Quakers, social justice and revolution

Despite years of declarations of the safety of using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for natural gas and some oil extraction by the fossil fuel industry, you just can’t tell an earthquake to be quiet so people don’t notice.

An article January 7 in USA Today, “Oklahoma hit with 70 quakes in a week” is a good summary of the impacts of fracking being felt in that area of the country.  “A state report last year noted a connection between hydraulic fracturing and some earthquake ‘swarms,’ and state officials say there’s a potential risk to the public due to the increase in quakes.  Experts say the quakes are likely being caused by injection wells, which are particularly deep wells into which drilling byproducts and wastewater are injected, rather than wells drilled to extract oil or gas.”

No longer able to avoid the facts,  Oklahoma state regulators have ordered companies to scale back or halt the injection operations.  At least one company is refusing to do so.

The article ends with this quote by Undersherrif Reams  “As long as they’re staying in the four-point-whatever range, I think we’ll be OK”  referring to the magnitudes of the quakes.

So we are no longer arguing about whether fracking causes earthquakes, but how many earthquakes, and how strong, are acceptable as fracking continues?

Sustainability Scout

I’ve been thinking about the title of a group I’ve recently become engaged with, called “Quakers ENGAGE to End Racism”.  I love the word ENGAGE.  That taps into “actions speak louder than words”.  So, what actions can Quakers take to end racism?

I can only speak of my own experience, so I’ll tell you a story.  But first a short bit about stories.  In a kind of circular manner, stories are the words describing, most commonly, actions.  A body of shared stories shapes the history of the community.  In Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) we have an effort to gather the stories of our community.  We’ve actually created a website to allow us to share our gradually increasing library of stories with each other and the world:  Quaker Stories Project.

Another reason I feel stories are so important is because that has become one of the primary ways my local Friends meeting has found to become ENGAGED with one particular community of people of color here in Indianapolis, the Kheprw Institute (KI).  This link  provides a nice description of the KI community.  One of the many, many things KI does is hold open, public monthly book discussions, which provide a number of invaluable benefits.  KI is totally focused on youth development.  These community discussions are usually LED by the KI youth.  Last year one of the books discussed was “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander.   Over a period of several months, the youth would read a few chapters, and then write and publish a blog post about what they read.  The public could read those blog posts prior to the community discussion.  Then those same youth would lead the discussion itself.

The tone of these discussions feels like worship sharing.  People are very respectful of each other and what we say.  People actually listen to each other, and silence is appreciated.  People speak of their own experiences.  They tell their own STORIES.  Thus we all ENGAGE with each other.  A number of North Meadow Friends have participated in these discussions, and we have identified this as one of our first “actions” in our participation in the Quaker Social Change Ministry program.

The story I’d like to share is of my first meeting with the folks at KI.

I had long been struggling with the knowledge that simply through the circumstances of the family I was born into, my life was significantly better in many ways than that of a great many others in America and the world.   This was a spiritual problem for me.

God (finally) provided me with a way to begin to learn about that. Nearly three years ago the environmental group 350.org organized a national day for environmental education/actions. Only one event was listed in Indiana that day, and it was at the KI Eco Center, which was how I found out about KI.   The day of the event, I arrived at the run down building that had once been a convenience store.  But it was full of kids excited to show us the work they were doing, including their aquaponics system, and the rain barrels they created and sold.

I was intrigued, and wanted to see if I could become involved with this group.  So we arranged a meeting.  On a dark, rainy night I rode my bicycle to the KI building.  The adult leaders, Imhotep, Pambana, Paulette and Alvin, and about a dozen young people from the Eco Center were here.  I had thought we were going to discuss working on some computer software projects together, which is another area KI works with the youth in.

