAL asunder in the 1800s, especially when will say, 'Christ saith this, and 1 hose ot us who came l:! faced with language and practices based the apostles say this,' but what of age in the 1960s and '70s ~ on Jesus as one's personal savior. canst thou say? Art thou a child of can also relate light to illegal ~ Of course, this is the field of theolo the Light, and hast thou walked in the r!. drug use; hallucinations, after all, ~ gy, an inquiry to which many Friends Light, and what thou speakest, is it in are an entirely individual experi- ~ express aversion. We have seen theologi wardly from God ?" At another point, ence, and psychedelic is a syn- ~ cal disputes too often lead to schisms, he contended: "The holy Scriptures were onym for colorful. Strobe lights, ultra- .~ rather than deepening a common un given forth by the Spirit of God, and all violet "black" lights, and light shows ~ derstanding and experience. Nonethe people must come to the Spirit of God were all part of the scene. For many less, throughout history, people have in themselves ... for as the Spirit of youths, these encounters did open sought answers to life's central ques God was in them that gave forth the awareness that there were other ways of tions-the mysteries regarding creation Scriptures, so the same Spirit of God experiencing mundane life. and origins, life and death, birth and must be in all of them that come to un As a spiritual metaphor, light works sexuality, family, ethical behavior, pov derstand the Scriptures." Within the marvelously. It is not seen in itself, but erty and wealth, peace and conflict, early Quaker manner of thinking in in what it illuminates. It comes from a persecutions and suffering, disasters metaphor, Light and the Spirit of God source and travels to an object. It reveals and abundance, and so anything from a lost object or one's place ~ on-and the responses of in a landscape to Revelation itself It sus $ ten appear in the context tains life through photosynthesis in ~ of religion. Attempts to chlorophyll-containing organisms. It ac .~ make sense of them, then, companies warmth and comfort. It rep ~ leads into theological dis resents knowledge and wisdom, in con --. course. Its conclusions, in trast to ignorance. It is energy, rather turn, direct individual and than matter. group practices, a sharing This emphasis on Light set Friends of experiences, and teach apart from conventional Christianity, ing a next generation the where "Word" was instead applied as a evolving traditions. central religious metaphor. Through The fact remains: we the knowledge of modern physics, we Friends do engage in me can appreciate the spoken word.as a vi- ticulous theological inqui . brat ion-that is, as energy (a common ry, despite claims that such ality with light) . Word can also be a labors have largely rested means of conceptualizing and conceiv-· since Robert Barclay's cor ing, of naming and claiming, of com nerstone Apology was first manding and ordering, of relating and published-in Latin in evaluating. Word, moreover, can also 1676 and English in 1678. become an object, especially with the Because Quaker theo appearance of writing. It becomes a ves logical work has typically sel and a tool. From Word, then, one .§ been personal, small-scale, can pass easily into words, and away ] focused on daily practice, from metaphorical thought. Crucially, t}) and often pragmatic rather words are also the basis of law, leading .::t; than theoretical, we may to an entirely different kind of religious \.::> not even perceive it as theology unless are synonymous. experience and practice, and a different we reconsider. A crucial element of In my early years among Friends, I kind of theology. Quaker theology, especially in its first related the image of Light to the way I Both metaphors are at work in the century and a half, was its emphasis on had been taught to meditate: sitting be opening verses of Genesis: individual experience. Truth, Friends fore a single candle, we would gaze at its In the beginning God created the heaven proclaimed, was to be uncovered within flame and eventually close our eyes, and the earth .... And God said, Let there oneself, rather than without. Unlike the holding the afterimage behind the bridge be light: and there was light. And God saw legalistic logic employed by Calvinists of our nose, as long as we could- in a .the light, that it was good: and God divided on one hand, and Jesuits on the other, space referred to as the Third Eye, the the light from darkness. And God called in which theology becomes an elaborate opening into intuition. Light also worked the light Day, and the darkness he called system of law and speculative verdicts, to relate another sensation ofde ep medi Night. And the evening and the morning Friends largely related their encounters tation, where we begin to feel "light," as were the first day. within the process of metaphorical in weightlessness; in this, one may also Over the generations, most of the re thinking, with Light as its unifying im relate a sense of being transformed from ligious teachers who have pursued this age, which led Friends to engage the Bi- bodily matter into something ethereal, religious branching-Jewish, Christian, F RJENDS JouRNAL]ury 2009 13 however, returned to the Light, essen grammed end of the modern Quaker tian religion. Along the way, the impli tially focusing on what God did and does. spectrum, some individual Friends in cations can be unsettling for all, which As the Quaker saying goes, "Mind the that range may quibble over various is all the more reason to mind the Light Light." Freed of the blasphemy laws, points. More important, though, is the as we grow. persecution, and subsequent self-cen admission that Friends at the pastoral, In 1654, in a remarkable epistle to sorship that inhibited early Friends from evangelical end of the spectrum are "Friends in the ministry," George Fox rigorously defining and fully expressing likely to be largely baffled by the list. brings these concepts together: the dimensions of this Light, modern Here, many would find the words Quakers are now finally beginning to "Christ," "Jesus," or "Holy Spirit" to be There is no justification out of the Light, reinvestigate this essential metaphor of more meaningful than "Light"-a sub out of Christ. Justification is in the Light; their legacy. Author and teacher Rex stitution that would prove equally as here is the doer of the will of God, here is the entering into the kingdom. Now believ Ambler, for instance, describes his work baffling for most quietist Friends. ing in the Light becomes a child of the and the resulting "Light groups" in Light A dialogue addressing these differ Light, and here is received the wisdom that To Live By: An Exploration ofQ uaker Spiritu ences will, I believe, bring all strands of is justified of her children. Here believing ality (2002) and Truth ofthe Heart: An An today's Friends to a profoundly revital in the Light, you shall not abide in dark thology of George Fox (2001) [both pub ized faith and teaching, with revolu ness, but shall have the Light of life and lished by Quaker Books, London]. In a tionary. consequences. For non-Quak come every one to witness the Light that recent Pendle Hill Pamphlet, The Mystery ers, the conversation promises to expand shines in your hearts .. . . ofQuaker Light, author Peter Bien includes an understanding of what it means to With this life you come to reach the a presentation on Logos as well as author be Christian, regardless of whether one Light in every man, which Christ enlight and teacher Samuel Caldwell's ens every man that cometh into the world withal. And here the things of list of characteristics from Quak Christ come to be known and the erism 101: A Basic Course for Adults. What Was It, john? proof of Christ heard. Keep in the Here; the Light is defined as: Light of the covenant of peace and walk in the covenant of life. divine- not equivalent to reason or He closed his shop and opened up his heart conscience; not "natural" to let each day be guided by the Light. While Fox maintains the con single- one and indivisible, not my In faith that way would open, he set out vention of applying male pro Light vs. your Light to be God's arm in putting wrongs to right. nouns to Christ, as he does later un~ing-brings us into unity, in the letter, "Christ has come to draws Friends together A hunchbacked man, small and slow to speak teach his people himself," here universal-works in the life of he trembled when he felt the Spirit pr~mpt. Fox tellingly mixes the gender of every person reference: Light to her children. eternal-existed before time and And though he held his visions in his heart And how has Christ come to will exist forever he never hesitated to respond. teach this people? As Light! Here, pure-perfectly good, unerring, then, in male and female, is an and infallible Called down to Carolina, he felt led other reconciliation of opposites. unchanging-our awareness of the to visit Quaker planters who held slaves Here, too, is a key to my early Light changes, but the Light and when Love summoned him to rise and question of how Friends came to itself does not preach, practice group meditation. In personal- not an abstract force simple sitting, we feel the Light inward-implies action, dynamic; he spoke the Word of God against their ways. itself Our awareness grows, lead the Light shines within each of us ing us to follow it ever more con saving-brings us into right So what? Big deal. A little thing it seems, scientiously. "Mind the Light," relationship with God, ourselves, to rail against the sin of one's own sect- with its variants, such as "Stand in and each other still, his journals burned, a slow persistent fire the Light" or "Walk in the Light," guiding- will lead us into a more that in time would singe a nation to repent. expresses a revolutionary theolo meaningful, richer life gy. It arises from extended per resistible- we are free to ignore the John, what gave your homely words that power? sonal experience, rather than creed. guidance of the Light What kept your focus fixed on things above? No wonder we. speak of Quaker persistent-our perception of the faith and practice as one. 0 Light may dim, bur we can't What gave you holy gall to act on faith, completely extinguish it to move in, just say it, a motion oflove? empowering-will empower us to do what is required, even if we -William Jolliff feel inadequate ineffable-cannot be fully William Jolliff teaches in the Dept. ofWriting and understood and described Literature at George Fox University in Newberg, Oreg. 14 july 2009 fRIENDS j OURNAL Lnrzst- Lentereaness & Quaker Identity by R. Scot Miller have a memory of a member of my monthly meeting respond ing to the news that some meet ings have pastors, and that those pastors deliver prepared ser Imons. "Why, that's not Quaker at all!" she cried. Admittedly, I suffered my own such hubris when discover ing the diversity of faith and practice that exists amongst Friends while so journing at the Earlham School of Religion (ESR). My family attended an Evangelical Friends church in New Westville, Ohio, one Sunday evening, and I asked the pastor if they were preaching the Peace Testimony dur ing these troubled times. His reply was that they "did not really see much of a need for it." Now that, I thought, is "not Quaker at all!" I have discovered that other Quak er controversies exist in this part of the United States, which is more heav ily populated with Friends than I thought existed. And, while I have only been committed to the witness of Friends for ten years now, I recog nize the importance of certain theo Without faithfulness to logical discussions occurring amongst ganization that is perceived by some ob our spiritual roots and the worship communities of Indiana servers as already suffering from dys Yearly Meetiog (FUM). These discus function. Some members of this yearly to the narrative ofour sions, centering around the practice of meeting are challenging those notions spiritual mothers and physical sacraments in Friends worship, of Quakerism that have, for centuries, threaten to drive a wedge into a faith or- been commonly accepted as a core tenet fathers, we will not of our faith and practice-namely, that R. Scot Miller is a member ofGrand Rapids the practice of water baptism and sub remember why we work (Mich.) Meeting and a regular attender of stantial Eucharist are not necessary (or for peace. Crossroads Meeting in Flint, Mich. A gradu perhaps not even favorable) for right re ate ofEarlham School ofReligion, he is cur lationship with God as experienced by rently an MSW candidate at Grand Valley the Religious Society of Friends. State University, and is engaged in men's min I wish to elaborate upon two quick ture of unprogrammed communities in istry at "The Other Way" urban ministries in points. First, I understand there is no the United States, which are those of Grand Rapids. He and his wife, jenn Seif, work a very small CSA form in Shelbyville. concern that the practice of water bap identity. I will also address an issue that His most recent published work is Pisteos le tism is threatening our unprogrammed I assume many readers will be critical sou Christou: The Faithful Life of Jesus communities. However, the experiences of: the suggestion that there is the pos Christ and Covenant Fulfillment in the of Indiana Yearly Meeting illustrate sibility of an orthodoxy in the context Judeo-Christian Narrative. concerns that I see looming in the fu- of unprogrammed meetings. FRIENDS jOURNAL jury 2009 15 subject of Friends' identity among some slavery, and the specter ofNazism have selves rriends. This invariably calls ESR students sometimes revealed the all proven too much for some Quakers Friends co worship in memory of the presence of unintelligibility. It exists not to resist taking up arms as a response. ministry of Jesus of Nazareth-and in as much between pastoral and unpro Even the recent tragedy of September the presence of the Holy Spirit. grammed meetings, but between those 11, or the realities of Bosnia or Afghani Do attendees need to be "Christian" who might envision unprogrammed stan, have tested the resolve of faithful in order to be Quakers? This neglects , Quakerism as a vanguard of the chang people to respond within the limits of my point. No one need adhere to an or ing face of U.S. religious expression, nonviolence. In some instances, it may thodoxy in order to worship with Friends. and those who feel that contemporary be that we can offer no rational motive And no person need be identified as unprogrammed Friends are devaluing for nonviolence ocher than that, as "Christian" in order to contribute to the praxis of a worship community Quakers, we are called to practice non meetings or the wider Friends commu whose identity was profoundly centered violence in the midst of a violent world nity. My point is, chat if we are to main in the person ofJesus ofNazareth. This because we can be no other way. Our tain an identity as a people of peace, may or may not be properly illustrated faithfulness is expressed in terms of and especially as a people of God, then by the reality of non-theistic Friends, nonviolence because we stay committed we muse always remember and retell a and the quiet discussions about whether to a story of a God who has expressed a story that claims Jesus as the center of such individual expressions of Quaker desire for the people of God to respond our corporate expression of faith, and ism are comprehensible within the tra to violence with love. the impetus for our actions. We must ditional framework of Friends. If we as Friends lose sight of the ori affirm our testimonies as an expression gin of our historical testimonies, if we of faithfulness co the vision of God as t is my contention that, if the Re continue to lose our identity as a people expressed through the life of Jesus, and ligious Society of Friends is co of faith committed to a God who is re not as· simple expressions of universal maintain integrity as a communi vealed co our community in Christ-cen spiritual maturity. And, as for those pro ty of faith, something along the tered terms, we run the risk of forget gressives who might identify themselves lines of Christ-centered expres ting our history as a people committed as "Buddhist Quakers" or "nontheist Isions of Friends testimonies are neces to peace. This by no means suggests Quakers," I pray that they find whole sary to retaining self-awareness and spir chat God is not revealed in other faiths, ness by being