Advance Resources for:
"Confronting the Peace Testimony: Quakerism 9-11"
A Workshop by Chuck Fager
Dear Friends,
I look forward to working with you in this workshop.
Given the circumstances in which we will be gathering, this should be
a time of serious searching and threshing, informed throughout by worship;
but I hope that along the way we will also be able to laugh at ourselves
and our crazy, doomed human condition.
To give you a head start on our efforts, here is a list, with links,
of
some advance readings now on the Web, which I think
would be of value.
As you will see, some of these pieces are based on my study
and reflection on this general topic over almost thirty years. Others
are historical documents, which seem to me to highlight key points
in the evolution and dilemmas of Quaker thought and experience on peace and war.
All are intended to increase the potential for learning and discussion
in our work together.
The selection is hardly comprehensive; my work and reflection in this area
is continuing, and there will be other
documents available by the time the Gathering begins.
None of this is "required reading," and we will not have a final exam.
(Yet you will be tested on it; not by me, but by life.)
Printed copies of related documents will be available
at the workshop; we will refer to these materials often in our sessions.
Depending on how many documents are used in a particular gathering,
there may also be a small materials fee.
Also, for at least the early part of the session, having a Bible is also recommended.
I am based here at Quaker House in Fayetteville,
NC. I’ll answer e-mails as I have time,
but if you have questions about this material, and I hope you will,
I recommend you note them down
and bring them with you, to share with the whole group.
The subject of Quaker peace witness is always a weighty one. But this year,
it has become much more concrete, even a matter of life and death.
I look forward to our exploring and reflecting on it worshipfully together.
See you soon!
Chuck Fager
E-mail: quest@quaker.org
Advance Readings:
A Prelude For Friends: John Greenleaf Whittier, 1863
Background:
A Friend's Response to Recent Events
"A Great
Deep": The Peace Testimony and Historical
Realism
Some Key Bible Texts on War & Peace
The 1660 Declaration of the Harmless and Innocent People of God Called Quakers,
By Fox & Others
1667:
A Letter from George Fox on "Keeping Watch"
Reconsidering the Quaker Peace
Testimony, by Chuck Fager
Historian H. Larry Ingle on the Origins of Quaker Pacifism
A Discussion of Isaac Pennington's Views on War, 1661
An Excerpt from an essay
by Jonathon Dymond on
War vs. Early Christianity, 1821
Three Case Studies: Three
Distinctive Quaker Views of World War I
Speaking Peace, Living Peace:
Quakers Confront the U.S. Civil War, in their own words
General Smedley Butler; A Quaker-raised Marine and double Medal of Honor winner
concludes that "War is
A Racket".
Contemporary Overviews:
The Quaker Peace Testimony as 'Questing
Beast', by Chel Avery, 1995
From Protest to Resistance --
The Quaker Peace Testimony
During the Vietnam War, Jeremy Mott, 1998
Some
Quaker Reflections on the Current War, by Chuck Fager, 1999, 2002
Mary Lord: Can Love Really Overcome Violence &
Hate? 2002
Scott
Simon on Pacifism and After, September 25, 2001
A Personal Story: Living the Peace Testimony, Val
Liveoak, 2001
Stories:
Non-fiction:
American Revolution: William Rotch, Memorandum (1814)
The Irish Rebellion of 1798: Dinah Goff, Divine Protection (1857)
Fiction:
King Philip's War, 1675: The Man With the Extra Hand
U.S. Civil War: Fire In the Valley
E-mail: quest@quaker.org