Category: Commentary
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Use your words not your teeth
Right after the deciding vote in the Vermont House on public safety bill,S.141, I hopped on a jet for a weekend training in Tucson, Az. at the National Institute for Civil Discourse(NICD). The legislation that restricts firearms possession for violent felons and mentally ill individuals adjudicated as a threat, was on it’s way to passage,…
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Beyond Conventional Wisdom
Today, I was struck powerfully by the fact that there are so many proverbs in scripture that express some lazy and erroneous conventional “wisdom” that we should question and reject. An example of this is the frequently repeated notion in Proverbs that if you love God and are faithful to the Spirit’s leadings, you will…
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Understanding the Torture Report- NEYM
New England Yearly Meeting, In the wake of the release of the Senate report on U.S. torture, we hope Friends will join Friends Committee on National Legislation in mourning our government’s involvement in torture, calling for justice, and working to grow toward a world without torture. With gratitude for the faithful work and witness of New England…
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The Activist Origins of Mothers Day
The idea of an annual official celebration of Mothers day in the US was first suggested by Julia Ward Howe in the late 1800s. An activist, writer and poet, Julia suggested that Mothers Day should be celebrated annually each Spring and be dedicated to peace activism by women. Julia tirelessly championed the cause of the…
Putney Friends Meeting 