better Buddhists, or kind itual growth. The rapidity with which or through other religious leaders. I do er and gentler materialists. But if we sac Western (or more specifically, U.S.) not suggest chat Friends have nothing to urate Quakerism with varieties of ocher consumer values have lured individuals learn by dedicating ourselves to convers faith traditions, we do a disservice, not co view Quakerism as a marketplace of ing honestly with people of other faiths, only to the Friends narrative, but to che spiritual (or even explicitly material) re especially in order to engage in the prac practice of Buddhism, or Paganism, or velatory experiences has deconstructed a tice of self-critique. Yet, how can we any ocher faith that is colonized to suit progressive expression ofcorporate faith even discuss spiritual matters with hon individual spiritual preferences. into a hodgepodge of relativity. As such, esty and. integrity if we abandon our We are a people called to express a even our long-standing commitment to history? We are a people defined by our new way of life to the world, who have peculiarities, such as the Peace Testimo history, and as such, unintelligible with traditionally believed that "there is one, ny, is subject to manipulation as mere out its presence in our witness. even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy expressions of individual conscience. If we continue as a community to condition." I hope we are not reduced co Accordingly, along with the erosion maintain chat the incorporation of oth a people who exist to underwrite an in of the Christocentric identity that lends er faith practices or nontheism is the dividual preference for peace, or a be continuity and history to the ongoing best way to honor our Quaker tradition nign or irrelevant God who sprinkles hu Quaker narrative, so erodes any under of tolerance, I believe there will be no manity with saccharine-coated grace. standing of why we have a praxis of Quakers left to work for the equal stand More importantly, I hope this can be ac peace. Without faithfulness co our spir ing of all faiths in the world communi complished with love and a commitment itual roots and to the narrative of our ty. We will no longer be a people of co healthy relationships with others, as spiritual mothers and fathers, we will peace, equality, or integrity because opposed co nervously constructed unity not remember why we work for peace, there will be no truth to witness to. My that lacks spiritual depth or integricy.D or even from where the fountain for fear is that Quakerism will be swal such inspiration flows. Without faith lowed by the universals of the modern fulness to these roots, it is not possible world, and when universals are prac to remember why peace is che appropri ticed, there are no "heretics" to express ate response to violence when confront an alternative vision of what faith might ed with a reality where such a response look like. Quaker orthodoxy is not the makes no rational, or even moral, sense. acceptance of universals, but a practice Throughout the history of our Reli of peculiarities. Friends have always gious Society, Friends have questioned challenged the established way of wor one anocher·concerning an unalterable shiping God, but we must insist on the commitment to the Peace Testimony. peculiar practice of Quaker traditions 16 july 2009 FRIENDS JouRNAL n December 11, 2008, a report of usi ng nuclear energy to help head it forts at conservation ("The dangers of signed by ten national lab direc off Friends whose love of the environ nuclear power," Fj Feb. 2009)-an es 0 tors, Sustainable Energy Future: ment finds its main outlet in fighting sential part of any solution. In my work The Essential Role ofNuclear Energy, was nuclear power may be robbing the real shops, participants learn how to mea posted on The Nuclear Energy Debate among Friends ANOXHE~ ROUN]) by Karen Street FRIENDS j OURNAL jury 2009 17 slackening of will in those who express play, according to the IPCC, until 2030 and Freedom to be reliable sources of premature optimism based on technical and after. scientific data. John Wright Daschke, solutions and a few easily achieved be Assuming-as done by scientists for in "The 'advantages' of nuclear power havioral changes. I hear it in letters and purposes of prediction-is not the same are illusory" (FJ Jan. 2009), relies on articles that say we have so many solu as accepting. The unavoidable conclu Amory Lovins, who studied physics, tions, we can afford to throw some away. sion policymakers draw from the re worked for Friends of the Earth, and is Meanwhile, reports from the Inter search cited in IPCC reports is that now a cultural icon. Carolyn Treadway governmental Panel on Climate Change roughly two-thirds of electricity needs trusts Nuclear Information and Re (IPCC) and elsewhere do not support projected for 2030 (needs that are ex source Service, Helen Caldicott, Joseph optimism. In recent months, scientists pected to be much greater than current Mangano and others for their under have reported a speedup in changes levels) must be met by some combina standing of science, and Arjun Makhi caused by global warming: trees dying tion offossil fuels and nuclear power. So jani and Lester Brown for policy, though faster, ocean dead zones expanding, and far, predictions by scientists, based on none of these is cited by the Intergov coral and other ocean animals stressed the most sophisticated calculations they ernmental Panel on Climate Change, due to increasing ocean acidity. Antarc can make, have tended to underestimate created by the UN and World Meteoro tic penguins have just been added to the the rate and extent of damage from cli logical Organization to "provide ... an list of expected extinctions this century. mate change. Their aim is not to alarm objective source of information about While most climatologists would like but to realistically assess what will be climate change." atmospheric levels of C02 to stay below needed to slow the coming changes. Ac Treadway also describes the U.S. Nu 450 parts per million (ppm), we are on knowledging our current realities does clear Regulatory Commission (NRC) a path to 550 ppm by 2035. Holding not mean we slacken our efforts or our as "in the pocket" of industry, and Hoff carbon emissions this side of 600 ppm prayers. It does mean that we are in a man and Sherman say NRC is lying to becomes increasingly difficult. Between better position to see where our efforts us because it is "responsible for promot 450 and 600 ppm, dust bowls are ex should be directed. In this context, I ing" nuclear power. Actually, NRC was pected over much of the Earth, includ- stand in solidarity with Friends who given the regulatory responsibilities of support conservation, efficiency, and the A~omic Energy Commission, while subsidies for renewals. But I wonder at the Department of Energy was given Public concern those who continue to oppose nuclear the promotion responsibility; these were energy for its real and imagined risks, in separated when NRC was created. Per might usefully focus spite of the far greater risks of failing to haps Hoffman and Sherman's quote harness this strong horse to our wagon. comes from an old AEC description. In on oversight ternationally, NRC is highly respected ofknown dangers by scientists and governments who rely Sources on the integrity of their research. rather than at are we thinking when we I am further dismayed when Friends gnore the findings of the sci align themselves with those who make on distrust of W ntific community? How are it a habit to distrust the UN as a source we choosing which "scientists" to be of information. Hoffman and Sherman validated research. lieve? It is important to examine the call IAEA "biased," and Robert Ander sources we choose and why we place son accuses IAEA of blatant misinfor faith in them, as fundamental differ mation, even ofdenying that "any of the ences in what we read and whom we catastrophic health" effects from Cher trust affect where we plant the banner nobyl were due to radiation because its ing southwestern North America, this of our activism. For respondents who primary objective is to "promote nucle century. Secretary of Energy Steven cite references, I ask: What encourages ar power." Yet under the Nuclear Non Chu warns that both cities and agricul them to place their confidence in their proliferation Treaty (NPT), IAEA's re ture in California (more than one-sixth sources ? For instance, Ace Hoffman sponsibility is to implement interna of the nation's) may be gone by centu and Janette Sherman, in "Another View tional safeguards through invasive in ry's end. on Nuclear Power" (Fj Jan. 2009) trust spections in order to assure that treaty These projections are based on as "scientists who witnessed the (Chernob states do not acquire or develop nuclear sumptions many prefer not to make: yl) catastrophe firsthand," as if impres weapons. IAEA also has the explicit ob that population will increase not de sions of individuals on-site are a better ligation to assist non-weapons states crease; that energy consumption will path to knowledge than data and tests that sign the NPT in acquiring peaceful increase in less developed countries fast carefully gleaned over time. Robert An nuclear technology, mostly for medical er than it can decrease in the U.S. (if it derson, in "Nuclear Power is not the an and agricultural uses. IAEA has no con can decrease here at all); and that tech swer" (F]Jan. 2009), accuses a UN or ceivable conflict of interest that would nology for wind, hydro, and biomass ganization, International Atomic Ener incline them to deny documented health can affordably deliver, at best, 30-35 gy Agency (IAEA), of making suspect effects of a nuclear accident. percent of electricity by 2030, with solar claims, while finding Greenpeace and I believe that among the most reli not expected to come into significant Women's International League for Peace able sources available are the IAEA, the 18 july 2009 FRIENDS JouRNAL Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Hoffman and Sherman appear to imply Incompetence at Change (IPCC), and the U.S. National that most research on radioactivity is Academy of Sciences (NAS). The infor paid for by industry, and that funding is Every Level? mation they publish is rigorously peer stopped if the data appear to show a nderson says that we are close to reviewed, widely respected by scientists problem, as they claim occurred with running out of uranium, and and policy experts, and relied upon by tobacco. I believe the opposite is true: A Treadway says that if the entire governments and industry. When a re essentially all articles published in the fuel cycle is considered, nuclear power port arouses disagreement in the science scientific peer review journals contained contributes to global warming. In addi and policy communities, which does damaging results pertaining to tobacco, tion to accusations of massive conspira happen, it is covered in magazines like and certainly the general discernment cy with no clear motivation, these are Science. Those specializing in alternative of the science community, based on the accusations of sheer incompetence analyses that conflict with IAEA, IPCC, articles published, is that tobacco is that tens of governments, hundreds of or NAS, often present arguments that dangerous, which is· why the govern site managers, tens of thousands of sci do not make sense to people trained in ment was able to act to control tobacco entists and policy analysts made plans science. (For example, Lovins celebrates use. Similarly, the strongest interest of to expand nuclear power, and no one that more micropower than nuclear the scientific community is to discover bothered to check life-cycle emissions power was built in 2006, ignoring that as much as possible about actual radia and the supply of uranium? micropower is usually fossil fuel power.) tion effects on human health. Too many Claims about low quantities of ura For those wanting more information scientists are working on this problem nium probably refer to the relatively on nuclear power, I highly recommend for their work to be easily suppressed by small category, "reasonably assured" David Bodanasky's Nuclear Energy, 2nd industry or politics. (In spite ofa ttempts uranium reserves. A temporary increase edition. This book is written for physi by the George W. Bush administration in uranium prices with actual and pro cists and engineers and is trusted to to suppress scientific reports on a vari posed expansion of nuclear power led to characterize accurately what is known ety of topics, the research got out.) small-scale exploration, which increased and not known in the field. Large parts Scientific research on radiation ef the amount of known uranium reserves are accessible to people without any fects is the only reliable way to establish 15 percent between 2005 and 2007, but training in the field. safe limits of exposure; the problem be there still is little motivation for a thor comes enforcement of these limits. Pub ough search. This is because there is Lying Radiation lic concern might usefully focus on more than enough uranium for today's oversight of known dangers rather than actual and planned nuclear power in Researchers? on distrust of the validated research, mines already located and easiJy found. am sometimes baffled at the degree which sometimes tells us the dangers we Uranium prices have only a tiny effect of distrust of the mainstream scien fear most are not real. In addition, it is on the price of nuclear power because, I tific community among Friends. important to focus on reducing the large unlike fossil fuel and biopower plants, Some of this comes from media stories risks. These include the dangers of alter the price of the fuel is small compared of"bought" scientists and industry-con natives to nuclear power and the poten to the cost of the plant. There is certain trolled research in which unfavorable tial consequences of not enough energy ly enough terrestrial uranium (not count results are suppressed, mostly regarding in poor countries. By all measures, the ing uranium in seawater) to increase the drug testing, and the rare "tobacco is risks from current practices with nucle number of today's reactors by 2-4 times OK" article in peer-reviewed journals. ar power are very small in comparison. for expected plant lifetimes of 50-75+ FRIENDS ]OURNAL ju(y 2009 19 higher temperatures. (so provide more wind are so small compared to natural electricity per input), or/and use other gas, they can generally be ignored. In fuels such as U-238 (more than 100 deed, Steve Fetter, assistant director at times as common as U-235), plutoni large, part of the science advisor to the um, and thorium (more than 3 times as President position (energy, environment, common as uranium). science, security), co-wrote A Nuclear Claims about high GHG costs of nu Solution to Climate Change? in Science, clear power, such as provided by the oft May 19, 2000, examining a scenario of cited work of Jan Willem Storm van expanding nuclear power by a factor Leeuwen and Philip Smith, are based of 10 by 2050 as part of addressing cli on dubious numbers. In Part F ofNuclear mate change. Power-The Energy Balance, the authors ignore data, and instead assume energy Continuing Concerns cost of construction is (cost of construc tion) times (energy/unit gross domestic here remain a few key concerns product), at a time of huge costs due to that I believe feed the most ur long delays and high interest rates, with T gent efforts to stop the expan no justification for this formula. The sion of nuclear energy. Of the welter of energy cost of mining was also obtained perceived risks, several are cited in more than one letter: without resort to data: the prediction • accidents at nuclear plants for a Namibian mine was 60 times ac- wamng to happen. The accident . oc • health effects of radioactivity, for those ' tual energy use, and greater than the en curred in a poorly designed military living near nuclear plants ergy use of the entire country. plant poorly redesigned as a commercial • terrorism and nuclear weapons prolif plant (e.g., with no containment sys eration tem) in an era of secrecy and incompe Coal power plants • costs tence. The Three Mile Island accident • waste showed the benefit of a containment release 100 times I will address each of these risks. In system: significant core damage with doing so, I do not suggest that nuclear molten fuel at the bottom of the reactor as much radioactivity