QuakerQuaker This Week, 3/4/2012

The most talked-about Quaker blog post this week is Mark Wutka's "Quit pushing your belief system on me!" He writes "You keep telling me that this is an experiential religion, and then every time I turn around you are telling me that I need to believe in things like simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, etc."

Over on QuakerQuaker itself, there's been quite a bit of discussion over the question "How Do I Know When I Should Speak in Meeting" in the Liberal Friends forum.

This Week's Editors' Picks

• Cherice Bock: Testimonies vs Distinctives
  Here in Northwest Yearly Meeting you'll sometimes hear people describe the Friends' peculiar stances on things as "distinctives." I thought this was normal until I was speaking to Friends in Boston and someone told me they knew to which branch of Friends I belonged because I referred to the Friends testimonies as "distinctives."
• Eileen Flanagan: Earth-Conscious Quakers Against Mountaintop Removal

  At their Feb. 29 kick-off event at Friends Center in Philadelphia, EQAT will announce that Quakers have already pledged to remove at least $1.9 million from PNC Bank, one of the biggest financers of mountaintop removal. PNC claims to be a "green" bank with Quaker roots, part of the reason the group believes the bank is susceptible to consumer pressure.
• Julie Spezia: Truth in Advertising

  My personal challenge will be to maintain relationships with integrity... and to not get caught up in protecting my reputation–this is the biggest motivator I know for dissimulation.  Sticking to the truth is also a spiritual discipline.  The Quaker testimony of truth based on Jesus’ example inspires me to be ruthlessly honest with myself and with others.
• Ashley Wilcox: A Fresh Word

  Recently, I have been feeling a heaviness around the Religious Society of Friends, mostly having to do with money and maintaining institutions. I feel like we need a fresh word. So that is my prayer for myself and for Friends.
• Michael Shell: Listening in tongues"
  This challenge remains at the heart of my efforts to live my faith with others and to help them give voice to their own faiths. How do we teach each other—how do we allow ourselves to be taught—the blessed talent of “listening in tongues”?