But Imhotep began asking me a series of questions about myself. I don’t talk a lot about myself, but Imhotep, I’ve come to learn, is very good at drawing stories out of people.   I should have anticipated this, but I soon realized I was basically being interviewed so they could determine if I was someone they felt comfortable working with, or not.  So I began to talk about Quakerism. When Imhotep asked me to talk more about that, I said something like, “Quakers believe there is that of God in everyone, and that includes you, and you…” The very first time, I think I hesitated slightly as I was asking myself, “Ok, we Friends always say this, but do you really believe this of a group that is different from you?” And I’m really glad the answer was an immediate and emphatic YES, but it also seemed to reaffirm that by exploring it consciously and publicly. At that point I remember smiling at the thought, and the young person whose eyes I was looking into saw it, too, I think. Each person smiled at me as I said that to them, and I had the impression they were thinking, “of course”.   I strongly felt the presence of the Spirit.

That seemed to satisfy the questions for the evening, and they have welcomed me into their community ever since.

I was not used to speaking about faith in public outside Quaker circles, and this was a lesson that it is important to do so. From the beginning, my experience at the Eco Center has been a shared, spiritual one.

KI community discussion

KI community discussion

Many of you are aware of the struggles Indiana has had related to equal rights.  Last year the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act was jammed through the legislature and signed behind closed doors by Governor Pence.   National fallout produced a public relations nightmare for the state.

The Indianapolis newspaper, IndyStar, published a full page editorial below the words  FIX THIS NOW, calling for expanding protections to all Hoosiers.  Although that law was modified, the LQBT community still does NOT have statewide protections.

With the new state legislative session beginning, IndyStar just published this great video editorial calling for the expansion of the states civil rights law.  (the young black man in the center of the opening photo is Daniel, who attended North Meadow Friends at the time, and has since moved away).

Unfortunately, the one proposed piece of legislation to address this, is yet another example of trying to confuse the issue, and does not provide the needed protections.

Peaceful protest

Asking for civil rights protections for Indiana’s LGBT community

Indiana Moral Mondays

I was actually hopeful that police video cameras would help change current police practices.

The tragic killing of 12 year old Tamir Rice was captured on video, and seen the world over.  There is NO WAY to defend rushing in and opening fire within 2 seconds. 

And yet in a textbook example of white supremacy, the criminal justice system was corrupted by blaming the victim and his family, and mistakes in emergency response communications.

Following are posts from the Kheprw Institute (KI) that I have been so honored to work with these past several years:

“This case proves that black lives do not matter, that cops believe they are invincible, and that the criminal justice system is broken.”

“Now it’s ok to kill the blacks if you are a police officer because the system’s got your back. Crime does not have to be going on or taken place. There are laws for hunting birds in the city and they are enforced. So blacks lives are less important than birds.”

“Life is being lost due to a lack of training, lack of fairness, a lack of justice in the system, and the way cases are being handle. People are very legitimately upset and rightly so.”

I think those who don’t live in areas where these specific incidents happen don’t know what to do.  What we need to NOT do is REMAIN SILENT.  We need to be having conversations with our friends and neighbors wherever we live.  BLACK LIVES MATTER signs in our yards might help this, similar to the Friends Committee on National Legislation’s War Is Not The Answer signs have done for the peace movement.  If it seems a little scary to make a public stand, I assure you that is nothing compared to the fear black parents feel anytime their children leave the house.

So it comes down to this.   After seeing that video, does you conscience allow you to do nothing?

Asking for civil rights protections for Indiana’s LGBT community

Indiana Moral Mondays march October 2014

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter

David Zarembka of the African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams believes this incident where Muslims on a bus that was stopped by terrorists risked their lives to save the Christians on the bus, could be a game changer in the war on terrorism.  He urges us to share this story widely to spread its impact.

For me, these folks reclaimed Islam as a religion of peace in the most profound way.  And this could well be the game changer in the war against terrorism in the world over.
Gakiha Weru, columnist, Sunday Nation, December 27, 2015, page 22.

Members of the Nandi tribe in Kenya looking at Nandi stories on the Quaker Story Project website.  http://storyweb.azurewebsites.net/

Each New Year is a chance to reflect on what has been, and where we are now, and, especially, where we want to go.  This emotional TED talk could be useful to help those not yet committed to sustainable development see why it is essential for our children’s future.