energy is totally without risk. We should vessel, yet negligible release of radioac expect and require continuing efforts per kWh as nuclear tivity. All commercial plants now in op to further reduce the risks that nuclear eration, internationally, are built with energy does pose, just as we do for the · plants. containment systems and modern, pro seismic safety of buildings and bridges, gressively safer designs. the crash safety of automobiles, and Some who helped put out the fire at standards to protect our air and water Chernobyl died heroic, ghastly deaths, from pollution. and, as cited above, 50-60 people died IAEA's A guide to lifo-cycle greenhouse during or since the accident, with up to gas (GHG) emissions from electric supply Nuclear Plant Accidents 4,000 more deaths possible. This trage technologies provides a range of GHG hernobyl exercises a tenacious dy should never be sugarcoated, but it emissions (g/kWh) for the complete life hold on the imagination. We still should not be the basis on which we cycle of major electricity sources based Cshudder at the word. Given the make decisions in developed countries on the results of a number of studies distrust the Soviet government earned any more than we give up ferries be from a variety of countries. In summa before Chernobyl and its actions during cause a ferry accident a few months af ry, nuclear (2.8-24 g/kWh, with larger the accident, there remains a "legacy of ter Chernobyl killed more than 4,000 values for the older method of enriching mistrust" in succeeding decades, accord people. Nor do we give up coal because uranium) is comparable to wind (8- 30 ing to IAEA's Chernobyl Report. These over 4,000 Chinese coal miners die g/kWh, ignoring fossil fuel backup), are the conditions that lead to fantastic yearly from accidents alone. An anti somewhat cleaner than biopower (35- reports. The IAEA assertion in my pre~ nuclear-power f/Friend asked why nu 99 g/kWh) and photovoltaics (solar vious article (about 50-60 dead so far clear alone is not allowed to have acci panels, 43-73 g/kWh), and significant from Chernobyl) refers only to the ef dents, and I pass this question on to ly cleaner than natural gas (440-780 g/ fects of radioactivity, but even so seems re.aders, recalling the current safety re kWh), coal (950-1250 g/kWh), and unbelievably low to many who hear it. cord of nuclear power plants outside the lignite (1100-1700 g/kWh). Hoffman and Sherman describe up to a former Soviet Union: two workers died Assumptions of university and other million already dead (without specifying from radiation exposure in a Japanese policy analysts are backed up by the da causes), and Anderson claims the num reprocessing accident, in 50 years that ta: nuclear power can expand signifi ber of dead is downplayed by IAEA. began with e!J.rly designs and an early cantly this century, though technology Chernobyl was a horrible accident regulatory system. 20 july 2009 fRIENDS JoURNAL digestive, respiratory and non-malig nant thyroid diseases [and arteriosclero sis]," according to the Radiation Effects Research Foundation study of survivors of the bombing in Hiroshima/Nagasa ki, no evidence of increased risk exists for low doses. (IAEA's Chernoby/ Lega cy: Summary Report adds cataracts as a concern for those who put out the fire.) I'm not sure why researchers would be paid to ignore problems of radioac tivity beyond cancer, as Hoffman and Sherman suggest. Their list of radiation induced ailments includes some I've not seen in the rather extensive literature on health effects ofionizing radiation: men- !:: tal decline from radiation-induced brain ~ damage, diabetes, and chronic illness. ~ Residents downwind from Chernobyl t! suffer from problems rampant all over ·~ the former Soviet Union-cardiovascu- ~ lar disease, injuries, and poisonings-to The near miss that terrified us at the time, the treatment of wastes was the same extent as other communities. Three Mile Island yielded no injuries or "excessively casual," in part because of However, on,e measurable impact on fatalities, but it did spur needed, though the single-minded focus on producing health has been attributed to the effects expensive, retrofits of existing Genera plutonium, as well as the typically poor of widespread dislocation in the after tion II plants and development of new attention paid in commercial chemical math of Chernobyl: increased anxiety designs. Current Gen II plants in Eu plants of that era to safe disposal of tox and fatalism, and the behaviors that ac rope and the U.S. are now safer than ic chemicals. Although, according to company them, along with "exaggerat coal or natural gas production, with Bodansky, "[t]o date the wastes have ed and misplaced health fears," turn out safety improved even further in Gen III caused no known harm to human to be greater among those who were re plants in Asia. Gen III+, planned for health, and it's not clear that there is a located than those who stayed behind the U.S. and Europe, and Gen IV de realistic prospect of future harm," this or returned home despite restrictions, signs on the drawing board continue to legacy must be addressed, at a multi-bil according to IAEA's Chernoby/ Legacy: increase safety. lion dollar cost. There are also military Summary Report. wastes from reactors on submarines, Military versus though the volume and radioactiv.ity is It's All Around Us Commercial Operation less and the waste is solid rather than eople are exposed to radioactivity liquid, and much easier to deal with. from natural sources every second, n the past, while weighing the ongo Even though regulation of the mili Pwherever they are. The highest ex ing risks of both nuclear waste and tary is sometimes a problem, like us posure in the U.S. comes from radon I nuclear accidents, it was easy to con ing sonar in whale breeding grounps, gas in areas with granite or shale, such nect commercial power plant safety re this does not, in my view, constitute a as in the Limerick nuclear power plant cords with practices at nuclear facilities reason to do without commercial nu where the importance of radon was dis serving the military. Military safety clear energy. covered, when a worker triggered the standards were at one time significantly alarm system every time he went to less rigorous than commercial plants, Health Effects work. An investigation revealed very with a resulting small increase in fatali aschke's claims that Native high background radon levels in his ties and a large increase in public fears Americans living on the Colo house and the surrounding area. Hoff of nuclear processes of any kind. A 1957 D rado plateau have significantly man and Sherman cite a purportedly accident at Windscale, a military reac increased rates of bone cancer from ura higher thyroid cancer rate in the prox tor, is estimated to have killed 13-20 nium mine waste, that depleted urani imity ofLimerick and other nuclear pow people over 40 years from the initial ex um is highly toxic, and so on, do not er plants. I was unable to find evidence posure. In 1961, three technicians were overlap well with studies I have read. See of this, and no correlation has been killed in a military reactor, the National for example National Academy of Sci found between thyroid cancer and either Reactor Testing Laboratory in Idaho. ences, GulfWar and Health, Volume 1: naturally occurring radon or the tritium Naval reactors, on the other hand, have Depleted Uranium, Sarin, Pyridostig;mine emitted by nuclear power production. operated safely for decades. Bromide, and Vaccines. While high levels The next highest sources of exposure Hanford was built to produce pluto of exposure to radiation can cause prob are terrestrial radiation (soil and build nium during and after World War II. At lems including cancers, "cardiovascular, ing materials), with large variations FRIENDS ]OURNAL}u(y 2009 21 worldwide, followed by the radioactive to isolate the effects of radiation from Most reactors for making electric sources in our own body (especially po nuclear power or natural sources, espe power use uranium enriched up to tassium-40), and cosmic rays (more im cially since some populations, as in about 4 percent. Enrichment for bombs portant at higher altitudes, so a person Denver, show lower cancer rates in an is mqre than 90 percent, and requires in Denver gets twice the exposure of the area with higher than average back more technical knowledge. It is true average person in the United States, and ground radiation. that a country that produces enriched people who fly get 100 times the expo Interestingly, coal power plants re uranium for nuclear power has lowered sure of someone at sea level). Terrestrial lease 100 times as much radioactivity the technology barrier to a uranium radiation in some parts of the U.S. is per kWh as nuclear plants, and there is bomb. This was not an important bar three times the U.S. average. Areas of 2.5 times as much U.S. coal power as rier to the official nuclear weapons states Brazil and India are more than 100 nuclear power. If nuclear power plants in the non-proliferation treaty (U.S., times the U.S. average, and Ramsar, are producing detectable rates of breast Russia, China, France, and UK) or for Iran, is 800 times the U.S. average. "To cancer increase, then coal power plants, North Korea, India, Israel, or Pakistan. date, no radiation-related health effects producing 250 times as much radioac There is general agreement that a stro!lg have been found" from these natural tivity, should produce at least some vis industrial base, plus knowledge that a sources, even at these levels (UNSCEAR ible increase in nearby breast cancer bomb can be made, has already lowered 1993; NCRP Report #94). rates. (Is anyone looking?) most of the technical knowledge barri There are ways to increase our expo The failure of statistical correlations ers to bomb production, and so other sure to radioactivity. Tobacco collects to make a link does not always deter us methods of dissuasion must be used. lead-210 from the air during its growth from believing a connection exists, es These other methods include the dis cycle, and a 1.5 pack-a-day smoker will pecially when we've been taught to fear arming of the nuclear weapons states be exposed to 25 times as much radio something invisible that we don't well and invasive inspections, allowed under activity from smoking as from all natu understand, like the effects of radiation. the IAEA Additional Protocol, and im ral sources combined. Even with such a Some will never be persuaded, especial plementing all of the other measures high dose, other carcinogens in ciga ly those seeking to explain the causes of that can increase international security rettes are more important. cancer in those they love. Yet the very and reduce the fear of conflict, which It should be noted that radiation ex low exposure for those living near nu can drive decisions to proliferate. posure for someone living near a nuclear clear plants is a poor candidate for Countries with plutonium bombs power plant is many times less than from blame, and may distract us from identi have found it cheaper and easier to use a other natural sources, measuring only fying true sources of the illness. special military reactor to produce plu 0.04 percent of the average yearly back tonium that is more than 94 percent ground level of radioactivity in the Unit Nuclear Weapons Pu-239 (military grade) or more than ed States. According to Lawrence Berke 98 percent Pu-239 (super grade), rather ley, National Laboratory, the average ex and Terrorism than attempt to use the plutonium that posure to radioactivity for someone who offman and Sherman say that power reactors produce, which contains smokes one cigarette per year is 100 our bombs use nuclear waste large fractions of plutonium isotopes times the exposure received by a person H from our power plants, which that greatly complicate bomb design. living close to a nuclear power plant. are "the most dangerous, the most vu~ Reprocessing of spent fuel can separate JaJ)ette Sherman, who, with Joseph nerable, and the most destructive terror plutonium, making it more accessible Mangano and others, is part of the Ra ist targets on the planet." Treadway be and requiring careful safeguards by the diation and Public Health project (in lieves the fuel rods near her house pose IAEA to assure that it is used only for cluding what they call the "tooth fairy" "significant danger in the event of an peaceful purposes, as well as providing project, an attempt to find evidence accident or terrorist attack." Many share effective physical protection to prevent that strontium-90 from nuclear power these and other concerns about the its theft. plants is dangerous to us, an idea refut bomb, and about plants being bombed. . For subnational groups (think al ed by departments of health in several Decreasing the threat from nuclear Qaida) that worry less about success and states) claims women near operating weapons is important. John Holdren, more about symbolism, reactor grade nuclear power plants have higher rates . the President's science advisor, in his plutonium will suffice. First, however, it of breast cancer. It is known that radio 2007 plenary talk to AAAS, lists this as must be reprocessed at a specialized site activity in high doses increases risk of one of the four major policy areas scien to use again as fuel by separating the breast cancer, based on studies of young tists can help with (the other three are plutoniu.m and uranium atoms from the women and girls exposed in Hiroshi improving human welfare, the environ fission products. This also makes it eas ma/Nagasaki and those receiving radi ment, and climate change). We need a ier to steal. (For this and other reasons, ation treatment or X-rays for a variety strengthened and better-funded IAEA, the U.S. does not reprocess, even though of diseases and conditions. In these cas and we need to zero out nuclear weap developed countries' waste is generally es the level of exposure is many times ons in the countries that have them, ac too well-secured to be stolen, nor does the exposure from natural sources. The cording to Holdren. The threat ofweap the U.S. sell technology to countries high background rate of cancer and the ons proliferation from commercial nu that reprocess, such as India.) If a sub number of more serious carcinogens, clear power plants, on the other hand, is national group steals reprocessed waste such as in tobacco, makes it impossible far more limited than often imagined. and has a bomb design, it must still sep- 22 ]uly 2009 FRIENDS JouRNAL arate the plutonium from other ele tially vulnerable to attack, for example, amount that would be produced if the ments, machine and assemble the pluto petroleum refineries, chemical plants, plant were operating at maximum pow nium (a microfizzle would likely be fatal and oil and liquefied natural gas super er 24 hours/day, 365 days/year. The to the workers), and deliver it. Though tankers ... do not have the robust con 90-percent-plus capacity factor now re difficult, these are not impossible. struction and security features charac ported for nuclear plants, up from 56 Radiological dispersion devices, or teristic of NPPs, and many are located percent in 1980 and 66 percent in 1990, "dirty bombs," require a conventional near highly populated urban areas." reflects a strategy of less frequent and explosive and radioactive material, per They conclude, "It is not clear whether faster refueling, but even more reflects haps from medicine or industry. The the vulnerabilities of NPPs constitute a how rarely there is a need for planned National Research Council's Making higher risk to society than the vulnera and unplanned maintenance after NRC the Nation Safer summarizes that "few bilities of other industrial facilities." required safety upgrades. NRC required deaths [are] likely, but potential for eco In short, to promote expansion of nomic disruption and panic is high," highly regulated late-design nuclear Perceived security the likely aim. power plants is not to abandon but to It may surprise some to know that attend to security concerns. Nor should concerns should not nuclear power is considered part of the perceived security concerns prevent us solution to the threat of nuclear prolif from building power plants that have prevent us from eration. Currently, 187 countries are such great potential to mitigate the party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation causes of war while extending interna building power plants Treaty in part