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Friends United
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October 2010
Letters to the Editor
Anniversary of the Peace Testimony
Dear Friends,
In 1960, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the declaration of the Peace Testimony, Friends from throughout the United States gathered in Washington, D.C., walked across the Long Bridge to the Pentagon, and circled the Pentagon for two hours or so in a silent vigil. Friends came from almost every yearly meeting, including Oregon (now Northwest) Yearly Meeting, which had been an "independent" (evangelical) yearly meeting for more than 30 years, and California (now Evangelical Friends Church-Southwest), which was still part of Five Years Meeting. There must have been 1,000 or 2,000 of us. We gained considerable and favorable news coverage. AFSC made a movie of this demonstration, "The Language of Faces." This year, 2010, is the 350th anniversary of the Peace Testimony. Of course, no such protest would be allowed in the same place now. Yet it might be done elsewhere, say on the Washington Mall, or in the Air Force capital, Colorado Springs. Are Friends paying attention to our treasured pacifist history? Maybe we are just too busy with peace and service work, in Burundi and Kenya and Rwanda and Congo, in Guatemala and El Salvador, in Sumatra and Bolivia and many other places, to worry about an occasion like this. I can find only one yearly meeting in the whole world that is observing this year as a year of peace - that is North Carolina Yearly Meeting (FUM). Maybe I've missed some other Quaker group - I hope so - but God bless them.
Jeremy Mott
Roanoke, Virginia
In Response to July/August 2010 Quaker Life Letters
Dear Editor,
It seems that in order to make God fit into our welcoming and affirming box, Frances Wilkin takes Scripture out of context to make her point. Here's what I'm talking about:
"Love your enemies" - We are told to do that, but I don't consider homosexuals my enemies; I consider them people that are caught up in their sin that need a loving message of hope. One that does not ignore what God says on the subject, but that shows them their sin so that they may repent and find salvation in Jesus Christ. We do not do a sinner a favor when we ignore their sin.
"Do good to those who persecute you" - Again, I don't think that homosexuals fall into that category unless you consider the fact that they are fighting so hard to make over our great land into one where what God thinks about sin doesn't matter.
"Turn the other cheek" - This doesn't mean that we ignore sin! Did Jesus ignore sin? In love he showed the sinner the error of his ways and told him, "Go and sin no more!"
"Give your cloak as well as your coat"; "Go the second mile" - Again, this does not mean to ignore sin. We in love give the sinner what he needs physically and spiritually. Meeting physical needs shows our love, and giving them the spiritual truth of their sin shows our love for their eternal spiritual life.
And as to the quote from Leviticus, that we are led to believe is only for Old Testament times, what about Romans 1:21-32? We cannot allow ourselves to hold to one part of the Bible but ignore the rest because it doesn't match up with our own beliefs. Frances states that, "I truly believe homosexuality is genetic" and "I believe that to be truly Christian, one must be not just tolerant, but accepting and affirming of oppressed minorities regardless of the reason for discrimination against them, be it sex, color, age, sexual orientation, handicap or any other condition created by God." Note "I believe", not God.
I take offense that you consider race, sex, age or handicap the same as sexual orientation. God created a perfect world, but MAN sinned. Sexual orientation (homosexuality, bisexuals, transsexuals, lesbians, etc.) are a result of sin, not because God created them that way. Genesis states that man was made for woman and woman for man, not man for man or woman for woman. If you don't believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God then I guess you can believe anything that you want, but it weakens the whole message of God and God warns us not to change one jot or tittle.
As for the other verses:
"Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." Jesus is talking about the hypocrites, those who say one thing and do another. But note that he does not allow the woman off the hook; she is to "Go and sin no more."
"Judge not that you be not judged." The Christian is not to judge hypocritically or self-righteously, we are to evaluate the person's character - verse 6; or a false prophet - verse 15; or whether his life shows fruit - verse 16. We are to evaluate and choose between good and bad people and things (sexual immorality, 1 Corinthians 5:9; those who masquerade as angels of light, 2 Corinthians 11:14; dogs, Philippians 3:2; false prophets, 1 John 4:1). The Christian is to "test everything." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Treat everyone the same as you would like to be treated. Wouldn't you want to be told the truth so that you could repent and spend eternity with Jesus Christ? Tell them in love that their sin will separate them from God for eternity.
"Love your neighbor as yourself." This verse just affirms that we should love everyone, not accept their sin
"Feed the hungry, clothe the naked and defend the downtrodden." I am all for feeding and clothing all those in need, and helping the downtrodden, but homosexuals are not downtrodden. Many are very well off financially and they are not discriminated against under the law. They should not get special rights just because of their so-called "orientation." Their demand of marriage is against what human kind has believed to be sacred from the beginning of time when God made Eve for Adam. The Bible demands that we love them (homosexuals) and show them in love the sin that they have in their life. Not affirm it and ensure that they will end up in hell.
My God is perfect and created all things perfect, we are the ones that have messed up.
Cathy Jones
Cassopolis, Michigan