Social Concerns

Contemplating Torture

When U.S. political leaders debate the ethics and efficacy of torture, we need to consider how our country arrived at…

Friends Neighborhood Guild: A Quaker Presence in Philadelphia

The Beginnings In 1879, as an expression of concern for their new immigrant neighbors, Friends in the Northern Liberties section…

The Quaker sweat lodge: a response

The Quaker sweat lodge has been a very powerful and transformative experience for many young Friends. Indeed, there are a…

A Visit to Kamenge AIDS Clinic

On January 19, 2005, I visited the Kamenge aids clinic in Bujumbura, Burundi. The program is run by Friends Women’s…

Rancor

My son and I, separated by half a continent, had been talking on the phone for 30 minutes when he…

The 2005 Friends General Conference Gathering

There were over 1,500 Friends, arriving in Blacksburg, Virginia, on the Virginia Tech campus on July 2, in blazing heat.…

Obtaining a U.S. Visa in Uganda

After the African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI) summer workcamp in 2004, several of the workcampers from Germantown (Pa.) Meeting had…

Saving Our Earth, One Letter at a Time

Like most of us, my wife, Betsy, and I want to leave the world a bit better for our having…

Beginning Where We Are

Years ago my husband, Adam, was the national organizer for the Shakertown Pledge. Drafted during the 1970s by a group…

Simplicity, Poverty, and Gender in the Indian State of Kerala

Puzzles fascinate me. When the Scientific American labeled Kerala a mystery inside an enigma, I was hooked. In this tiny…

The Secret of Torture

The spiritual consequences of secrets are sudden potholes in integrity, surprises, and struggles to keep a secret hidden rather than…

Are Animals Our Neighbors?

Taking the View From Below Nutrition expert and activist Neal Barnard once made a presentation to elementary school students. As…
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