because of the "carrot" tional oversight of nuclear weapons. help with nuclear power and medicine that have such great -for which they agree to invasive in potential to mitigate spections. Additionally, a Nuclear Sup Costs pliers Group that exists to support com derson describes the cost of the causes ofwar while mercial technology is the primary tool building and then decommis to detect clandestine weapons programs. Alioning plants as astronomical, extending international Internationally, more needs to be Treadway describes them as extraordi done to deter proliferation, even though nary, but utilities consider nuclear pow oversight ofnuclear nuclear weapons states typically ob er competitive with fossil fuels, which tained weapons with no help from a nu require 20,000+ times as much fuel, weapons. clear power program. (India did some and cheaper than solar and wind power, development under cover of its medical which have much higher capital costs research reactor.) Motivation to build a and receive substantial subsidies (2.1 bomb appears strongly correlated not cents/kWh for wind, much more for so safety, and the industry found profit. with the existence of nuclear energy lar). Claims that nuclear receives com Costs of early nuclear plants were programs, but with the prevalence of parable subsidies are hard to substanti high for a variety of reasons, including nuclear weapons. Where there are weap ate and appear based on calculations high interest rates, protests delaying ons, there will be more weapons. The that include all things nuclear, not just construction, and a lack of standardiza answer is to disarm all countries with power. In fact, according to Manage tion ofde signs. After Three Mile Island, nuclear weapons, and fund IAEA bet ment Information Service's Ana(ysis of construction was put on hold, and then ter, giving it more powers, such as re Federal Expenditures for Energy Develop expensive retrofits were mandated. It stricting the spread of fuel enrichment. ment, between 1950 and 2006, nuclear wasn't until the mid- to late 1990s that Our experiences with Iran, Iraq, and power received 11 percent of all federal new nuclear power began to look cheap North Korea show both the strengths spending (R&D, tax policy, etc.) for en er than natural gas. Now it appears that and weaknesses of current safeguards. ergy (one-third of nuclear money went a small GHG tax will make nuclear Meanwhile, at home, Gen IV designs, to the breeder reactor, canceled in 1983), power cheaper than coal. which may be built as early as 2020, are while solar, wind, and geothermal re Even in 1995, I felt that the fraction expected to be not only cheaper and saf ceived 7 percent; per kWh, renewables of a cent more for nuclear power was er, but also more proliferation-resistant. expenditures are much larger as nuclear worth it, given the lives nuclear power Attacks on nuclear power plants produces more than ten times as much would save. Utilities did not. But nucle (NPPs) can be serious, ofcourse, though electricity as these three together. To ar power now · looks economically at how serious is classified. Because the day's Gen II light water reactor received tractive, even more so once carbon con public is focused on this concern, they less federal financial help since 1950 trols are finally put in place. Old plants are guarded "unusually carefully" ac than solar. are finally being finished (one in 2007, cording to Bodansky in Nuclear Energy, Daschke suggests that nuclear power another in 2013), and as early as 2016, who also notes that "the chances of fail companies have redefined capacity fac new Gen III+ nuclear power plants may ure are substantial and that softer rich tor to exaggerate performance. This be operating in the U.S. Even in the ab targets exist elsewhere." Making the Na charge is new to me. I understand ca sence of climate change leadership, util- tion Safer points out that "other types of pacity factor as the percentage of elec large industrial facilities that are paten- tricity produced compared to the Continued on page 38 FRIENDS ]OURNAL]u(y 2009 23 The 2008 Subscriber Survey by Paul Buckley n October 2008, a sample of 2,000 While the average age of subscribers bers ofEvangelical yearly meetings make current FRIENDS jOURNAL subscrib is unchanged over the last seven years, up just over one percent ofour subscrib I ers received a questionnaire in the the average time since first subscribing ers, slightly lower than in 2001-but mail. The purpose of this survey was to dropped slightly from over ten years to with numbers this small, it is impossible give the staff and board of the JOURNAL nine years-both signs that we are at to say if the change is significant. /"" ._ insight into the thought.s of our tracting new subscribers. Remarkably, '1 readers-letting us know what the proportion of very new subscribers Rating Different Types we are doing well, what we can (less than one year) grew from only 3 improve upon, and providing percent in 2001 to 13 percent. Interest of Articles guidance in making future ingly, the average duration of subscrib ubscribers were asked to indicate ~ choices and ing is approximately the same as the av whether they would prefer to see erage time subscribers have been mem "more," "same," or "less" of each of ~· 1 decisions. S ., Within bers of the Religious Society of Friends. 24 types of articles. In 2001, "same" two months, Educational attainment is amazingly was usually the most common choice, a total of 1,040 high-92 percent have at lea$t a bache but almost always fell short of 50 per completed question lor's degree, and 63 percent a graduate cent. This is not the case in 2008. For naires were returned, degree. By comparison the U.S. Census nearly all types of articles, more than and the data from those Bureau's Current Population Survey for one-half of the respondents chose questionnaires were 2009 reports that 17 percent of all peo "same," indicating that the current mix ~1111!!!~~7-.,; analyzed and ple in the United States have at least a of articles better meets their preferences. used to gener bachelor's degree. There were, of course, some exceptions. ate the report Almost half of the respondents con For two categories, "Integrating faith, below. When sider themselves retired. More than one work and home lives" and "Discussion available, the third are (or were) employed in educa of theology and philosophical systems," 2008 results tion and more than one in six as a med the greatest number wanted "more." At have been ical, legal, or other professional. One the other end of the spectrum, respon compared to surprise is that among those under 50 dents indicated a desire for less "poetry," the results years old, slightly more than 20 percent "traveling in the ministry," and "puz of a similar are self-employed. Average household zles/activities." Poetry was particularly survey income has grown over the last seven unpopular with younger subscribers. conducted years, from about $67,000 to a bit over "Articles on Bible studies" presented an in 2001. $71,000, but this increase is less than interesting case of ambivalence: just less the rate of inflation. than one-half chose "same," while near Perhaps an indication of a broaden ly equal numbers of respondents want Demographics ing readership, the percent who report ed "more" and "less." early two-thirds of those who re ed being members of the Religious Soci Comparing the responses of younger sponded were women and the av ety of Friends has fallen from 83 to 72 subscribers (those under 50) to those Nerage age was about 63 years old. percent and weekly attendance at meet over 50 revealed some other interesting This is consistent with what we found ing for worship has similarly decreased differences. Younger readers expressed in 2001 and with what has been report from 68 to 56 percent, while the pro much greater interest in articles on the ed in other surveys of religious North portion who never attend meeting more environment, race relations, controver Americans. Eighty percent of the re than doubled from 6 to 14 percent. sial issues among Friends, current Quak spondents have children, but as would Respondents are dispersed through er events, and on how to integrate faith be expected for people this age, only out North America, but are still predom into their work and home lives. Not sur about one in six reports having a child inantly living in the Middle Atlantic prisingly, they were also more interested under the age of 18. States-members ofPhiladelphia Yearly in seeing information on parenting, ed Meeting account for nearly one-quarter ucation, and religious education. Paul Buckley is a member ofNorth Meadow of all respondents. While in 2001 we Circle ofFriends in Indianapolis, Ind., and a former member of the Board of Trustees of fou11d at least one respondent from each Internet Friends Publishing Corporation, which pub North American yearly meeting, three n astoundingly high 85 percent of lishes FRIENDS jOURNAL He has more than yearly meetings were completely unrep the respondents report they use the 20 years ofexperience in survey research and resented in the 2008 sample, and six AInternet. More than eight out of directed both the 2001 and 2008 surveys for other yearly meetings supplied three or ten have purchased something over the the jOURNAL. fewer respondents. In particular, mem- Internet, but most do not subscribe to july 2009 FRIENDS JouRNAL any online sites nor were they interested cause I love the open minded discus '1 find it difficult to read online, so I in an online subscription to the jOUR sions. I often cite articles during Bible prefer hard copy. I enjoy the portability NAL- even if it were cheaper than the Study or discussion groups in my own of books and magazines. They can be paper version. While these numbers may church (ELCA Lutheran}." read in all sorts ofplac es! They can also change over the coming years (younger '1 plan to attend a meeting ... this be perused in snippets oftim e!" readers have higher rates of Internet month. Currently, I am a member ofan "Please do not assume that all ofus use), it is clear that even our younger Episcopal church." use the Internet! A main grievance is subscribers prefer the print edition. ads & articles that only include web ad However, when asked which of the The 2001 survey included questions dresses and no other way to contact." 18 sections in the JOURNAL they might about the magazine's format and the read online, the articles received sup possible use of color. Although there But most of all, the comments re port from a majority, while more than were no such questions in the 2008 flected their views on the contents: one-third expressed interest in reading questionnaire, several respondents were led to offer their feelings: "Sometimes the articles feel political electronic copies of book reviews, the ly/socioeconomic-led rather than Spirit meeting directory, letters to the editor, "Your layout needs an upgrade led. I don't necessariry disagree with the and notes from other Quaker organiza get a fresh, modern look! You come off politics, but sometimes I'm wondering tions. At the same time, 77 percent said as stodgy." where God is in the article." they were not interested in participating ''By design, it is a beautiful example "What I like the least are the articles in online discussions of articles. ofFriends' simplicity." that argue for social issues, justice, equal A Sample of Comments ''No color on slick paper for Friends treatment ofthe races, etc. that are sup j ournal, please. " ported only by clear thinking. We are a here were a number of questions "Keep the B & W format and hand Religious Society and I would like to that offered respondents the op drawn sketches-that is the personality know how someone's actions orpositions Tportunity to write in whatever they of the magazine & one of the things I are supported by their faith." thought necessary and, at the end, a love about it. " '1 find the jOURNAL a bit too reli chance to add any final comments. "Would it cost a whole lot to bright gious. I've always appreciated Quaker Some of these were heartwarming and en up a bit? Even in B&W I think it ism for its social stances and commit full of praise, others were more critical: could have more pizzazz-or do Quak ment to nonviolence. I haven't found "The Fj is a wonderful magazine. I ers believe in pizzazz?" enough stimulation in this area." learn from it, draw hope from it, find in ''Really, I don't read it all that Finally, some commented on the some spiration, andfeel closer to other Friends much-what I love is the graphics what new practice of having a theme for when I hear what they are doing. The the elegance ofthe black and white sim some tssues: focus ofdifferent issues often bears di plicity. And I like having it around rectly on my concerns. Thank you!" like an oldfriend." '1 am glad to have 2-3 articles on one '1 used to really enjoy FJ Now, I of And quite a number emphasized theme in an issue, but I don't enjoy is ten don't even bother reading it. I find their feelings about the need for a paper sues where the majority ofall the arti it boring and the writing often medio magazme: cles are on one theme. " cre. A more spiritually provocative stance . ''Have only two special issues peryear might help." 'T like the paper copy of FRIENDS devoted to a single topic or theme." A surprising number of comments jOURNAL. I can pick it up when I have came from subscribers who were raised free time and read it andput it down & Continued on as Quakers, but are no longer members pick it up another time. That is not page39 and from people who have never had a how I read on the computer." connection to Friends: ''Although I am not now a Quaker, I was brought up in a Quaker family. My mother gives me a subscription to FRIENDS jOURNAL for Christmas each year and I enjoy reading the articles in the magazine." '1 was raised in a lively Friends meeting and . . . now belong to a UCC church. FRIENDS jOURNAL helps me stay connected to my Quaker roots and also I appreciate Quaker perspectives on current issues." '1 am not a Quaker, but I treasure the FRIENDS jOURNAL. I subscribed be- FRIENDS ]OURNALjury 2009 AFS • MEMOIR ABINGTON FRIENDS SCHOOL Beyond All Understanding achieve • excel belo by Brad Cotton he nurses are all in Room 21 , the tattoo removed from his forehead before he room we use for the most serious applies for a job. I tell him as a prospective T cases-the cardiac arrests, heart at employer I certainly would feel a lirrle un tacks, trauma. They are all prepared, the comfortable putting so much destructive cardiac monitor, resuscitation equipment bulldozing power in the hands of someone ready. It is 0530, the rime to try to simply with char word tattooed and shouting so coast to the end of the. night shift, coming loudly from his face. at 0700. Did someone forger to tell me, There is nothing to be done for James. Visit AFS and see firsthand the emergency department doctor, what His heart activity is a flat straight line. We just how great school can be! was coming? stop effortS at 0552. I thank the nurses and James, aka Ohio prisoner #548672, is the EMTs for their hard work-especially 300 pounds and African American. Al the EMTs, as it certainly was hard bringing in a very overweight James. They say their For details or information on arranging though in cardiac arrest with CPR in prog ress, he is, by regulation, shackled securely backs are okay. a campus tour, call215-886-4350 to the EMS gurney. My paramedic friend We tidy up Room 21. There is no fam Abington Friends School is a coeducational Q;laker Ryan, recently back from Iraq and with ily waiting across the hall this rime. school for students in preschool through grade 12 whom I have recently lost touch, tells me I ask Ryan how his injury, sustained they have had little evidence of heart activ when a suicide bomber attacked his trans www.abingtonfriends.net ity despite having shocked James several port in Iraq, is doing. Ryan deserves recog- ii times and given powerful intravenous doses nition, so I announce to our team that ~ of epinephrine. James was found down in Ryan is back from Iraq and that he was his cell; it has been close to an hour process injured there. One of the nurses who op ing him out of the prison and rushing him poses the war as much as I do thanks Ryan to Room 21. for his service. Ryan breathes for James, squeezing the Catching up with Ryan alone in the lliewr~ bag, forcing oxygen into James's lungs. Ry hall, it seems things have not gone well an and I served together