March 2017 Adult Religious Education

March 5 Parallel Words: Quakers and the Tao (Jim Nations)

“When listening–not with the ear but with the spirit–one can perceive the subtle sound. The deepest sound is silence.” George Fox, 1647? No, Lao Tzu, 6th century B.C. But the statement should resonate with you. Was Lao Tzu a Quaker, or was George Fox a Taoist?

This ARE discussion traces Taoist thought from prehistory into the 21st century and highlights the remarkable similarities between the values of Taoism and the Religious Society of Friends. Come and learn about the deepest sound of all, the sound that emanates from the spirit.

March 12 Lucretia Mott: She Lives with Us Still, a Champion of Democracy (Jamie Stiehm)

At Swarthmore College, where I majored in history, I discovered Lucretia Mott’s portrait in the parlor and followed my footsteps to teh campus library, which holds a collection of her documents and a treasure trove! Lucretia and her husband James Mott were among the Philadelphia Quakers who founded the college while the Civil War was raging.

March 19 The Power of Nonviolence, Part II (Tad Jose)

This is the second session of an ARE session given on February 19th . We will have a brief recap of session 1 and then explore the George Lackey proposal(s) to the U.S. Government of nonviolent alternatives to terrorism. His proposal is at the following website:
http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/8-ways-defend-terror-nonviolently/

After exploring these alternatives for a time we will discuss the concept of forgiveness as it relates to war and the world’s needs to move on from war. I will close with a moving video clip of Americans going back to Iwo Jima in Japan (PBS video combat to comrades) after having fought battles against Japanese many years ago.

3/26 Early Friends and the Kingdom of God (Bill Hecht)

The presentation will be based on a book with that name, written by Gerard Guiton.

The author states that the Kingdom of God, or the “Covenant of Peace” as George Fox sometimes called it, was a primary subject in Friends early publications. We will discuss his references and discoveries.