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	<title>Nontheist Friends &#187; Personal Journeys</title>
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		<title>Learning to love and accept &#8220;Quatheists&#8221; (Nontheist Friends) at Powell House</title>
		<link>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/learning-to-love-and-accept-quatheists-nontheist-friends-at-powell-house/</link>
		<comments>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/learning-to-love-and-accept-quatheists-nontheist-friends-at-powell-house/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:06:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rik Panganiban</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Posts]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Personal Journeys]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[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.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>The Theist-Nontheist Conversational Smackdown of 2008</title>
		<link>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/the-theist-nontheist-conversational-smackdown-of-2008/</link>
		<comments>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/the-theist-nontheist-conversational-smackdown-of-2008/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:04:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zach Alexander</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Posts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Journeys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reports]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nontheistfriends.org/?p=89</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://flickr.com/photos/zach_a/2676859373/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3196/2676859373_26876c1221.jpg" alt="David Boulton" /></a>

At Friends General Conference earlier this month, in addition to Robin Alpern and David Boulton's <a href="http://www.fgcquaker.org/gathering/2008/workshop/26">workshop</a> on nontheist Friends and discernment (previously posted <a href="http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/fgc-gathering-08/">here</a>), 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 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winstanley_(film)">film</a> about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrard Winstanley">Gerrard Winstanley</a>, who according to some was the first Quaker nontheist. 

And on Thursday, Chuck Fager arranged the following <del datetime="2008-07-17T15:21:02+00:00">debate</del> 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 <a href="http://www.zachalexander.com/audio/fager_boulton_smackdown.mp3"><strong>click here</strong></a>  to download the mp3 file, and look under the cut for another photo and a thought.
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(By the way, David's opening joke refers to the poster, which described the participants as Chuck "<a href="http://www.quakerbooks.org/without_apology.php">Without Apology</a>" Fager and David "<a href="http://www.quakerbooks.org/the_trouble_with_god.php">The Trouble with God</a>" Boulton.)

]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/the-theist-nontheist-conversational-smackdown-of-2008/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
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		<title>Meeting for Worship: an Opportunity for Being</title>
		<link>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/meeting-for-worship-an-opportunity-for-being/</link>
		<comments>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/meeting-for-worship-an-opportunity-for-being/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jun 2006 22:50:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robin Alpern</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Journeys]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Note: New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM) invited the author to write an essay from a nontheist perspective, for a special issue of the NYYM newsletter on Meeting for Worship. Meeting for worship is a potent crucible for breaking the spell of time, the ego, the identity, our daily drama, the alluring vale of tears that [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Stages in a Journey</title>
		<link>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/stages-in-a-journey/</link>
		<comments>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/stages-in-a-journey/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Dec 2005 23:43:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Os Cresson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Journeys]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Os, at Radnor Meeting we accept atheists!&#8221; This was during an interview when, at 18 years of age, I was asked me to confirm my Quaker membership. God had no place in my personal religion but honesty did and I was fumbling with the questions that touched on Quaker doctrine. The kind Friend&#8217;s comment sustained [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>My Spiritual Journey</title>
		<link>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/my-spiritual-journey-riemermann/</link>
		<comments>http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/my-spiritual-journey-riemermann/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:36:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Riemermann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Journeys]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Presented at Twin Cities Friends Meeting (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA), spring 2000 or so I received a list of questions to help me prepare for this morning&#8217;s talk. I understand it was just intended to help me approach the subject of my spiritual journey, and not as a set of directions. I considered politely setting [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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