as volunteer fire since his return from the suicide attack. r.ertifialtCS fighters/ EMTs. I am proud to serve as his Fortunately, no one save the attacker was EMS medical director. killed in his transport. We talk about what We get a lot of prisoners in the emergen it feels like to know someone wanted to kill ~ J\l(a[_LJpdc~man cy department from the two large institu you so badly that they were willing to blow · C a[~r~~J tions in our county. I have a good relation themselves up. Ryan's PTSD has cost him www.mtcalligraphy.com ship wirh the corrections officers, perhaps his wife and many friends, and he was let 18 Lonsdale Ave, Northampton, MA01062 because they have seen me over the years go from the volunteer fire department (413) 529 9212 E-mail: [email protected] treat their orange jump-suited charges with where we worked together. He was such an the same respect and concern I have shown enthusiastic kid that we all called him them and their families when they have "Opie," as he was as young and eager as his been ill or hurt. It is gratifying to overhear namesake from the television show May The ~ihle Association of Friends them tell prisoners, "You got Doc Cotton, berry R.F.D. I tell Ryan char I also have in America he'll take good care of you." That makes me PTSD, which I developed after the death since 1829 has offered Bibles, NewTestaments, feel like a good Q uaker and emergency of a five-year-old entrusted to my care. and Porcions free or ar cosr to Friends physician. I remember stitching up one PTSD hurts; it takes over everything. I am institutions, individuals, and others worldwide. W rite to: P.O. Box 3, Riverton, NJ 08077 25-year-old prisoner's face after he "slipped" sure I had a less severe case; I feel better in the shower. Stitching is time to chat; he now, and I hope he will. I was able, some tells me he has been studying ro be a heavy times, to let people care for me, but ocher equipment operator when he gets out, driv times I was hostile, difficult to work with, CREMATION ing multi-ton bulldozers that could take and unreachable. Some of the nurses here Friends are reminded that the out a city block in no time. T he corrections now can vouch for these facts. I tell Ryan Anna T. Jeanes Fund officers laugh when I advise my patient to that to me, he is the enthusiastic young will reimburse cremation costs. get that very prominent four-letter word O pie of seven years ago. I hope Ryan re (Applicable to members of mains stationed in our area and we shall Philadelphia Yearly Meeting only.) talk many rimes. For information, write Brad Cotton, convenor of Circleville (Ohio) DORIS CLINKSCALE Worship Group, has worked for 32 years as a W hen I report James's death to the cor 414 Foulkeways oner, I see that he was serving life for serial Gwynedd, PA 19436 paramedic and emergency department RN and physician. rape. I go back to Room 21 and spend a july 2009 FRJENDS JouRNAL "Lee has authored a very quiet minute with him. W hat darkness he important book that examines must have lived in, what darkness he brought to ochers. I remember working as a many important subjects medic in Cleveland's ease side, and hearing relevant to successfully the horrible "n-word" chat so many poor African American mothers called their own managing a business children, that the children and teens called enterprise in today complex, each other. Did James' darkness starr there? s Or was he another innocent person wrong difficult environment." fully convicted, with only a hurried public - Daniel Bauer DBA defender to speak for him? At any rate, his Dean, W Fielding Rubel School of Business life sentence is over. Bellarmine University. Louisville, Kentucky This book is about ethical principles in business, and translating those principles into ethical behavior in the workplace. It's about how people need to form peaceful partnerships so that everyone Lee B. Thomas, comes out a winner. Jr. is a longtime Hardcover, !52 pages, $16.95 businessman and founding member of Louisville Friends Order online at Meeting, which celebrated its 50th www. butlerbooks.com year in 2004. or call 502-897-9393 Driving home, I listen to Bob Dylan's words: "The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind." I remember being in Q uaker gatherings singing that as a child, my moth er playing Peter, Paul and Mary's version in our home. "'lVT • d In the evening, during a beautiful early we 1nveste . ,, spring, my wife and I watch our one-year . .. ln ourselves. old granddaughter explore our yard for her first rime. I hold Gracie and put her shoe "A friend of mine told me about her life at Broad mead. back on for her. When I heard about the lifetime care agreement and To folks who ask me what do Quakers all the services and supports included, Broadmead believe, I tell them I am not sure what we became the perfect way for me to invest in my own believe, but chat I hope we ask the right physical and financial wellbeing." June Gee questions together. For 350 years we have "I agree with June. Add to that, the beautiful asked questions together, listened co the setting in which I live and the daily wind in each other's words and in each oth opportunities I have to continue growing er's silence. In meeting for worship I some and contributing to the community, times feel chat peace "which passerh all un I couldn't have asked for more." derstanding" (Philippians 4:7) or the all Max Greenland knowing quiet compassionate smile of Bud dha. I hold James, Ryan, my wife Toye, Gracie, all our children and grandchildren, James's victims, the nurses and all our pa tients, my parents and siblings, everyone, even myself, in the Light. 0 FRIENDS )OURNAL ju{y 2009 27 • BOOKS Young Friends' Bookshelf The original book, Three Cups ofTea , is ap propriate for adults and teens, thus making the package of books a potential all-around This Is the Day! read for the entire meeting. By Nancy White Carlstrom. Illustrated by -Anne Hunt Richard Cowdrey. Zonderkidz, 2009. 32 Anne Hunt is a member of Langley Hill pages. $15.99/hardcover. (Va.) Meeting. A blue heron glides from page to page Listen to the Wind and floats from day to day in this colorfully illustrated picture book. Can you find it in By Greg Mortenson. Illustrated by Susan ~tGHAN D R.::...3_· every page? Not always up front, not always Roth. Dial Books for Young Readers, 2009. ,. If If:I .,... ""'-' tl~ :-i[,c..,,.l•• in the center, but always present, this blue 32 pages. $16.99/hardcover. heron acts as a quiet guide across an entire week of different ways to celebrate nature. There is a suggestion for each day inspired by Psalm 118:24, "This is the day the Lord . has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it." For example, the suggested activity for Thursday is to "Hum your praise with the buzzing bees." The illustrations present a bright intro duction to unspoiled environments, such as the forest and the seashore. Many children Afghan Dreams: Young will remember the curious otter, the adven turous eaglet learning to fly, the intense Voices of Afghanistan fox's expression and the motionless rabbits. By Tony O'Brien and Michael Sullivan. For the younger children, there are many Three Cups ofTea: One Bloomsbury US., 2008. 80 pages. $18.991 opportunities to look at each image and hardcover. ask: I wonder what is happening in this pic Man's Journey to Change In Afghan Dreams, stunning photo ture? What kind of animal is this? the World One Child at a graphic portraits of Afghani children, ages The book uses words such as "God" and 8-15, coupled with their own words describ "the Lord" and has a definite Christian flavor. Time-The Young ing their hopes, dreams, and hardships in Although, it is inspired by a biblical Reader's Edition war-torn Afghanistan, give us insight into a Psalm, the focus is an appreciation and cel troubled and complex parr of the world. ebration of nature. Since the appreciation of By Sarah Thomson, Greg Mortemon, David Shorr stories speak volumes, as do the deep, nature should result in ecological aware Oliver Relin. Puffin, 2009. 240 pages. penetrating eyes of the children in this col ness, the book could be used as part of a $ 8.99/paperback. lection of stories. We meet students, rug First-day school lesson on the topic. I be Told from the perspective of children, makers, incense sellers, pickpockets, and as lieve the pictures are stronger than the Listen to the Wind is the picture book adap piring teachers. These children have grown words in expressing the book's theme. Per tation of Three Cups of Tea, the inspiring up with war all around them, and know noth haps this is just an example of how a picture true story of one man's vision of building ing different. Yet they remain hopeful and can express a thousand words, which can be schools in rural Pakistan. With the evoca resilient, with the dreams of a peaceful Af a form of simplicity itself. tive mixed-media collage work of illustrator ghanistan. Best for children grade four and - Meagan Healy Susan Roth, children of the tiny village of up, this seems a good choice for hearing and Meagan Healy attends Friends Meeting of Korphe tell us about the lost mountaineer talking about a parr of the world laying heavy Washington, D. C. who villagers brought back to health from on our hearts and often in the news. the brink of high-altitude delirium. This lost and rescued hiker searched his soul for -Anne Hunt a way to return the kindnesses of the villag ers. What "Dr. Greg" heard, when encour Exodus aged by a village elder to be still and listen By julie Bertanga. Walker Books for Young to the wind, set him on a new life's journey. Readers, 2009. 368 pages. $8.99/paperback. The basic human need for trust and respon The year is 2099. Storms have been rag sibility that transcends economic or social ing for decades, temperatures rising, and status, and his patience in learning what lo the polar ice caps melting. As the oceans cal wise men have to offer are demonstrated rise around her island ofWing, 15-year-old in Dr. Greg's journey. First-day school class Mara strikes out with a group of islanders es will find inspiration for social action. to try to find other remaining civilizations. Three Cups of Tea: One Man's journey to It is through her vision and determina Change the World One Child at a Time, an tion that they launch the expedition by adaptation for middle grade readers, is far boat, only to find the one remaining city of more detailed than the lovely picture book. New Mungo closed to them. In refugee- 28 july 2009 fRIENDS }OURNAL MASSACHUSEITS EVENf CALIFORNIA EVENTs NEWYORKEVENfS StonehiU Retreat: English Retreat: Blue Cliff Retreat: Be Peace, Be Joy, Be Hope The World We Are - Planting Enlightenment is Now or Never August 11-16 Peace, Haroesting Happiness October 2-6 Stonehill CoUege, Easton, MA September 8·13 Blue Cliff Monastery, NY Deer Park Monastery, CA Beacon Theatre: COLORADO EVENfS Public Talk: Building a Peaceful a1ul Retreat: Our True Agenda - Compassiorutte Society ZEN MASTER ~ One Buddha is Not E1rough - Tending to the Space Inside ' Public Talk THLCH NHAT HANH Awakening our True Potential September 19 October9 August 21 - 26 Pasadena Civic Auditorium, CA Day of Mindfulness Estes Park Center, CO October 10 "Only understanding and Vietnamese Retreat: Omega Institute compassion on a collective level Public Talk: September 23.-27 New York City, NY can liberate us." Daily Enlightenment - Deer Park Monastery, CA - 1M World ~Have, PamlJax Press 2008 Waking Up to Life August 29 Buell Theater, Denver, CO v 1 s 1 t : w w w . t n h t o u r . o r g . . . . 1 1 1 1amt 1H'' "tl 11 t 111 1t 1rl'll ant ll'l'll' arl' Wl' l onH· tot H' n•tn•ah lor mon• information .llld rcgi,trationlont:Ht '"· ... tarting lanuan 7: 7h0-74 J-( ' .\l.J\1 or into(0 tnhtour.org Independent Living at FRP' s Guild Hous e West Friends Rehabilitation Program(FRP) is a Quaker-related nonprofit with over 40 years of service in Philadelphia. We provide affordable housing for seniors and offer a unique opportunity fo r continuing community service for residents. For infor mation about FRP's Guild House West at 1221 Fairmount Ave., Philadelphia contact Andrew Anderson (215) 235-2 183 FRIENDS ]OURNAL}ury 2009 29 his grandmother's life. spent with his friends and loved ones. When Westley Law was a boy, he did This book would be a good one to read not see his mother very often, because she with a five- to eight-year-old who has lost lived and worked in the home of a white an older relative or pet. The tale focuses on family. Law lived with his grandmother, the richness of life and the natural passing who told him that on the day he was born, from this world. It would not be appropri "I got on my knees and prayed that you ate to use if a child was Healing with the would grow up to be a leader of our people." death of a younger person who had not had style camps outside the gates, masses of boats Westley Law experienced discrimination in the opportunity to live a full life. his hometown, Savannah, Ga. He was trou are tied together in a state of perpetual wait -Vickie LeCroy ing. It is Mara who eventually finds a way bled by the way his grandmothe( was made through the gates, finding herself in a murky to wait until all of the white customers had William Mouse been served at the local department store. underworld. Will she find a way to help all By Bowen Betty Morgan. Sessions ofYork, those left outside the gates, as well as As an adult, he joined the NAACP and decided to work for peaceful change in Sa The Ebor Press, UK, 2007. 24 pages. £6.50/ those cast-offs left below the shiny new city? · paperback. Through her wanderings along an "old vannah. He helped residents study for tests that would allow them to vote. Law also or We were asked to review a children's pic fashioned" 3-D internet world, Mara finds ture book published by Friends and set courage and inventiveness, along with friend ga~ized a boycott of the local department store and arranged sit-ins at local diners. partly in a meetinghouse in England. We ship, to save herself and the boatloads of ref enjoyed the illustrations, but found the ugees. Teens will find themselves along for He stressed that the protestors must use peaceful means. His efforts were successful story lacking. an adventurous and courageous ride in a fu While on a Sunday School class field turistic vision of an environmental disaster. and Savannah's businesses became integrat ed in 1961, three years before the passage of trip, Joe finds a mother mouse and litter of The sequel, Zenith, released in April 2009, infants all dead but one. Joe runs home takes Mara and her ships of refugees to the the Civil Rights Act. I recommend this book for ages six to with the survivor and, without telling his top of the world where they hope to escape parents, takes on nurturing the infant ro the rising waters and start a new life. eight. It gives children information about what life was like for an African American dent, which he names William. -Anne Hunt growing up in the South in the 1950s. It Such a task is more daunting in real life also demonstrates how peaceful methods than the provision of warmth and feedings can bring about change. at frequent intervals included in the story. -Vickie LeCroy One of your reviewers attempted a similar mouse-rescue as a child, and even with the Vickie LeCroy is a member of Cincinnati help of both parents, the animal did not (Ohio) Meeting. survive. We are concerned that children may take this book as an example and try Old Coyote rescuing small creatures unassisted or with out understanding the practical commit By Nancy Wood. Illustrated by Max Grafe. ment or emotional investment in becoming Candlewick, 2008. 32 pages. $6.991 responsible for a living being. paperback. W illiam does survive and at meeting a This is a story that could help a child week later Joe shows off his new pet to a deal with the death ofan older person. This critical group of Quaker children. Sharing touching picture book tells about an old the mouse with a younger boy leads to ami coyote's last day on Earth and is told in a nor disaster during silent worship. A girl DeliveringJustice: WW. Law way that evokes a Native American tale. grabs William and runs out declaring her and the Fight for Civil Rights Old Coyote has lived a long, full life and is intent to set him free. When she does, the ready to pass on to the next world. Soft, mouse leaps for Joe's pocket. At meeting the By jim Haskins. Illustrated by Benny warm pictures show Old Coyote visiting his following week, the meeting elder officially Andrews. Candlewick, 2008. 