tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584967099548529614.post1825134677972004410..comments2023-07-27T02:30:16.617-05:00Comments on Social Class & Quakers: Guest Post: Bill SamuelJeannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00905850036743973387noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584967099548529614.post-42072120629872161732007-10-13T13:18:00.000-05:002007-10-13T13:18:00.000-05:00I share Bill's theory that class homogeneity among...I share Bill's theory that class homogeneity among liberal Friends is related to our lack of a clear spiritual center. I think a spiritual center can take different forms, but it needs to be something powerful enough to compel us out of our tendencies to isolate based on our cultural and class comfort zones. It can be a strong focus on service; it can be a living, compelling theology; or it can be other things. <BR/><BR/>My main faith home has been among Friends for many years, but I still do a lot of visiting other other congregations, and I tend to visit congregations that have a high level of class and racial diversity. I've been most consistently impressed with the diversity of class and race in Muslim masjids. The clarity and task-oriented nature of Muslim practice and theological interpretation seem to make this diversity easier. And some Pentecostal-oriented Christian congregations that actively point and invite people into a shared spiritual experience, also seem to be able to embrace a wide range of diversity. <BR/><BR/>I don't think that a clear, shared theology is likely to be what makes class diversity possible among liberal Friends. But a shared spiritual experience and shared commitment to service can be this core that is strong enough to push us out of our comfortable social circles and patterns. I'd love to hear more stories of liberal Friends Meetings that have succeeded in doing this.Michael Bischoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13196064668170667389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584967099548529614.post-21574852013227185372007-10-12T13:12:00.000-05:002007-10-12T13:12:00.000-05:00I'm not sure what the term "spiritual center" mean...I'm not sure what the term "spiritual center" means. Perhaps it refers to a shared symbol, like Christ, that is meaningful to all the members of a community. As a PK, I have my doubts. My experience in the Methodist and Congregational churches tells me that even when all in a group say "Christ" they do not all mean the same thing. Certainly, being "Christ-like" does not seem to prevent Christians from tearing each other apart. We found distressing classism which resulted in malicious behavior, back-stabbing, and general cruelty. Wealthy members lorded their power over others and poor members scrambled to please the rich (who happened to be their employers or community leaders in the secular world) Ugly. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps liberal Friends lack a spiritual focus. This doesn't bother me. I like to think that in our most authentic hearts, we share a common center which is sometimes called Christ, or Buddha, or God, or the Light, or Spirit, or Goddess, or Good, or Peace. Our words to describe this sense differ because our experiences differ. I like finding the Divine in Diversity. I love being delighted and even astonished by the unexpected holiness emerging from my neighbor's difference from myself. This opens the way for a kind of spiritul love-making between Friends, a merging and testing of ideas, a mingling of blessings that enriches (and challenges) us all. As the Divine is infinite, so too must be its manifestations in our human hearts.Hysteryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02044678910937934731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584967099548529614.post-47507254038301187222007-10-12T09:05:00.000-05:002007-10-12T09:05:00.000-05:00This idea is intriguing to me, and not knowing muc...This idea is intriguing to me, and not knowing much at all about evangelical Friends, I don't know how much I can say about it.<BR/><BR/>I am intrigued though, in light of the sort of common perception that sunday morning is still the most segregated time in the US. <BR/><BR/>Certainly most churches have a jesus focus, and they are still largely segregated (I'm not sure if that's true of class as well, though. The episcopal church I went to as a kid seemed to have mostly rich people)<BR/><BR/>So if christocentrism saves Friends, but not presbytarians or baptists or lutherans, from class (and race) divisions, that would be very interesting indeed. <BR/><BR/>I do understand that reference to a "social club" and fear that some liberal meetings have become just that. There IS perhaps a greater danger of falling into thinking that "quakers" are people who follow certain cultural norms (like going to elite schools and driving priuses - essentially nothing more than wealthy liberals) rather than defining ourselves by some spiritual center.efhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01439718927967964939noreply@blogger.com