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| Mid-Missouri Fellowship of
Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) is a group composed of people from many faiths, and no particular faith -- all coming together to support nonviolence and justice. Offering people of conscience an action response to a morally-impaired U.S. foreign policy. |
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A Report on the Injustice in the Application of the Death Penalty in Missouri (1978-1996)(Microsoft Word document) News
Common Dreams Background Iraq Crisis Issue Guide by Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies U.S. History with Iraq, 1980 - 2 August 1990 Commentary Common Dreams News Center April 12, 2003 April 8, 2003 March 30, 2003 March 29, 2003 March 25, 2003 March 24, 2003 U.S. steps up secret surveillance March 23, 2003 March 22, 2003 March 20, 2003 |
Local News and Announcements... Don't miss anything...please scroll downFOR/Quaker Statement of Religious & Cultural Acceptance/Celebration of DiversityOn September 13, the Mid-Missouri FOR organized a news conference with Rev. Amy Gerhardt, lead pastor of the Missouri United Methodist Church, at their downtown church, urging acceptance—not just tolerance— of all people of all faiths, cultures and races. We gathered to express our concerns with a spate of violence and intolerance against Arab peoples in our nation and abroad, shown by some of our fellow US citizens. Below is the statement delivered by FOR’s Board Chair David Finke...We gather today to affirm a bedrock principle of our civil society: Religious Tolerance, and the Constitutional principle of Religious Liberty. This isn't just about a Mosque, or the hateful stunt of threatening to burn books sacred to one religion. However, when vitriolic speech and the manipulation of fears translate into action, there are consequences of suffering and persecution. In the current wave of anti-Islamic misinformation and hysteria, we have seen attacks against persons and buildings, reminding us that it's time for people of good will to take a stand against intolerance. I welcome that so many faith traditions are standing in solidarity here today on this issue. Those who would deny Cordoba House the right to build a Cultural Center in lower Manhattan, or suggest that Muslims can't be genuine Americans, have simply forgotten their civics lesson — if they ever learned them. I want to address not so much the specifics of current events, but rather the underlying principles in our American history. Religious Liberty is one of America's gifts to the world. It is an experiement which was radical at its inception and, as with any liberty, requires constant vigilance to survive. Unique in the nations of the world, in our Constitution the nation's founders declared two principles about religion: (1) The State could not favor one and persecute others, and (2) Each religion, no matter how unpopular, was assured the right of "Free Expression." Many at that time considered it dangerous, not to have a unifying National Religion, and there are still those among us those who believe in a theocratic state. We still have neighbors who decry secular, religiously neutral government, and want favor given to their own, often claiming rights as a majority. As a Quaker, I bring a particular perspective to this discussion: Members of our faith, in America, were the only group ever to officially be put to death for attempting to worship as they felt God led them. Massachussets Bay Colony executed 4 Quakers in the 1660s for persisting in their preaching and praying, before the King stepped in and pardoned others similarly convicted. The Puritan Establishment in New England wanted religious liberty, but only for themselves. How quickly we forget the high stakes of religious intolerance, although in my lifetime the brutal fact of the Holocaust aganst Jews should be a stark reminder. You probably know the subsequent story of Quakers under William Penn founding their own colony at Pennsylvania, extending religious freedom to all, regardless of how much they differed theologically. That, I believe, was the model for what is now enshrined in our First Amendment, to which we draw attention today. When we celebrate Ameica as "The Land of the Free," we may forget our epochs of pervasive religious prejudice leading to persecution. Here in Missouri there is the shameful, if often forgotten, episode of "The Mormon Wars," when the Governor called for extermination of that religion, driving adherents from the state. The 19th century frequently had anti-Catholic riots, and I can remember the hostility toward John F. Kennedy who, it was feared, as a Catholic would turn the nation over to the Pope. Any Jewish person you talk to probably has tragic stories of family members facing discrimination in this country, and genocide in the Third Reich. Jehovah's Witnesses, Bahai's, Native Americans -- all can tell of facing either official or popular hostility for practicing their faith. The mindset which promotes burning the sacred books of another faith differs only in degree from promoting the burning of houses of worship. And it can be but a small step toward burning people, if one believes they are of the Devil, and one is an agent of God's vengeance. So, today, we join in affirming the core value of Religious Tolerance. By definition, our varying faith traditions have points of disagreement in our understanding of what God is calling us to. However, we must respect the ability of each to pursue our religious practices without harassment. To do otherwise is to be profoundly un-American. David H. Finke, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Chair, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Mid-Missouri Chapter 0 Comments (perma-link) Email this:  
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| Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation |
P.O. Box 268 Columbia, Missouri 65205 |
| Questions about the Fellowship of Reconciliation? -- contact Jeff Stack at
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