32 pages. old haunts and reminiscing about time welcomes William. $ 7.99/paperback. As First-day school teachers, we were Many children have read about the lives OLD COYOTE disturbed by the representation of the pro of Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King gram, which the author calls "Sunday Jr., Rosa Parks, and President Barack Obama School." This group of children seems to and their respective roles in the Civil Rights have no one to moderate the behavior of the Movement. This book tells an important most negative and assertive ones. Where are story about a civil rights leader many may the adult leaders? W ho is going to say that never have heard about: Westley Law. Sig we don't take people's pets and release them nificant events in his life are illustrated by without discussion? W hat are they doing to Benny Andrews' bright and colorful illus promote mutual respect and cooperation? trations. W hat makes this story great are the Did anyone care that Joe ran home the first lessons taught by Westley Law's life-he week with the mouse instead of returning was a persistent and peaceful activist for to the meetinghouse? Where are the par good, and through his actions, respected ems? While this book may appeal to collec- 30 ]uly 2009 fRIENDS }OURNAL ·1·HQ C::: a.tC::: UUU~Wl UlliQ lVl tors of all things Quaker, we would not rec - small, independent ommend its purchase to our meeting or to families we know, whether Quaker or non Help secure • publishers. At FRIENDS JouRNAL, Quaker. income from subscriptions and -Tom and Sandy Farley the future of advertising revenue covers only Tom and Sandy Farley are members of Palo 53 percent of what it costs to Alto (Calif) Meeting. produce the magazine. You can FRIENDS play a significant role in assuring the future of FRIENDS JouRNAL- JOURNAL and our goal of building readership among Friends of all ages-by contributing a planned gift that fits your needs. Such a gift "-'"" "FRIENDS ~ ~~ allows even those of modest means RNAL ~ to contribute significantly ro,the ministry of the written word found in FRIENDS JouRNAL, because such a Breakfast in the Rainforest: gift can provide lifetime income and A Visit with Mountain significant tax benefits for the donor. Gorillas For 55 years, the written words of By Richard Sobol. Candlewick, 2008. 48 Friends have informed, enriched, and pages. $18.99/hardcover. nurtured our Quaker community. Your financial contribution to this ministry is critically important as it helps us to ensure a lasting, vital connection among Friends. And your gift- as simple as a line in your will- provides a legacy that can help sustain the publication of Quaker thought for decades to come. Gifts can be funded with cash, stock o~ • a beneficiary In your will other property. Nama FRIENDS JOURNAL as Looking for Miza: The a benellclary of an IRA or True Story of the life Insurance policy Want to know more? Mountain Gorilla Family Please contact our development Who Rescued One of Includes FRIENDS JOURNAL aa a beneficiary staff at: Their Own 1216 Arch Street, 2A. Make a gift to our Term By juliana, Isabella, and Craig Hatkoffand Philadelphia, PA 19107 limited Endowment Fund Paula Kahumba. Scholastic, 2008. 40 pages. [email protected] $16.99 Ihardcover. (20 year term) Less than 1,000 mountain gorillas re (8oo) 471-6863 main in the rainforests of central Africa. It Make a gift to our Board is a region that has seen much strife in re- · Dlacrellonary Fund cent years, so pressures on the gorilla popu lation have increased. Two recent non-fic FRIENDS tion books tuck the story of the gorillas' survival into a larger narrative. Breakfast in the Rainforest is set in a park in western JOURNAL Uganda. Looking for Miza takes place just FRIENDS )OURNALjury 2009 31 online across the border in eastern Congo. Richard Sobol is a wildlife photographer who explains the planning it takes to.ha ve breakfast in the rainforest with a famtly of mountain gorillas. T he park limits visitors to one hour a day, usually when the goriUas are having their mid-morning meal. Sobol man READ ages to pack in quite a bit about the gorillas' in the lifestyle, habitat, and the dangers they face year was a Rumi story of Moses and the while showing how he prepares for his pho Shepherd. The shepherd prays to God, say Conversafion tographic expedition. He even tells you how ing, "I will comb your hair, I will wash your much he paid for his multi-day pass and feet." Moses scolds him: "God has no hair! how that money supports the work of wild You disrespect God by talking that way." Cafe life preservation. There is little drama. The shepherd stops praying. Then God In Looking for Miza, the authors of Ow comes to Moses and says, "Shame on you! I en and Mzee and Knut have again collabo do not hear the words they say. I look inside rated on an animal rescue story. Two park the heart!" rangers discover Miza, a two-year-old fe How do we help our children to under SHOP male still partially dependent on mother's stand turmoil and divisiveness in our world? in the milk, is missing from the family group How do we grasp it ourselves? We have to along with her mother. They begin the get beyond the words, the propaganda of search. Her father, the silverback or domi both sides, to see the layers of the heart. 13oohtore nant male of the clan, also searches. Amid These two books, as different as two books the searches, the authors fill in information can be, both address this ability to trans about how gorillas live and what dangers form your perception of the "enemy." they face. Miza's father finds,her and brings The Shepherd's Granddaughter is set in her ·back, but her mother does not return. Palestine with an extended family of grape Miza has difficulty with the sudden wean and olive farmers whose land is slowly being ing, but her older sister and brot~er help h: r taken over by Israeli settlers. The author has find suitable food. The underlymg story ts lived in Israel, worked on kibbutzim and how gorilla families form a supportive envi studied Hebrew, as well as taught in Ra ronment for each other. mallah and lived with Palestinian families. While the photography is outstanding The story is not a balanced telling giving in both books, Breakfast in the Rainforest both points of view. It is a book about a Pal brings the reader inside the art and work of estinian family and the glimpses we get of a nature photographer. It also tells more the Settlers' motives are simple and irritat about Africa and the parks; there is a fuller ing: God wants us to have this land and sense of place. In Looking for Miza, the au we're afraid of you, so you must leave. thors reveal how rangers identify gorillas by Although this book has sharply told the indentation of their noses. The end pag scenes of bulldozers razing the ancient olive es show nose prints of gorillas named in the groves and conflicts with. Israeli soldiers, it story. Both books offer useful references for is far more complex than JUSt a horror story those wanting more factual information. of political violence. This is the story of a T he compelling family story of Miza has girl whose grandfather is teaching her to be The oldest Quaker school in the world, the more dramatic narrative line. This a shepherd. It is about her mother, who~e makes the insertion of background material William Penn Charter School embraces deep love is playing the piano, her co~sm tradition and welcomes innovation. feel more intrusive, perhaps also an effect of who is so gifted in science that he gets mto being written by a committee. university with a scholarship, her brother -Tom and Sandy Farley who bristles with anger at the Israelis and wants action, and her father, who quotes Visit us on the web and learn more about The Shepherd's Gandhi and seeks friendship with a bridge our vigorous educational program and our building rabbi. T his book opens with a Ru stimulating and diverse community. Granddaughter mi quote; "Out beyond ideas of wrongd? www.penncharter.com By Anne Laurel Carter. Groundwood Books, ing and rightdoing, there is a field. I wtll 2008. 192 pages. $17.95/hardcover. meet you there." The field in this book is represented by a hidden oasis of green grass, ~ where Amani takes her flock ofs heep. Here williamPenn Bones of Faerie Cliarter she meets and slowly befriends a Settler boy School By janni Lee Simner. Random House, from New York. He tries to stop the de 215.844.3460 2009.256pages. $16.99/hardcover. . struction, but is powerless as a child. In 3000 West School HoliS( Lane • Philadelphia, PA 19144 Here in Vermont, we have a small, qutet stead, he offers Amani friendship. The field meeting. The one message I've heard this is also home to a family of wolves, whose 32 july 2009 fRIENDS JoURNAL ~frQ~~~Js~ture (mi Remember FGC In Your Will .. . / _; Friends General Conference nurtures a vibrant future for Quakerism by providing iconic and metaphoric image echo the threat spiritual and practical resources for individuals, ened lifestyle of the Palestinian farmer. In Bones ofFaerie, the conflict is between meetings. and the Religious Society of Friends as a whole. two worlds: ours and Faerie. Instead of a dif ference in religion, it is the difference of hav ing magic or not having magic. A short gen eration ago, there was a war, when humans dropped nuclear bombs into the world of Faerie, and they used powerful magic to turn our plants against us. In the aftermath, magic has slipped into our blood, and chil dren are born with powers. Liza's village is ruled by fear. They grow squash and beans, but they have to do battle just to harvest them. Anyone with magic powers is quickly put to death, a rule Liza does not question until her newborn sister is abandoned on a hillside because she was born with magical hair. By the time Liza goes to find her, it is too late. This graphic scene opens the book. When Liza's mother disappears the next week, Liza goes out to find her. She discovers a neighboring village where magic is em braced and children are taught to control their gifts. She is deeply suspicious, but ter rified because her own far-seeing magic is starting to show, bringing her visions ofwar and her mother. In this village, magic is used to heal. Liza has been taught that mag ic can only kill, so here she is forced to chal lenge all ofher assumptions. As she attempts to find her mother, she must face dangers left over from the war, both human and mag ical. The stoty is gripping and Liza's trans formation convincing, but it seems impos sible that a satisfying, hopeful ending is possible. Only Simner's delicate handling of the choices around life and death bring a resounding resolution to this beautiful and frightening book. -Alison James Alison James is a member ofSouth Starksboro (Vi) Meeting. The Enemy By Davide Cali. Illustrated by Serge Bloch. Random House, 2009. 40 pages. $17.991 hardcover. NO! By David McPhail. Illustrated by the author. Roaring Brook Press, 2009. 40 pages. $16.95/hardcover. FRIENDS ]OURNALju(y 2009 33 It's hard not to like a picture book that says "No" to war and to bullying in the same story, or one that shows soldiers discovering that the enemy is human. However, neither of these books truly spoke to us of what peace is about. In the end we find McPhail's book to be the more thought-provoking. In The Enemy, David Cali and Serge Bloch have collaborated in a cartoon-like style reminiscent of Jules Feiffer. Two sol diers hide in foxholes drawn as if torn through the white paper pages. Their world has shrunk down to focus on the other as MORE TIME - MORE CHOICES - MORE FRIENDS The Enemy whom each must believe is in human to keep up the pretext for war. Nei LIFE AT FOULKEWAYS ther wants to kill, but each fears the other Setting of Excellence in Retirement Living Since 1967 too much to disarm. Finally, they each lob Sta~dards a bottle into the other's hole with the mes sage "Let's end the war now." The illustra 1120 Meetinghouse Road tions, mostly drawn in khaki, green, and black, add a few touches of visual humor. Gwy nedd, PA 19436 To us, the situation harks back to the 215-643-2200 trenches of World War I and seems irrele www.foulkeways.org vant to what people now face in Afghani A Quaker Community Where Caring is a Way of Life stan, Sudan, or Gaza where most soldiers Foulkeway>" at Gwynedd does not discriminate on the basis of race, are not in lonely foxholes. color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap or sexual orientation. NO! by David McPhail is a nearly word less book, more realistic visually and yet surreal in concept. A boy prints a letter to the President and walks down the street to the mailbox. A bully blocks his way. The boy says "NO!" twice. The bully backs off. The boy mails the letter. There's a visual subplot. As the boy walks to the mailbox, jets fly over and bomb a hill behind him, a tank passes and fires into a row ho·use, sol diers march by and break into a family home, and a man defaces a poster of the President and is chased and beaten by a po lice officer. After the boy says "No!" these scenes aJI change. The shop keeper chats in a friendly way with the police officer. The family receives presents from the soldiers. Beyond the firebombed house the tank pulls a fa rmer's plow. The bully catches up with the boy and returns his cap. The jet drops them a bicycle on a parachute, and they ride off together. No other words are spoken, but the text of the boy's letter is re vealed at the end: "Dear President, At my school we have rules. NO pushing. NO punching. Do you have any rules ?" NO! offers the concept that standing up to bullies and saying no to violence has a ripple effect reducing violence elsewhere. We wish this were as simple in real life as in stories. With so few words, the book invites FRIENDS SELECT discussion of our and our children's own A Quaker, pre-k - 12, di...erse, coed, college preparat&ry school experiences. Teachers as well as parents may located at the center of Center Cir:y Philadelphia find this worth the challenges it presents. 17th & Benjamin Franklin Parkway • Philadelphia • 215.561.5900 x 104 • friends-select.org -Sandy and Tom Farley 34 july 2009 FRIENDS JouRNAL 1~ t.. vv 1 u vv 1~ The historical records found in The Quak icy discriminates against persons who may er Collection at Haverford College and be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender in FRIENDS SCHOOL the Friends Historical Library at Swarth sexual orientation. In its annual meeting in more College tracing the leadership of the 2007, SEYM approved a minute to suspend Religious Society of Friends in the anti its formal membership in FUM and stipu slavery movement are scheduled to be on lated that if "at the end of a two-year peri line in 2010. The two Quaker schools, lo od, our membership is not in unity to re cated near each other in the Philadelphia new the relationship, SEYM will perma area, share a grant from the Library Servic nently lay down our membership in FUM." es and Technology Act to digitize records At the yearly meeting last April, however, related to Quakers and slavery. Haverford SEYM approved a minure affirming that it and Swarthmore, joint custodians of most could not be bound by "that 2007 direc of the Quaker records from the colonial tive," particularly in regards to laying down An education full ofacademic U.S., will be able to distribute documents membership in FUM. Noting that "sus and other materials revealing some of the pended" is the word used now to describe challenge ... where respect is earliest beginnings in the Quaker antislav SEYM's membership relationship with taught in principle and ery movement. Among the records are a let FUM, Lyn Cope, SEYM administrative ter from George Fox to Quaker slave own secretary, said, "It appears that SEYM is no exemplified in practice. " ers on the island of Barbados, legal docu longer affiliated with FUM and will defer a Mission Statement ments by Quakers freeing their slaves, and decision to re-affiliate indefinitely until we the manuscript of a book on slavery by abo can come to unity." Susan Taylor, clerk of PRE-K-GRADE 8 litionist Thomas Clark in the 18th century. SEYM, said, "Our relationship with FUM is left in suspension. The Executive Com Other material describes Quaker involve 1450 Newtown-Langhorne Rd., ment and leadership in abolitionist move mittee will work further on this concern ments from the 1770s to the late 1800s. and continue to support our observers at Newtown, PA 18940 More than 4,000 pages are to be scanned FUM. We are waiting for the way forward and made available online. Students from according to the leading of the Spirit." Ac 215-968- 2225 both Haverford and Swarthmore will create knowledging that results to resolve its con www.newtownfriends.org a website with a detailed timeline, links to cerns with FUM are incomplete, SEYM af documents, and articles by various scholars. firms in its latest minute, "We are both John Anderies, head of Haverford's Special frustrated and blessed in our efforts to re Collections, is co-director of the project. solve the issue, and we will need to find "Digitization of these materials will support time to do so. Until then, our formal mem their long-term preservation by reducing bership in FUM will remain suspended. the amount they are handled. It will also SEYM fully supports and values the spiri H. Freeman provide greatly increased access to research tual gifts ofou r gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans .