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The meeting was facilitated by Mark Myers as Clerk and Marjorie Anderson Recording Clerk. It began at 2 pm and ended at 5 pm. The meeting room was full with the back room expansion areas opened. I would estimate that 150 or more people were in attendance through various parts of the session. The meeting was very active with deeply felt and well articulated expressions of concern. It was appreciated by those in attendance and I commend the Yearly Meeting for calling it.
We followed the suggested format sent to the facilitators by Arlene Kelly, September 26th. It served the needs of the meeting well.
The following minutes of the meeting were recorded and approved by those in session.
(Question c) Opportunities for being present to those in need:
- Support the material aids program of the AFSC which has a representative assessing those needs. AFSC support was reiterated.
- Support the Quaker presence in the U.N. — let our representatives know what we are doing.
- Explore the roots of hatred. Learn more about the U.S. past actions. Learn about Islam through books, discussions etc. Protect Muslims and others from violence.
- Support efforts for the establishment of a U.S. Department of Peace.
- Be careful not to overreact — especially in accrediting hatred of the U.S. to large and undefined groups.
(Question d) Is there a message:
- Friend's belief that there is something of God in everyone — we are all fellow humans. We need to understand the common element of all religions.
- Go deep within the spirit with us — let it direct us.
- Friends have something to offer. We should let people know about us. At the same time we need not to act superior to others — we should work with other groups.
- Violence begets violence. Our country has supported governments that have done terrible things. We need to get across the idea that there are other methods than war for resolving differences.
- Let the country's leaders know that we support their holding back from military action. Encourage the dropping of food, not bombs.
(Question e) Friend's experiences in regard to our own monthly meetings:
- Young people are wrestling with the big questions — issues — They need our support and understanding, as well as others who are trying to determine how they feel and what they should be doing.
- Meetings should address queries about peace prepared by the group that wants to have a full time PYM staff person to work on peace concerns.
- Invite people to come to our Meetings.
This is the end of the recorded minutes. We did not have time to explicitly discuss question f, but our response to it is seen through out the above.
Mark Myers, clerk
Marjorie Anderson, recording clerk
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM