Minute Concerning War in Israel/Palestine
Informed in part by the experiences of two of our Meeting’s early members, who worked in the region aiding Palestinian refugees in 1947, Port Townsend Friends Meeting has long carried a strong concern for the well-being of Israel/Palestine. We are stricken with horror, grief, and dismay at the recent renewed eruption of violence there.
As Quakers, we believe in religious freedom, human equality, and the total unacceptability of violence as a means of settling conflict. Both the October attack of Hamas upon Israelis and the ongoing response by Israel, which has left tens of thousands dead or wounded and triggered a horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza, are repugnant.
We call for an immediate ceasefire and the prompt release of all hostages and uncharged prisoners on both sides. We demand urgent action to relieve the tremendous suffering that has been created in Gaza with the immediate provision of food, shelter, and medicine. We demand that the United States no longer provide weapons that are used to kill innocent civilians indiscriminately, and support the United Nations’ call for a ceasefire rather than continue to obstruct it.
We further call for the warring parties to embark upon a meaningful dialogue. International powers must use every available resource to support a diplomatic rather than military resolution to the conflict, one which accords equal respect and rights to all.
Approved January 14, 2024
A Minute in Support of a Truth and Healing Commission for Native Peoples
It is long overdue for the US to acknowledge the historic trauma of the Indian boarding school era. Port Townsend Monthly Meeting enthusiastically supports the “Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy Act” which Senator Elizabeth Warren has recently introduced as Senate Bill 2907.
The bill’s purpose is to set up a Truth and Healing Commission to address the historical trauma experienced by Native American and Alaska Native children who were forcibly removed from their homes between 1869 and the 1960’s and placed in Indian Boarding schools. The children were taught to reject their Native languages, cultures, and spiritual practices and adopt Euro-American culture. Native Americans continue to suffer multigenerational trauma caused by this policy of forced assimilation and cultural genocide. Quakers were among the strongest supporters of the Indian boarding school policy and operated some 30 Indian schools (some in collaboration with the federal government) for varying periods of time. Now we must work with tribal nations to advance congressional efforts to establish a federal commission to formally investigate boarding school history and develop recommendations for the government to take remedial action. Although the wrongs committed at these institutions can never be made right, we can start the truth, healing, and reconciliation process for the families and communities affected as we work to right relationship with tribal nations.
Port Townsend Monthly Meeting urges individual Friends and monthly meetings to watch for this bill and to urge their congressional representatives to co-sponsor and support it. PTFM further urges Friends to learn the history of the Quaker Indian schools and consider ways to support Native-managed healing processes, in our own communities, and nationally. These programs could include Quaker initiatives such as Toward Right Relationships with Native Peoples, Decolonizing Quakers, FCNL’s Native American program, as well as many other programs that support Native peoples, preserve Native traditions, teach Native languages, recognize the ongoing trauma of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and prevent youth suicide.
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Resources for Further Information and Reflection
1) The website for the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. https://boardingschoolhealing.org
2) Paula Palmer’s video “The Quaker Boarding Schools: Facing our History and Ourselves.” https://vimeo.com/192219802/376f2f1ddb
3) Paula Palmer’s article “Quaker Indian Boarding Schools, Facing Our History and Ourselves,” Friends Journal, October 1, 2016.
https://www.friendsjournal.org/quaker-indian-boarding-schools/
4) Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples website, https://friendspeaceteams.org/trr
5) HR 8420 link: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/8420/text
6) Decolonizing Quakers website, www.decolonizingquakers.org
7) Interior Secretary Haaland’s article, “My grandparents were stolen from their families as children”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/11/deb-haaland-indigenous-boarding-schools/
Rejection of Violence and Racism Minute
Any cultural system dependent upon violence for its sustenance will inevitably result in violence. So long as the ‘keepers of the peace’ rely upon a pistol on the hip, it is only a matter of time until that pistol will come into play, and the peace will be broken.
If we are ever to conquer the deep-rooted violence in American life, we must replace systems reliant upon fear and force with systems based upon love and restorative practices.
Only when we honestly face our roots in an international slave trade and a
relentless appropriation of native lands will we be in a position to change from being a country dependent upon having the world’s largest military and the world’s largest jail and prison system.
A truly free America recognizes the innate worth and value of all persons. A truly equal America recognizes and repairs the historical trauma and continuing legacy of racism. A truly just America requires us all to take responsibility for the effects of our personal power and privileges, and every act that humiliates, belittles and diminishes others. A truly peaceable America, at home and abroad, will be created by our capacity for care–not by our capability for carnage.
Let the symbol of our power be the knee bent in compassionate and effective service. Let the symbol of our power be vaccines and ventilators readily shared with the world. Let the symbol of our power be thoughtful conversations with each other and with our elected representatives about the ways that best make for health, safety and peace among us. Let the symbol of our power to be not just an occasional vote but the daily use of our freedom to love our neighbor, to be in just relationship with one another, and to walk humbly in our search for integrity and truth. -Adopted July 15, 2020
Gender Identity Minute
Port Townsend Monthly Meeting minutes our commitment to be an affirming, safe, and nurturing place for everyone to live fully that which the Spirit is leading them to be. We believe gender identity exists on a continuum. We extend our loving care to people of all genders, their families, and their friends. – Approved August 2016
Quaker Earthcare Witness Minute
The Port Townsend Friends Meeting supports Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) through membership and through living its vision, witness, and testimony. As Friends, we are called to live in right relationship with all Creation, recognizing that the entire world is interconnected and is a manifestation of God.
As Friends, we work to integrate into the life of the Meeting the principles that creation is to be respected, protected, and held in reverence in its own right, and that human aspirations for peace and justice depend upon restoring the Earth’s ecological integrity.
As Friends, we strive to promote these principles by being patterns and examples, by communicating our message, and by providing spiritual and material support to those engaged in the compelling task of transforming our relationship with the Earth. We commit to be guided by and help others be guided by the Light within us to participate in the healing of the earth.
Development of a Voluntary Carbon Tax Program Minute
The Port Townsend Friends Meeting and many other Quaker organizations have long been deeply concerned about the effects of climate change on the planet and the future of all living things. Many groups and many Quaker organizations have made attempts to address these most important issues. The Port Townsend Friends Meeting fully supports its Peace and Social Concerns Working Group in their active exploration of these issues, their researching of options, and their development of a local response that could serve as an example to others of a Voluntary Carbon Tax program to both address the issue directly and inspire government, faith groups, organizations and concerned individuals around the area, the country and the world.