\ S S 0 C I .\ T E S , L L C ers who are not able to visit us," he said. The gender, and queer Friends, and we are in online site is scheduled to be completed in unity that we do not accept FUM's existing Sc-r1 111~ I J"JL'Iltb ( lr~allJ/a l inlh the summer of 2010 in conjunction with a personnel policy. We will contribute to se aJHI S..:lwP I ~ -..J Ji cL· f FRIENDS ]OURNALfu& 2009 35 •August-EastMrica Yearly Meeting (North) •August-Malava (Kenya) Yearly Meeting •August-Chwele (Kenya) Yearly Meeting •August-Chavakali (Kenya) Yearly Meeting •August-Tuloi (Kenya) Yearly Meeting •August-Lugari (Kenya)- Yearly Meeting •A4gust-Vokoli (Kenya) Yearly Meeting •August-Nairobi (Kenya) Yearly Meeting •August 1-6-New England Yearly Meeting •August 3-9-Baltimore Yearly Meeting •August 4-9-0hio Yearly Meeting (Con servative) •August 14- 16-Jamaica Yearly Meeting •August 14- 22-Canadian Yearly Meeting •August 20-25-France Yearly Meeting r'RIENDS ACAD~MY •August 23-27-Uganda Yearly Meeting A Quaker, independent and college preparatory school Opportunities serving 750 girls and boys • Friends World Committee for Consulta Age three through 12th Grade • Founded 1876 • 270 Duck Pond Road, Locust Valley, NY tion, Quaker Peace and Social Witness, and Quaker Council for European Mfairs are 516-676-0393 • www.fa .org trying to assess whether there is any interest and enthusiasm for a Quaker presence and voice at the Climate Summit in Copenha gen in December 2009. The summit will attract a large number of people for differ ent reasons. T here will be Quakers among them (we assume). To discern the scope for this, we need to know who among Friends Freedom of Expression. is going 'to be there and what you are will ing to p.articipate in. Some ideas are: an of Each new season at Foxdale Village brings ficial presence under the FWCC banner (depends on whether we can agree on creative opportunities to do the things you what we would say if we got the chance to enjoy the most. Here, you'll feel a .genuine say something), a worship sharing event as a side event for delegates to raise our con sense of welcome, support, and freedom cerns in a Quaker context. If you are going as you savor your independence, knowing to Copenhagen, or are interested in going, that health care is always close at hand~ please send the following information to july 2009 f RIENDS j OURNAL Up on the Mountaintop continued from page 8 possibly fulfill all the hopes and dreams that have been invested in him; in many ways, this is so unfair to him. But an in stant later I realized that, as George Fox reputedly once said to Margaret Fell, "God has no hands but ours to do his work, no minds but ours to think his thoughts, and no hearts but ours to feel his love." The task of changing our country for rhe better is up to us, all of At Kendai-Crosslands Communities, you'll Renew a passion for us. Our task is to keep working to build enjoy a naturally tranquil setting with full the Peaceable Kingdom of our prayers, special friendships in a access to outstanding services and amenities. hopes, and dreams, knowing that God vibrant, resident-directed will always be with us in this sacred ef community life. Over 400 Carefree living, on-site well ness programs, flex fort. So much needs to be done. The acres with woods, ponds, ible dining options, enriching cultural events, horrible scourge of racism, although and walking trails in the complete healthcare services . ..all giving you dealt some mighty blows, still ravages heart of Pennsylvania's less responsibility, and more opportunity in our land, and was not at all erased be Brandywine Valley. transforming your experience of aging. cause of this breakthrough victory. Classism, militarism, sexism, homopho bia, and ageism are still alive. We are KgNDAL"' CROSS LANDS not yet at the Promised Land but oh, '--(3 0 I I I I I I II I I i I i {)S the Exodus is sweet, we are on our way, and the promise beckons! God has a Continuing Care call 1-800-216-1920 Retirement Community shown that we are not alone and we do Quaker-Related not labor in vain. We must take this www.kcc.kendal.org Not-for-Profit "day that the Lord has made" to cele brate how far we have come and not be transfixed by how far we have yet to go, because celebration is food for the soul and nourishes the inner strength we need to continue toward our journey's end. The force of soul and spirit is again flowing at high tide. George Fox wrote that although there was an ocean of *All graduates accepted to college darkness and death, there was also an ocean of light and love that flowed over *Self-directed, lifelong learning that ocean and overcame it. And, as *3: 1 student-to-teacher ratio Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The mor *Shar >d. wot:kprogt:aQl al arc of the universe is long, but it bends *Organic garden and farrJ toward justice." *SupJ ortive and diverse community To me, as an African American and a Quaker, I cannot tell you how wonder *Laptop computer program ful it felt to not just believe, but now to *Daily Collection, weekly truly know, deep within, that all I had Meeting for Worship ever hoped and prayed could be, now certainly would someday come to pass in this country, and all the years of be lieving were not in vain-and, what's more, that my living was not in vain. Through all the dark times and revers es, the bright beacon of hope that this represents shines eternal, telling us, "Push on, good servant, your work is well done, and as I have promised, sure ly those that have waited patiently for so long shall not go unrewarded! " 0 FRIENDS j OURNAL jury 2009 37 Nuclear Energy: Another Round continued from page 23 ities have recently begun to bank on nu hind Sweden and other countries that clear power over fossil fuels. learned to let communities bid rather than choosing a site. Sweden is likely to pick a site this year or next and to start Waste using it in 2020 or so. The UK has he question that persists, howev started a similar procedure and Finland (609) _714-01 00 er, is whether nuclear waste, as has already selected its repository site, [email protected] T now regulated and stored, in which is expected to open in 2020. • MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES • creases levels of exposure sufficiently to None of these countries consider nucle • INSCRIPTIONS • SCROLLS e cause health effects. At Yucca Moun ar waste disposal an obstacle. 673 Medford Leas, Medford, NJ 08055 tain, or any likely site, for the first 10,000 years, including transport, ra dioactive exposure is trivial. Exposure is What Is Mine to Do? expected to peak 300,000 years from nfortunately (though some may now, with a maximum exposure to a cheer at this evidence of the pow UP fROM CHESTER Hiroshima, small number of people of 260 milli Uer of small groups to affect poli ... Haverford, and -~~"~~ Beyond rem/year, somewhat less than U.S. aver cy), public perception has an effect on age background radiation. This long retarding nuclear plant construction. In Allan Brick time frame is a result of multiple engi California, for example, new nuclear plants Pacifism at neered barriers and physical barriers, are not allowed "until the waste problem Haverford, 1946- with some confirmation from the slow is solved," so we continue to import coal 1950. Norman migration of fission products from the power and to build natural gas plants: Morrison's sacrifice natural reactor millions of years ago at expensive, polluting, carbon producing. at the Pentagon. Oklo. According to National Research Perhaps it is time to redirect the for Anti-war Council's Disposition ofHigh-Level Waste midable persuasive power of Friends to organiz ing at Hunter College. and Spent Nuclear Fuel: The Continuing make us a stronger part of the solution. Societal and Technical Challenges, even Instead of fighting nuclear energy out From xlibris.com, quakerbooks.org. with "residual uncertainty" of several of fear of nuclear weapons, fight to re orders of magnitude, the bottom line is duce nuclear weapon stockpiles and unlikely to change. Those most exposed strengthen the international controls Plymouth Meeting Friends School would have an exposure comparable to and monitoring on all nuclear materi the background rate in Washington als. Instead of working to limit nuclear ~etingl'}.,. state, and considerably less than back power, w'ork to limit GHGs by rede ;'~. ft~~ ground in pans of Brazil, Norway, In signing cities to make cars unattractive. ~ r, dia, and Iran. The extra exposure is Instead of denying low-interest loans t9 equivalent to that from a one-cigarette nuclear construction, raise the costs ofa ir per-day habit over a year. The radioac travel, a particular weakness of Friends, 178"0 tive pollution near Yucca Mountain at to reflect its actual cost to the environ Pre-K through 6th Grade that time will be trivial compared to the ms nt. Rather than fighting the expan pollution of all groundwater everywhere sion of nuclear energy, one of our surest, 2150 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 due to 20th-century chemicals. most immediate ways to reduce the use (610) 828-2288 • www.pmfs /780.org Nevertheless, some politicians and of fossil fuels, encourage legislation to environmentalists continue to oppose pay for R&D and the transition costs of nuclear power until we "solve the waste a green economy. problem," by which they appear to mean Meanwhile, together we can contin Quaker House complete 'sequestration for eternity. A ue to· help move Friends apd others to Fayetteville/ Ft. Bragg NC few are willing to imagine the near-term look to our own lives for ways to "live 40 Years of Front-tine Peace Witness ...... And Just Getting Started! collapse of civilization-hundreds of more simply so that others may simply Read Our New Book: millions dead, massive species extinc live." That Friendly admonition has nev tion, worldwide conflict over land, food, er been more apt. 0 YES To The Troops. and clean water-due to global warm NO To The Wars. ing, just in order to avoid the risk of Quaker House someone being contaminated by nucle 223 Hillside Avenue Fayetteville NC 28301 ar waste leaks in the far distant future. www.quakemouse.org Some assume that a long-term repos Chuck Fager, Director itory isn't likely to be found in the near future. The U.S. is now a few years be- july 2 009 FRIENDS j OURNAL Subscriber Survey continued from page 25 "Special themed issues-especially the ones on aging andfinances-were superb!" Summary verall, the 2008 respondents were very similar to those in 0 2001 . O ur average reader is still over 60, female, and a retired teacher. What distinguishes her from others in her age group is that she is very well ed ucated and very likely to be making use of the Internet. Compared to her coun terpart in the 2001 survey, she seems more content with the mix of articles. The survey revealed a dedicated base of longtime Quaker readers, yet we are noticeably gaining new subscribers who are new to the Religious Society of Oakwood Friends School, guided by Quaker Friends, and, increasingly, those beyond principles, educates and strengthens young the bounds of the Society. The over people for lives of conscience, compassion OAKWOOD whelming majority is dedicated to a print 'FRIEN DS SC H OOL version of the magazine. and accomplishment. Discover Oakwood... and find your own voice. 22 Spackenkill Road, Poughkeepsie, NY T he timing for these www.oakwoodfriend s.org results could not be ..,~~ better-transitions COLLEGE PREPARATORY PROGRAM • QUAKER VALUES • GRADES 6·12 • BOARDING & DAY • COEDUCATIONAL FINANCIAL AID AVAILABLE Studio & One-Bedroom Apartments Now Available. "My Pennswood studio apartment comes with the financial ~ security of the Type A contract, 3 living rooms, 3 dining rooms, 2 pools, a fitness center with personal trainer, full-service health care, Wii™, library, classes, concerts, green houses, meadows, woods and a river." For details about our full-service senior living services, call Lisa Dutter at 215-504-lllS. are occurring in publishing, in Friends' corporate lives and interrelationships, 1382 Newtown-Langhorne Rd and in Friends' personal lives. In the Newtown, PA 18940 coming months and years, the FRIENDS 215-504-1118 • 1-888-454-lli8 j OURNAL board and staff will be mining www.pennswood.org r9 !!! ~~ this data to improve the j OURNAL. We Our Quaker values show us our lives together a~ enriched through ctivenity'- we wtk:ome WOfT'Iefl and men of aMrac es, hope the result will better serve our A senior lifestyle community fo r people over 65. colors, religions, national origins and sexual ~ ta tion. readers in the next decade. 0 FRIENDS j OURNALjuo/ 2009 39 • MILESTONES Deaths Lord-]os~phin~ Uoy) Balderston Swift Lord, 89, on March 8, 2009, in Pleasant Hill, Tenn. Joy was born on February 20, 1920, in Eaton, Ohio, to Catherine Balderston and Aubrey Swift. Af on your beliefs. ter Joy's father died in 1923, her family went to Act live with her mother's parents in Wilmington, Del. Joy was a third-generation graduate from Westtown School in 1937 and graduated from Guilford College with a degree in Psychology in 1941. She also played piano and contributed a lovely soprano voice to Guilford College choir. While working for AFSC, she met Charles Lord, a conscientious objector working at Philadel phia's Byberry Mental Hospital. They were mar ried under the care ofWilmington (Del.) Meet ing in 1945. Joy was secretary for several years in Philadelphia for David Richie's Weekend Work camps Program. In 1949-53 Joy attended First Friends Church in Grinnell, Iowa, where she and Charlie farmed with his father. Joy and Charlie joined the United Church Board for World Missions in 1954 and served as mission aries in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) for 11 years. In 1966-67 Joy moved to Wilming ton, Ohio, for Charlie to teach at Wilmington College, and while there she attended Wilming ton (Ohio) Meeting. She worked in the Dayton, Ohio, AFSC office in 1968-69 while Charlie served as a United Church of Christ (UCC) pas tor. While they lived in Pennsburg, Pa., where Charlie again served as a pastor, she attended Unami Meeting. In 1976- 82 she worked in the library of Moravian Theological College in Mbeya, Tanzania, where Charlie was teaching. Joy and Charlie attended Crossville (Tenn.) Meet ing after they moved in 1992 to Uplands Retire ment Village in Pleasant Hill, Tenn. An excel lent athlete in high school and college, Joy main tained a lively interest in tennis into her later years. Wherever she lived, she dedicated her life to service for others, volunteering for church and community committees and singing in church choirs. Most recently she had been active in or ganizations dedieated to the environment such Olney Friends School as Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), and even when she could no longer walk, Joy still participated in "rockathons," protesting Barnesville, Ohio Established 1837 from her rocking chair. She was preceded in death by her brothers, Lloyd Swift and Charles Swift; and by her sister, Mary Telfair. She is sur • Value-centered, college directed community of peers vived by her husband, Charles Lord; three chil dren, Beth Lord, Donna Little, and Ron Lord; • Coeducational 9th-12th boarding and day school three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. • 350-acre campus and sustainability program Rush-Ann Laura Trueblood Rush, 90, on No vember 18, 2007, in Unity, N.H. Ann was born • Challenging interactive science and humanities on January 30, 1917, in Kansas City, Mo., to Mary Reese and Alva Trueblood. Ann was a curricula; AP, Arts and Sports electives lifelong