Maybe one of your New Year’s resolutions could be to find opportunities to talk to individuals and groups about this, since we need everyone working together to tackle this.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,300 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 38 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

It has been a long time since Jesus’ life on earth.  I wonder what he would think about the state of the world today.

It sounds as though much is similar.  Privileged classes using unfair practices to accumulate wealth and power, taking advantage of the labor of the rest of us.  Courts and judges enforcing the laws (that protect the wealthy).  Government tax collectors controlling what little wealth the common people accumulate.  Standing armies to subjugate the people, foreign and domestic.

And then there are the countless acts of love and kindness occurring everyday, everywhere.   It is most often among the poor and marginalized that I see people treating each other as Jesus taught.

“The first shall be last, and the last first.” 

“It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven…”

It is becoming increasingly important that we find better ways to treat each other.  We are facing multiple and increasingly severe threats from a deteriorating environment, increasingly violent weather, terrorism, and economic, social and political upheaval.

The Syrian refugee crisis is an example of what is to come.  Climate change caused years of drought.  Combined with a repressive governmental response, thousands of people fled for their very survival.  While many countries initially welcomed refugees, negative reactions began to occur as more refugees arrived.

This is going to happen again and again.  The drought in the western United States has had similar effects.

In our own country (speaking of the non-Indigenous part), a country that was created by refugees–our ancestors–many of whom were fleeing religious persecution, many loudly opposed accepting any refugees at all.

How is that even possible? 

I think our future will be determined by how we deal with each other.  We can take the isolationist approach, and try to build barriers against the world.  Do what we can to protect what is ours, despite the disproportionate amount of the world’s resources we are using.

Or we can realize we are all in this together, our future bound up in each other and how well we can tear down the barriers, and build up supportive communities.  If we can let go of some of the excess we have so that others with nothing can live, that is what will give us all a chance.

President Benjamin Harrison home

Peace Vigil

Indiana Moral Mondays march October 2014

Black Lives Matter

Bear Creek meeting

Bear Creek Meeting

Raindrops on leaf

Long’s Peak Rocky Mountain National Park

I’ll never forget four years ago today, calls from Brandon, then Shawn, each crying out in anguish that you had died.  The whole world just stopped…

But I had to find something to say to them, and find a way out to where you were.  So life started again.

But it was never the same.

I remember so many times thinking that if something were to happen, I would be so grateful for the time we did have together.  This was the first thing I thought of when the boys called.  And it was true.  But I also couldn’t help wishing with everything I had that it didn’t have to end just then.

Randy Porter

Jeff and Randy

Jeff and Randy

Randy Porter

Yesterday I created the Facebook page No War No Warming US  (US because this is a global effort, and was started in England).  The animations at the Campaign Against Arms Trade, Arms to Renewables,  clearly explains the radical but simple idea of diverting the billions of dollars, resources and people invested in country’s militaries to help transition to a non carbon, renewable energy based economy.

I have no idea how this will go.  I think most people have given up on the possibilities of any real change in our societies.  We’ve seen the spectacle of adults taking ridiculous positions to hide the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions with complete disregard for the toxic effects on the earth, and the health and survival of all living things.

Naomi Klein expresses where we are very well in her latest book, This Changes Everything:

But if there is a reason for social movements to exist, it is not to accept dominant values as fixed and unchangeable but to offer other ways to live—to wage, and win, a battle of cultural worldviews. That means laying out a vision of the world that competes directly with the one on harrowing display at the Heartland conference and in so many other parts of our culture, one that resonates with the majority of people on the planet because it is true: That we are not apart from nature but of it.

We have seen the beginnings of changes in the right direction in many places over the past several years as many small groups of people have stood up to the fossil fuel industry.  Rejection of the Keystone Pipeline is a strongly symbolic indication that change can happen, and is.

Congressman Andre Carson flashes me the Peace Sign

Black Lives Matter

Stop Keystone Pipeline

Bear Creek Meeting