We’ve been sharing our most-read articles of 2015 on Facebook and Twitter. Here is the full list.
#5 Baltimore, the Time Is Now
Sarah Bur gave us a dramatic first-hand account from Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody. Originally published online on May 6 and reprinted in our June/July 2015 print issue.
I put down my window and called to the woman, “Get in the car.” I unlocked the doors, and she ran to the car and got in behind me. Before I could lock the doors, one teenager wearing a black hood with a face mask opened the other back door and leapt inside the car. He was so young. His eyes met mine.
#4 Reflections on Selma
In February national attention focused on the 1965 events in Selma, Alabama. Associate editor Gail Whiffen Coyle dove into the Friends Journal archives to see how we reported the story in real time. Published online on February 18.
2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches—events that are depicted in the recent film Selma (in theaters now). We wondered what Quakers were saying during that turbulent time in the mid-1960s, so I searched the Friends Journal archives.
#3 What Quakers and Catholics Might Learn from One Another
Our May issue featured accounts of Friends who found inspiration by crossing spiritual paths. John Pitts Corry shared his unique mix of Catholic and Quaker practice.
Mentioning Jesus brings us to the third thing Quakers might learn from Catholicism, which is that worship is not only a time of personal meditation and reflection but also a communal sacred event. Many Quakers, but perhaps not enough, experience Quaker worship as I did when a child as a gathered meeting.
#2 Realizing Wholeness: Reflections from a Gay Palestinian Quaker
Our October issue on “Faithful Living” featured Sa’ed Atshan, a Palestinian academic introduced to Friends during his study at the Ramallah Friends School, who had just returned from his first FGC Gathering.
Realizing wholeness is also a challenge when we are broken. It is not always possible to find the words to describe the pain we carry. While at Gathering, we commemorated the one-year anniversary of Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip last summer, which took the lives of over 70 Israelis (65 of whom were soldiers) and 2,200 Palestinians (the vast majority of whom were civilians).
#1 Beyond Goodness Sex
Reactions are mixed on whether Su Penn’s review of a new book on sexuality was an impassioned plea to give more attention to vulnerable gender-nonconforming students or an unfair critique of a progressive educator.
Six people live in our house: me; my partner of two decades; our three children; and our housemate, a student at the college down the street. At least three of us identify as queer. At least three of us are transgender or gender-nonconforming. At least one of us has attempted suicide; at least one other has seriously contemplated it. All of us have been disowned by close family for reasons having to do with sexuality and gender expression.
Catch up on past years’Â lists!
Top articles of 2014:
- #5 Dear Friend/Good White Person by Regina Renee.
- #4 Sustainable Simplification Shuns “Shoulds” and Sacrifice by Chuck Hosking.
- #3 A Quaker Argument against Gun Control by Matthew Van Meter.
- #2 My Experience as an African American Quaker by Avis Wanda McClinton.
- #1 White Narcissism by Ron McDonald.
Top articles of 2013:
- #5:Â Bum-Rush the Internet interview with Jon Watts.
- #4:Â Categorically Not the Testimonies by Eric Moon.
- #3: Are Quakers Christian, Non-Christian, or Both? by Anthony Manousos.
- #2: Quakerism Left Me by Betsy Blake.
- #1:Â We Think He Might Be a Boy by Su Penn.
Top articles of 2012:
- #5: The Safety of Silence by Lindsey Mead Russell.
- #4:Â Eight Questions on Convergent Friends, an interview with Robin Mohr.
- #3: Quakers Are Way Cooler Than You Think by Emma Churchman.
- #2: Homosexuality: A Plea to Read the Bible Together by Douglas C Bennett.
- #1: When Quaker Process Fails by John M. Coleman.