Friend, attending Methodist church as a child, there being no Quaker meeting in Kan • Quaker Heritage Scholarships available sas City. When she was nine, seeing the living • We invite you to visit! conditions for African Americans in Kansas City shocked her and influenced the later work Call or email: [email protected] she would do. Ann excelled in basketball and field hockey as a girl, and in the winter loved to ice skate. She studied drama at University of Michigan, and while there she was moved and www.olneyfriends.org 1-800-303-4291 inspired by the Reverend Henry Hitcrane's ser mons, soon after experiencing an altered state 40 july 2009 fRIENDS JoURNAL GuideOne Insurance is America's leading insur er of religious institutions, and has been pro walking across the campus, a feeling that she was walking among the rreerops, a cosmic sense tecting Friends houses of worship and schools that all things are connected. T hese two experi for more than 20 years. In fad, since 1979, ences led her to leave college unexpectedly. Ann met her husband, John Rush, when he was serv GuideOne has been the Friends Insurance ing as a conscientious objector, and they were Group property and casualty insurer of choice. married at Orange Grove Meeting in Pasadena, Calif., in 1945. Ann worked for simplicity, To arrange for a FREE premium quotation, and peace, and justice all her adult life. She and John to learn more about GuideOne Insurance, call r. 4 moved to a Quaker community in Fairhope, 1-877-448-4331 ext. 5429. Gu1de0ne· Ala., where Ann taught school. Shocked by the lnsuunce open racial segregation around them, they soon moved to Tracy, Calif. In 1953, she and John and two other Quaker families founded the Ar genta Friends Community in British Columbia, I Canada, and were later part of Argenta Friends litliZOllllClll.lJ atz lnzporlanl Bi,~qrapl7.1f tl School. During her life Ann and her family lived in several intentional communities, where "all thin~s were held in common," and in the 1960s JAMES NAYLER and 70s she supported farm workers and tried to stop the Vietnam War. Throughout her life ere for the first time is a fu ll Ann was influenced by A. ]. Muste. She and John spent their retirement years spreading the H account of James Nayler's life, the message of Peace Pilgrim, along with others forgotten record of a mystical Christian's compiling the book Peace Pilgrim: Her lift and spirit ual journey. Work in Her Own Words, about the life of Mil dred Lisette Norman Ryder, who walked more hough his legacy has been than 25,000 miles on a pilgrimage for peace. .T diminished by embarrassment and Ann and John ran the first Peace Pilgrim Cen disgrace, Nayler stood at one of the ter, sending Peace Pilgrim books, pamphlets, and tapes to people all over the world. Ann re great turning points in western history, mained athletic, winning a 10-kilometer race at a revolutionary complete in all respects: 60. She swam throughout her life, and as a military, political, and religious. woman in her 70s went on a wilderness canoe retreat down Utah's Green River. In her final A Friend for over thirty years, David years, Ann was a member of the Quaker City fiNeelon has conducted seminars on Unity Meeting in Charlestown, N.H. She was Nayler at Pendle Hill and Friends especially kind toward the meeting's youth General Conference. His research on and enjoyed singing. The Peace Abbey in Sher born, Mass., included Ann and John's names on James Nayler in the English Civil Wars a memorial stone on their grounds reading, was published in the English journal, "May honor be besrowed on these conscientious "Quaker Studies." objectOrs who walked the Earth spreading the tradition of nonviolence to future generations." Order/rom: Ann's husband, John Rush, died in March 2008. Leadings Press, Publishers, 193 Long Bow Lane W, Becket, MA 01223 She is survived by a son, Heath Rush; two daughters, Chava McDonald and Erica Pfister; Payable by check or money order, $39.95, postage paid. eight grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; Massachusetts residents, please add $2 sales tax. numerous nieces and nephews; and many de voted friends. Rush-john Miles Rush, 90, on March 28, 2008, in Unity, N.H.John was born on June II, 1917, at home, near Depew, Okla. John was a lifelong Friend, who alternated school years be tween living on a farm and in town in Wichita, A Quaker boarding and day high school where Kans., where the family rented a house. As a se ... personal transformations take place nior in high school and college student, he worked in the public library. He graduated from ... each person seeks to live with full integrity Friends University in Wichita with a degree in ... distinct ways of learning are honored business and economics and went to Washing ton, D.C., co work at the Census Bureau. Dur ing World War II, he was sent to a conscientious objectors' camp in California. During this pe riod, John met his future wife, Ann Trueblood. They were married at Orange Grove Meeting in Pasadena, Calif., in 1945. John and Ann moved to a Quaker community in Fairhope, Ala., and The Meetin John worked there as a bookkeeper at a small oil company. Always active, when he was 70 he hiked with Ann to the bottom of the Grand FRIENDS )OURNALjury 2009 41 Keep your copies for reading, reflection, and referral. FRIENDS JouRNAL is a Share the ideas Canyon and back. John liked to say that at 80 he major forum for Quaker thought and had won a foot race in his age category, adding with a twinkle that he had been the only contes Quaker life in the 21st Century. It's a Keep the copy tant over 80. In his final years, John was a mem helpful reference for conversation and ber of Quaker City Unity Meeting in Charles town, N.H. John was hardworking, stubborn, contemplation. Don't wait. Subscribe principled, kind, and often skeptical, but he Subscribe now wasn't cynical, and he had a song or joke for ev today to the journal that tells you what ery occasion. He was especially kind toward the meeting's youth and enjoyed singing. John was Quakers are thinking and saying. preceded in death by his wife, Ann Trueblood Rush. He is survived by a son, Heath Rush; two 0 I'll take 12 monthly issues for $39.99, please. 0 Lock in my rate for ~ daughters, Chava McDonald and Erica Pfister; eight grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; years-24 issues-for just $77.50. Overseas subscribers please add $12 numerous nieces and nephews; and many de per year for postage. voted friends. Sigmond-Laurence Marc Sigmond, 58, on 0 Check enclosed 0 Please bill me 0 Charge my MasterCard or Visa April 22, 2009, in Philadelphia, Pa. Laurence Card Number Expiration date ___-: was born on April 7, 1951, in Philadelphia, Pa., to Barbara and Robert Sigmond. His family 1C... IIIf Name: moved to Pittsburgh, Pa., when Laurence was • five years old, and he grew up with his sister, Alison, in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood. Lau rence attended Taylor Allderdice High School, ~ Address: remaining behind to finish when his parents moved back to Philadelphia at the beginning of Gty!Statdilp ------' his senior year. He briefly attended Pittsburgh u Meeting and participated in AFSC's interna r 1"'\. For fastest service, lag on to july 2009 FRIENDS j OURNAL Schatz; his fiancee's sons, Benjy and Jeremy Sueker; and his sister, Alison Bischoff. Thomas-Lydia Eliza Hollingsworth Thomas, BENJAMIN 106, on July 18, 2008, in West Chester, Pa. Lyd 1 ia was born on October 30, 1901, in Wheel, The Meetznghouse Mouse:j Md., to Alice Anna Stubbs and Barclay Eli Hol lingsworth. Lydia grew up in Little Falls Meet by Benjamin, as told to Clifford Pfeil, ing in Fallston, Md., and attended George with illustrations by John D. Gummere School, a Quaker high school in Bucks County, II Pa., and Miss Conklins's Secretarial School in New York City. She worked as a secretary for a doctor in Philadelphia during the 1920s. In If you remember the Benjamin stories 1928 Lydia married Raymond Moore Thomas, in past issues, you will be happy to share whom she had met at George School, in Race them-now in book form-with your Street Meetinghouse in Philadelphia. Since mu sic was not allowed as part of a Q uaker wedding children, grandchildren, and Friends! at that time, she arranged ro have harp music wafting in through the open doors. After mar Look for Benjamin in Friends bookstores or order directly from FRIENDS JouRNAL: rying, Lydia moved with her husband ro his family's homestead in Tredyffrin Township in Please send me __ copies of Ben}a71'1in @ $6.oo each, plus $2.00 shipping and handling Chester County, Pa., and Lydia served as secre ($3.50 for shipping and handling outside U.S., Canada, and Mexico). My check is enclosed. tary for the family nursery business founded Name ______in 1853 by Raymond's grandfather. In 1935 she began attending Valley Meeting in Wayne, Address ______Pa. She and Raymond moved in 1947 into a C ity ______State __ ZIP----- house on a hill overlooking the nursery, and from rhis home Lydia extended gracious hospi Country, if other than U.S.------tality for nearly six decades. Raymond and I:ydia celebrated their 63rd anniversary in Please mail to FRIENDS JouRNAL, I216 Arch Street, 2A, Philadelphia, PA 19107-2835· 1991. Lydia was a central figure in a cohesive If any questions please call (215) 563-8629. family, personifying graceful strength and sim ple virtue and touching many lives in quiet ways. She was a 60-year member of rhe Strafford chapter of the Needlework Guild of America. The Tredyffrin Township Council proclaimed her 100th birthday Lydia Hollingsworth Thomas Day. Borh the Pennsylvania Stare Senate and Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell honored her on her 106th birthday. Even during the last two years of her life, Lydia was in good health and was an inspiration ro everyone she met. Lydia was preceded in death by her hus band, Raymond Thomas; her granddaughter, Lydia Anne Moore; her son-in-law Thomas W. Moore; and her seven siblings. She is survived by her daughters, Anne Moore and Amy Hoopes (Rae); six grandchildren, Howard Moore, Charles Moore, Emily Paterakis, Evelyn Streett, Timothy Hoopes, and T homas Hoopes; and ten great-grandchildren. FRIENDS JouRNAL is seeking a volunteer for the position ofBook Review Assistant. The primary responsibility for this position is to secure review copies of books from publishers while working with the book review editor and assistant book review editor. Please contact Rebecca Howe, as sociate editor, at FRIENDS ]OURNALju(y 2009 43 Classified rate is 80¢ per word. Minimum charge is $25. Logo is additional $19. Add 10% if boxed. 10% anywhere else. There was scarcely an able theologian and sociologist, France, early discount for three consecutive insertions, 25% for six. Appearance of any advertisement does not bodied man walking around who had not 19th century. imply endorsement by FRIENDS JouRNAL. been in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or I hope de Maistre is wrong; but he just something. Blinded, legless, armless, crippled could be right. CLASSIFIED AD DEADLINES: veterans were not, so it seemed to me, Dennis P. Roberts September issue, July 20 plentiful; yet there were sufficient of them Spokane, Wash. October issue, August 17 so as to be noticeable. It struck me as Submit your ad to: strange how war exacted such a sacrifice Advertising Manager, Friends Journal from so few, yet left the vast majority Revisiting Who Shall Live? 1216 Arch Street, 2A Philadelphia, PA 19107·2835 unscathed. For most, the war had ended, In December 1966, the Family For Information call (215) 563-8629 and it was business as usual. The war had Planning Committee of American Friends Fax (215) 568-13n exerted little more than the barest ripple Service Committee appointed a Working E-mail: [email protected] on the continuity of their lives. Party of Quaker physicians and moral My father had a neighbor friend. Both philosophers, to explore the issues involved were veterans (little did either realize it at in abortion, and to prepare a report to the Accommodations the.time, but both would be recalled to active Board of Directors ofAFSC. Coming to London? Friendly B&B just a block from the duty in the Korean war just a few years At its meeting on October 31, 1969, the British Museum and very close to London University. A hence}. Every time they got together, there Board of Directors endorsed the general central location for all tourist activities. Ideal for persons traveling alone. Direct subway and bus links with Heathrow ensued one long litany of exchanging wartime point of view of the study, and mindful Airport. The Penn Club, 21 Bedford Place, London WC1B memories and experiences-some sad and that it did not speak for all Friends, SJJ. Telephone: +44 (207) 636·4718. Fax: +44 (207) 636· 5516. 44 july 2009 fRIENDS j OURNAL d-o~~ii~~ ~ ·$4o~$-5o . (2o6) ' 632~9839 ; ·~q"~~ k~rh~~~~:~~; teverde, Costa Rica; e-mail: FRIENDS ]OURNAL ju(y 2009 45 orocnure :saunaers ~;ompany («lo) tbb-4!:11~ A partial listing of Friends meetings In the Unit· All Things Calligraphic ed States and abroad. Carol Gray, Calligrapher(Quaker). Specializing in wed- b =Handicapped Accessible ding certificates. Reasonable rates, timely turnarounds. Meeting Notice Rates: $20 per line per year. july 2009 FRJENDS JouRNAL ARCATA·11 a.m. 1920 Zehndner. (707) 826·1948. HARTFORD-Meeting and First-day school, 10 a.m. Rid'Q:R'd~(941)358.5"759~ vv,.n;o v• lll ~l. Ull~ ~v~mvvu BERKELEY-Unprogrammed meeting. Worship, 9 a.m. Discussion 11 a.m. 144 South Quaker Lane, West and 11 a.m. 2151 Vine St. at Walnut. (510) 843·9725. Hartford. Phone: (860) 232-3631 . TALLAHASSEE-2001 S. Magnolia Dr., 32301; hymn BERKELEY-Strawberry Creek, P.O. Box 5065, Berkeley, MIDDLETOWN-Worship and First-day school, 10 a.m. 51 singing 10 a.m., worship 10:30 a.m.; midweek worship CA 94705. (510) 524-9186. Unprogrammed worship Lawn Ave. Phone: (860) 347-8079. and Bible study. (850) 878-3620 or 421-6111 . and First-day school, 10 a.m. at Berkeley Technology NEW HAVEN-Meeting and First-day school, Sundays, TAMPA-Meeting and First-day school, 10 a.m. 1502 Acadmey, Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Derby Street. 10:30 a.m. 225 East Grand Ave., New Haven, CT 06513. W. Sligh Ave. Phone contacts: (813) 253·3244, july 2009 FRIENDS j OURNAL Mississippi MARLTON-See CROPWELL. CLINTON CORNERS-BULLS HEAD-Qswego Monthly MEDFORD-Worship 10 a.m. First-day school 10:30 Meeting. Worship and First-day school10:30 a.m. 1323 OXFORD-11 a.m., 400 Murray St., (662) 234-1602, Bulls Head Road (Northern Dutchess County) 1/4 mile E unprogrammed, email: 50 july 2009 F RIENDS }OURNAL ;).... IIVVI IV C1.1 11.1 CIUUiliUIUI II I I ct.! II • .;J U ~t:ll diiU \.lldVt:tl nlll ul\o...LA<>-UII~r uyrat ll lllt1U lltt11:1tll ry ror worsru~ ::.u11uays ru Vln\.111'4114. DC:A¥ n·UIIJJIUYICI.I IIIIIt:tU I IU::tt:ttu ly lUI WUI~III~, Ads. (215) 364-0581. a.m. 5828 Worth St. (214) 821-6543. FRIENDS ]OURNAL ju(y 2009 NUW: The Guake_r House Story YES To The Troops. NO To The Wars. This is what Quaker peace witness looks like next door to one of the largest US military bases. Modest, quiet on the outside. Constantly stirring things up from the inside. How did it manage to keep going for 40 years? And what can be learned from its survival and witness? YES To The Troops - NO To The Wars is the exciting, improbable story of Quaker House in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It's been quite a ride. Jane Fonda came and went. So did Sixties radicalism. The house was spied on and firebombed. Founding staff died in a car wreck. Money was often so tight it squeaked. Many staff didn't want to live in a tough military town. The Board repeatedly wondered if the venture was still needed or useful. The roof leaked. Yet while dozens of other antiwar projects died out, Quaker House stayed alive and kept working. YES To The Troops. NO To The Wars. Since September 11, it's been more active than ever: Quality paperback. 248 pages. The GI Rights Hotline. Iraq. Afghanistan. Torture. A WOLs and 75 illustrations. $18.95 postpaid. resisters. Truth In Recruiting. Violence within the military. You From: Quaker House name it. 223 Hillside Avenue fayetteville NC 28301 The saga makes for great reading. Even with the Or Ask Your Bookseller. changes in Washington, there's no less need for an active Quaker witness "up-close and personal" with the Military Industrial Complex, in the form of Fort Bragg. 1969-2009: 40 Years of Front-Line Peace Witness ...... And just Getting Started. www.quakerhouae.org