Leaving Liberal Quakerism: What Love Would Have Me Do
After four decades of membership and ministry, I find myself a conscientious objector to today’s Liberal Quakerism.
What Would Jesus Do? – A Critique of Jesus’ Ethics
“It behooves us to investigate whether Jesus’ teaching and behavior should guide our ethical thought and practice today. This essay will argue that they should not.”
“This I Knew Experimentally”: an Analysis of George Fox’s Convincement Narrative
“What Fox describes is a set of Bible-based cognitions carrying powerful affective impact and leading him to believe that God’s promised kingdom would be fulfilled in and through him.”
The Fruit of the Spirit
“Sometimes when the Christ-light within wants fruit from us, it’s just not a good time ….”
“In the Hand of God”
A meditation inspired by the first lighting of the rebuilt Church of St. Nicholas at the World Trade Center.
John Woolman and the Pandemic
In the era before vaccination, John Woolman declined inoculation against smallpox and practiced such isolation as he could manage. His reasoning, despite its basis in religious belief, can help us think critically about our behavior in this time of COVID-19.
A Post[-]modern Disclaimer
I intend the term “postmodern” to point to … an unreadiness, born of experience, to assent to any totalizing, teleological, grand story. As a child of both the Catholic Church and the 20th century, I am deeply suspicious of such stories.
A Quaker Way of Life
Over 45 years ago, I was invited into a peculiar way of life, a way of unity in diversity, authentic relationship, respect for conscience and the work of love’s light within, fidelity to one’s measure of that light, and moral freedom.
An Analytic Perspective on Quaker Spirituality
The notion of neurotic repression may offer a helpful perspective on a central doctrine of the early Quakers; namely, that all human beings are naturally and fundamentally flawed, but most, if not all, can be significantly changed for the better.
“Silent Ways of Knowing,” by Maggie Ross
“Silent Ways of Knowing” by Maggie Ross is the first essay to appear on The Postmodern Quaker that was not written by me. I think that its message is important for contemporary Quakers, and I am grateful to the author for permitting its republication here.
The First Step of Peace
“Quakerism is rightly called an experiential religion: one becomes a Friend in the experience of being illuminated, convicted, and empowered by the light within.”
The Postmodern Quaker 