INTERFAITH EVENING ABOUT QUAKERS

On May 5th the Wahroonga Quaker interfaith team, in keeping with its tradition of asking little-known faith groups to talk about themselves, hosted an evening about we Quakers ourselves. The audience (mostly Quakers, but drawn also from Baha'i, Christian and Scientology traditions) was treated to a truly wonderful presentation, by a panel of learned, thought-provoking and witty Friends. They fielded some extremely stretching questions from the floor leaving everyone, Friends and friends alike, going home with a lot to mull over.

Particular thanks are extended to Cyrus Brooks, from the Scientology tradition, who agreed at very short notice to be our M.C. and who did the impossible: herded a bunch of Quakers into a state of order and kept everyone wonderfully to time.

HISTORY

Robin Walpole opened with an outline of Quaker history, explaining how Quakers emerged from the turmoil of religious, social and political thought in 17th Century England. He explained that they survived the persecutions of the Restoration, probably because, unlike other movements, Quakers had no leadership to destroy. Nevertheless 13,000 Quakers were imprisoned for refusal to swear oaths of allegiance or pay tithes for the established church, 338 died in prison and more than 100 were transported to America before the Act of Tolerance in 1689 gave them some protection. Quakers nevertheless could not attend university until the 19th Century because of the necessity to swear allegiance. Rob also told us about Sydney Parkinson, the first Quaker to set foot in Australia (an artist on Cook's 1770 expedition in the Endeavour), and about the commission of Backhouse and Walker to investigate the condition of convicts and indigenous people in the colony in the 1830s.

TESTIMONIES

Elaine Polglase outlined the testimonies of integrity, equality. simplicity and peace, emphasising that the testimonies are ideals to strive for, not a creed. She spoke of the Quaker position that there is that which is of God in all people and explained how the group of U.S. prison inmates who developed Alternatives to Violence program requested Quakers to take up and expand the movement in the spirit of the peace testimony. Elaine also shared regarding the Advices and Queries.

WORSHIP

Rae Litting outlined Quaker silent worship, an opportunity to listen not to speak, a provision of space in which God can act. She contrasted this perspective to anthropomorphic styles of worship which can centre on praising God as if God needed it, telling God how to go about running creation, and petitioning God as if God had favorites and we deserved the privilege. Rae pointed out that in silent worship there is opportunity for awe and wonder, for a leading to right action, for strength in times of difficulty and a leading to sensitivity to the needs of others and the environment. We discussed the Light as a concept for thinking about God, and Rae finished with the quote from Caroline Fox: "Live up to the light that one hast and more will be granted thee".

QUAKER PROCEDURES
David Levering outlined Quaker processes and decision making, explaining that they rest on three assumptions: 1 there is that of God in everyone, 2 Each of us can experience that of God and 3 Devine guidance will lead to realisation of a single shared truth. So decision making is not a matter of consensus but of unity in spirit. He emphasised the importance of the role of clerk and the skill required to encapsulate the will of the meeting in the resulting minute. This is not necessarily a fast process: David told us of a minute that took 150 years to write! I took it to be a decisiion that took 150 years to reach unity on. David also outlined the Meeting for Clearness in which a persistent and perplexing problem can be addressed. We also discussed options available to persons who dissent from a decision, i.e. one can stand aside, request that one's name be recorded as standing aside, or if strongly opposed one might decide to leave.

It was a very good evening for learning and reflecting.

Our next Interfaith evening, June 23, will be a panel discussing "After Death?". Speakers are invited from Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim and Catholic communities.