Tag Archives: nontheism

General Quaker interest, NFN Events, Non-theism

Disagreement among Friends – The future of British Quakerism is up for debate

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And possibly, if you’re up early in the UK, on Radio 4 tomorrow morning 7 December on BBC Sunday at 7.10-7.54pm UK time (unlikely to be near beginning of programme) p see further note at bottom below.

“Disagreement among Friends

The future of British Quakerism is up for debate, as the movement updates its most important text. The biggest question: keep or dilute God?”

News from ‘Quake!’ (BYM 30 October)
Quake! bills this as ” • Prospect Magazine – Quakers discuss faith and practice” under Quakers in the media with no further comment.
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/71397/disagreement-among-friends-why-quakers-are-questioning-god

Whilst it is a discussion (by one author with numerous quotes or references) and does deal at some length with ‘Book of discipline revision’, it also talks about same sex relationships, Quaker history,  god language and nontheism with references to one of NFN’s founders (Miriam Yagud), and cites NFN’s aims.

It is quite a searching account of ‘The biggest question: keep or dilute God?’ and quotes Paul Parker (BYM Recording clerk), Ben Pink Dandelion (Quaker theologian and Woodbrooke tutor) and Ben Wood (Quaker theologian and blogger that I’m doing a Woodbrooke online course with tomorrow night – Halloween – on ‘Quakers and the supernatural’). (written on 30 October)

NFN is further cited in “a report by the Nontheist Friends Network suggested that for some Quakers, a “religious vocabulary” centring on God is “problematic”. It hoped that the new book would reflect that “we are no longer an exclusively Christian church but an inclusive religious Society, a society of active seekers rather than satisfied finders.” ”

There is also an interesting closing section on ‘A new cohort of young people – looking for a definitively religious community’.

The author is Grace Spencer who must be (or have been?) a member of BYM, although I have not come across her before.

I will try and get this on the NFN website asap with a more carefully thought out comment and will also bring it to the attention of further NTF Friends in America through the google group and by email. – not more carefully thought out, sorry, but maybe timely?

It is an article well worth reading for all Friends and especially nontheists.

As a result of this article, Tim has been contacted by BBC Radio 4 for a possible interview which MIGHT  be broadcast on BBC Sunday at 7.10 am tomorrow morning 7 December. It may be possible to hear it later on ‘catchup’ on BBC Sounds app (or BBC News app internationally).
Trevor

Conferences, General Quaker interest, NFN Events, NFN website, Non-theism

The End of words …

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… is to bring men to the knowledge of things beyond what words can utter. Isaac Pennington QF&P 27.27 so, perhaps that should be the end of the post?

Whilst I am sorry that we have not prompted yet more words here in response to our last ‘MfW + creative conversation’ and post, a very interesting discussion has broken out in the last week  or two on the Nontheist Quaker Facebook page especially prompted by some posts by a newcomer to Quakers (and would be attender) in Belgium, Jean-Christophe Ducin – see his posts for 10 and 16 April. I do hope he responds to the invitation from ‘Quakers of all sorts from non-theist, to universalist to various degrees of Christian outlook.’ in Brussels.

Our next ‘MfW + creative conversation’ is on 6th May with Philip Gross and details of how to register for the NFN conference in July will be on the website soon.  In the meantime, Friends may also be interested in the Quaker Universalist (UK) conference on ‘Life, Time and Eternity‘ online from 7th-15th May if they are quick to register!

I might have had more to add but unfortunately the new wordpress block editor makes writing these posts take about five times as long as before, so it’s over to you.

General Quaker interest, Non-theism

Religion as a human creation – or not?

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We (that is the Nontheist Friends Network) say, under our Aims, that we ‘regard religion as a human creation’. But is it?

Humans have created many things – culture, science, technology, music, literature, architecture, society and so on.  There is also a developing view that we have socially created language/s.

One thing we did not create, except in the sense of ‘making babies’, is ourselves. Humans were created, if not by God then by evolution.

A fascinating story on the BBC ‘futures’ website, based in part on the work of the Dutch-American primatologist Frans de Waal, suggests that religion itself ‘evolved’ in co-evolution with biology so that its beginnings can be traced back many millions of years to a time long before humans or even primates appeared. (Much further back than Robert Wright’s sociological perspective in his ‘Evolution of God‘).

It’s quite a long read but worth the effort I think as another contribution to our reflections on matters theological.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190418-how-and-why-did-religion-evolve?ocid=ww.social.link.email