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One nontheist’s understanding of “the light” of Quakerism

James Riemermann — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:51:27 +0000

To seek to live in the light is essentially a value, a principle of living, rather than a belief. We need no theology, nor even a particular conception of “the light” as a distinct quality, in order to seek to live by it. Perhaps it would help me to clarify my point, if I described my own quirky, incomplete, and mostly psychological sense of where “the light” comes from

On Quaker Unity

Os Cresson — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:55:17 +0000

Unity during meeting for worship for attention to business is familiar to Quakers. It is a commitment to move forward together and, significantly, it does not mean we have to hold the same views. This method of doing business has long been characteristic of Quakers.

Intellect and Spirituality

James Riemermann — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:27:28 +0000

...I don’t mean that everyone should engage in or care about this kind of intellectual wrestling, and I certainly don’t mean that our worship should become intellectual debate or performance–yuck. But the widespread fear of and distaste for intellect, as if the search for understanding could possibly be a bad thing, does not serve us well...

Waking up Dead

Peter Schogol — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:11:53 +0000

I don’t recall the first time I woke up dead, having done so many times since. Each time feels like the first time, so maybe it’s an ongoing thing — waking up dead. There are days when I wake up fully alive, and those are the cruelest of all. Those are the days when I [...]

A Different Understanding of Scripture

James Riemermann — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:21:54 +0000

My friend Nat Case, from my own Twin Cities Friends Meeting, has a blog I hadn't paid much attention to until a month or two ago. I don't know how much of my inattention is because I hadn't noticed how smartly provocative his writing is, and how much is because, as a cartographer, he's been writing less for a mapmaking audience lately, and more for Quakers and other people who question the meaning of religion. People like me. This post expands on a brief comment I made on his post Fragments of a Religion That Never Existed, where Nat writes in part:

"What I'm interested in here is the idea of scripture not defined by its innate qualities (e.g. dictated by God), but by its functional qualities. What does scripture do? I find scripture-as-community-glue interesting, but my sympathies lie with scriptures-taken-to-heart. I do have a series of books, passages from books, poems, some formal religious texts, ballads, and films that form what I believe is similar to the sort of scripture-taken-to-heart that orthodox folk might have. Except I do not have a community that draws from the same set of texts."

Nontheism among Friends at Powell House – report

Zach Alexander — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:50:58 +0000

"If you think Richard Dawkins is too easy on religion, go down to that end of the room," I said, indicating the steps up to the bookstore. "And if you..." "Careful..." someone said. And I was. There were several believers-in-God present – the exact number depending on your definition – and I didn't want to make a joke that might be taken the wrong way. "If you're, uh... very theistic, go down to the other end," I finished, indicating the fireplace. "And if you're somewhere in between, go somewhere in between."

Learning to love and accept “Quatheists” (Nontheist Friends) at Powell House

Rik Panganiban — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:06:39 +0000

For three days I have been at the beautiful Powell House Quaker retreat center, up in Old Chatham, New York. I have been attending a workshop on “nontheist Quakers” led by Robin Alpern and Zach Alexander with about 16 other Quakers from around the northeast area.

Two cheers for Quaker history

James Riemermann — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:30:12 +0000

A Friend on the nontheist Friends e-mail discussion list at some point challenged us to seriously study early Quaker history, and not just dip into it, “to develop our knowledge of and insights into the origins and development of the tradition or movement we have committed to.” Good advice, no question. And yet I felt [...]

The Theist-Nontheist Conversational Smackdown of 2008

Zach Alexander — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:04:33 +0000

At Friends General Conference earlier this month, in addition to Robin Alpern and David Boulton's workshop on nontheist Friends and discernment (previously posted here), there were a number of one-off scheduled events at the "Nontheist Friends Center," on topics like nontheistic spirituality and theological diversity. And in addition to those, three or four more events were arranged on-site to meet what seemed like a demand for them. I might be forgetting any that happened earlier in the week before I arrived, but Wednesday afternoon there was a meeting for worship, followed by a screening of a film about Gerrard Winstanley, who according to some was the first Quaker nontheist. And on Thursday, Chuck Fager arranged the following ~~debate~~ conversation between himself and David Boulton, complete with lurid posters billing it "The Theist-Nontheist Conversational Smackdown of 2008" and promising "thrills, chills and (nonviolent) spills," if memory serves. The questions they discussed were "Are Quakers a chosen people?" and "Is David Boulton a closet theist?" Thanks perhaps to the posters, it took place before a packed-out room of about 110 people, with a number of (un-chosen?) people listening in the hall. Click the green "play" arrow below to hear my recording of the event, or click here to download the mp3 file, and look under the cut for another photo and a thought.

(By the way, David's opening joke refers to the poster, which described the participants as Chuck "Without Apology" Fager and David "The Trouble with God" Boulton.)

God Circle

James Riemermann — Thu, 10 May 2007 19:13:25 +0000

1. Circle 1 = God 2. Circle 2 = the natural world 3. Circle 1 minus Circle 2 = the supernatural world

What is the basis of Quaker membership?

James Riemermann — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 16:14:59 +0000

A Friend on the nontheist Friends email list asked what the basis for membership might be, or more specifically, what a basis might be for turning someone down for membership. The question was not specifically about belief/disbelief in God, so I did not particularly address that. I suppose, by not addressing such belief/disbelief, I am [...]

The NTF dove

Os Cresson — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 14:36:51 +0000

It would be nice to know who else uses our dove logo. Happily, it appears on a page about a peace fair at Buckingham Friends School (http://home.comcast.net/~buckinghamfriends/peacefair.htm). The dove was found in the public domain in 2004 by Crystal Hashmet when she created the first NTF website at www.quaker.org. Let’s see where else this little [...]

What is a Nontheist?

James Riemermann — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:06:24 +0000

Both within and outside the informal association of Friends who call themselves nontheists, there is little common understanding of what the word nontheist means. There is also little common understanding of related words such as atheist, agnostic, humanist, and materialist, but believers and unbelievers alike have at least a sense of what they mean by [...]

One God at Most, or Two Gods at Least?

James Riemermann — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 17:05:50 +0000

If I am to speak of God at all, even metaphorically, I find I must speak of two gods. This may be the reason I tend not to speak of God. Both gods speak to me as metaphors, but I have difficulty calling them by the same name. It is not the world that my [...]

Quaker Culture vs. Quaker Faith

James Riemermann — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:18:31 +0000

I’ve gotten into an interesting exchange HERE on Chris M’s mysteriously titled blog “Tables, Chairs and Oaken Chests.” I’ll have to look closer to see how he came to that title. Anyway, Chris’s article holds up Samuel Caldwell’s well-known 1998 address at Pendle Hill, and I take a couple of jabs at it. Below is [...]