Eric Moon is the author of “Categorically Not the Testimonies” in the June/July 2013 issue of Friends Journal. In our interview, he talks about the evolution of the modern testimonies and how they simultaneously inspire and limit us.
Bonus material:
In the article, Eric talks about a survey he has workshop participants conduct at Quaker gatherings. They poll people in meal lines to give a one-word answer to the statement “Testimonies are important because they are ___.” We loved it so much that we asked our Facebook and Twitter followers to give their answers. Here’s the word cloud they generated!
I’ve been bothered by the idea of Equality, as some friends are weightier than others. I don’t think many Friends would consider Fredrick Douglas to be the equal of Friend Richard Milhouse Nixon, nor even Friend Johns Hopkins. But, we are all equal in the Grave, and this has ramifications, if we regard the measure by which Friends are equal, which is beyond measure.
There is also this Testimony of Simplicity: Quakerism is Elegant; Testimonies are Sophisticated.