It has felt to me for some time now like a fresh wind of the Spirit has been blowing across North Carolina Yearly Meeting.. For some reason the Biblical phrase “the Year of Jubilee” has come to me several times, so I read the description of that particular season found in Leviticus 25. A phrase that appears at least twice in the chapter jumped out at me. It says that in that year “ye shall not oppress one another.” I know from African American history that the Year of Jubilee was one of the expressions enslaved persons used to speak of the time when their oppression would finally come to an end.
Obviously as a white American male, I know nothing of the kind of oppression these folks had experienced, so I couldn’t really explain why that phrase “ye shall not oppress one another” was speaking so strongly to me. In the last few weeks it has suddenly become clear to me that I have stepped out of a place of oppression and into a new world that feels free and light and exciting. The oppression I have left behind is not physical, but rather emotional and spiritual. And in complete honesty but with great sadness I would have to say that my oppressor has been my own Yearly Meeting, or at least the portion of it that has insisted that everyone and everything must comply with their understanding of “orthodoxy.”
These folks are certainly just as entitled to their understanding of what it means to be a good Quaker as am I. And the problem is not even that many of these folks have found their way into leadership positions on various committees and in other places in the Yearly Meeting; we are a diverse group and we need to make room for differing points of view. Therein lies the problem. A number of these folks believe that their “orthodox” point of view is the only legitimate one and only those who agree with them should be allowed to serve the Yearly Meeting in any capacity. And that is why I have termed it orthodox oppression. Whether or not we want to admit it, we are something of a hierarchal organization and there are certain positions and committees that do have authority over things like who does and does not get recorded as a minister, who does or does not get invited to speak at one of our gatherings, and who serves along side them on those committees.
For example, when our Yearly Meeting chose to emphasize our peace testimony, I wondered why the director of Quaker House, one of the few real peace efforts in which Quakers are even involved, was not on the program. When I asked some folks on the Yearly Meeting Peace Committee about it, they said his name came up, but that he was not invited to speak because he was not “orthodox.” At the time the individual in question had more than 10 years experience as the director of Quaker house and was a member in good standing of our sister meeting North Carolina Yearly Meeting Conservative. Some folks in the Committee were upset about this, but felt powerless to do anything when told that all speakers had to pass the “orthodoxy” test in order to even be considered. And that’s the way things were for a long time.
But not quite a year ago the Recording Committee made a decision to withhold the recording of a woman because they didn’t find her theology to be in keeping with their understanding of orthodoxy. And for the first time that I ever remember, Friends challenged that decision. Some felt that the woman in question’s views were well within the diverse range of theological understandings that make up the Yearly Meeting. Others who knew her and were familiar with her ministry felt very strongly that they had seen evidence of a gift, and that ultimately the Recording Committee’s job is not to deal with theological understandings or lifestyles or anything else except the question of whether or not they able to recognize a gift from God for ministry in an individual, and that if they have issues with those on whom God chooses to bestow those gifts, that’s best taken up with the source. Many felt that to have any kind of creedal or doctrinal affirmation as a prerequisite for recording was not in keeping with who Friends are. At this point, Friends have not come to unity on this woman’s recording. But ten years ago, or maybe even five years ago, no one would have questioned a decision made by the Recording Committee. That’s a sign that things have changed.
And now as the state of North Carolina is considering a constitutional amendment defining marriage, suddenly using social media, in newspaper ads and letters to the editor, Quakers, young and not so young, as individuals and as meetings are speaking out against discrimination aimed at gay and lesbian persons as a violation of our historic testimony of the equality of all persons. While I do not believe that any of them are claiming to speak for the Yearly Meeting as a whole, they are making it clear that they will no longer keep silent and pretend that there is unity in North Carolina Yearly Meeting FUM regarding homosexuality. Can all of us live together and learn to appreciate those places in which we are in unity and offer respect and tolerance in those places where we differ?
It truly is an amazing thing, almost like the Berlin wall; it just happened all at once. And it does feel like we left one era and moved into another, like we have witnessed a moment in history. Some are already feeling at home here and loving it; others not so much. But the dam has burst, and once people have tasted the freedom of being able to speak their truth without fear of reprisal, there’s no more going back to where we were.
Yes, there is a fresh new wind blowing among us, but where will it take us? Will it bring us closer together or blow us completely apart? That I believe will be up to us.