VOLUME Lll
The Relevancy of The Quaker Religion;
Can Fox's Proteges Provide The Answers?
In the mid 17th century, guided by
faith, and nurtured by a love for mankind,
George Fox and hisindefatigablecronies
sot out on a course which would alter the
minds of thousands and change the path
of history. They, in those first wobbly
but courageous steps, bucked the old
order and ushered in a new religion - the
Society of Friends.
Friends were, and always have been, a
strange lot. Radicals to the last man, their
faith became known as the "left-wing" of
the Puritan movement. The epithet could
not have fit more perfectly. Decrying war
in an era when to do so was heresy, dis
missing Calvin's then prevelant predest
ination with a calculated shirk, and be
lieving in the equality of man in an age of
rigid class distinction effectively worked
to mark them as social outcasts, as freaks'
in the circus of life. But, with a difference
- - they were at least in the act, and they
at least stood for something.
Their numbers expanded rapidly when
they arrived on the shores of America in
the second half of the 17th century. And,
under the charismatic leadership of Will
iam Penn, the Quaker Faith reached its
heyday.
With Penn's death, however, and with
the heavy influx of other more comfort
able Religions to America, the Quakers
began to fade. Today, infact, their number
in the world is a mere 250,000. Even the
most unperceptive observer can sense their
dilemma as he slips into the quietly mod
ern Meeting house on New Garden Road
on Sunday morning.
Surrounded by a group of old people
with one foot in die grave, anyone can see
that the plain fact of the matter is that
the Quakers are dying off and are failing
to gain the badly needed converts.
Jack Kirk, the young, nattily dressed.
Vietnam: Big Fervored Issue On College Campuses This Fall
No campus, however provincial ordin
arily, has been able ot shut itself off from
the dialogue over the war in Viet Nam.
An issue of such force, such immediacy,
has not hit the campus since the civil
rights upheaval of 1964. And the cam
pus is reacting, with a fervor.
While the dissenters are still relatively
few, they seem to have given a war-and
peace orientation to the entire campus.
The forms of dissent are as diverse' as
the campuses themselves.
Near the University of North Carolina's
Chapel Hill campus, students are exposed
every Wednesday to a long line of silent
protestors. Among them one day last
month was an 84-year old retired Episcopal
priest, who had been part of the vigil
nearly every week since January because,
he told a Daily Tar Heel reporter, "I want
peace for my children."
"We don't want to push ourselves on
anyone, that's why we're silent." he said.
"We just want to make our views known."
At Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa.,
Students for a Democratic Society plann
ed to spark the University's Founder's
Day ceremonies by picketing one of the
men scheduled to receive an honorary
degree—Secretary of Defense Robert Mc-
Namara.
"Even though the president (of the
University, W. Deming Lewis) said Mc-
Namara is not coming in any connection
with the war," said SDS president Herb
Ford, "we feel his position Is too im
portant in this filthy and dirty affair for
us to pass up this chance to show our feel
ings.'
Lehigh students were to be joined by
others from six area colleges and the local
high schools, the Brown and White re
ported.
At the University of Nebraska, the
student senate's Ad Hoc Committee on
Vietnam announced plans for a series of
seminars on the war, followed by an all
campus referendum before Thanksgiving,
according to the Daily Nebraskan.
At the University of California, Berke
ley, the Stop the Draft Committee plann-
The Quiffor&on
sy Jim uarvin
and highly active minister of the New
Garden Meeting is also plagued by this
problem.
"Why, did you know that we have only
two families within the 21-32 year age
group?" After brief reflection on this
point, he added hopefully, "in a few years
though, with the airport out there, you
know, those people are going to be look
ing for a church. We'll probably take
some of them in."
But, while Kirk's problems are near
solution, the issue is still an urgent one
for the Quakers.
The question of relevancy then logically
crops up. Does the Quaker faith provide
the answers to the problems facing Amer
icans in the twentieth century? Or, are
their solutions merely . panaceas which
can never be realistically concluded?
I found, in talking with Jack Kirk, that
his whole personality is attuned to the
"modern, pragmatic, approach." He ad
mitted, with reluctant finality, that elim
ination of the "war-machine" is an un
realistic proposition. Then, he proposed
sending out small "cadres, or clusters" of
people to delve into such questions as
poverty and illiteracy.
The Quakers are discovering, perhaps
belatedly, that to maintain their virility
in the sterile atmosphere of the United
States, where making a buck and passing
the buck is the order of the day, will
require monumental efforts from people
like Jack Kirk who have tinted their ideal
ism with a healthy dosage of realism.
Ed a week-long demonstration (Oct. 16-21)
to halt operations at the Oakland Induct
ions Center. Some 116 demonstrators, in
cluding folk singer Joan Baez, were arrest
on the first day of demonstrating.
Outgrowth of Vietnam Summer
Much of the protest is an outgrowth of
Vietnam Summer, a nation-wide program,
according to the Student Life, to "organ
ize all opposition to the war in Vietnam
into a constitutency that can exert pres
sure to end the war."
It works to "provide educational mat
erial on the war itself, to encourage in
clusion of the subject in classroom studies,
to provide information on the draft and
'alternatives to the draft, and to conduct
referenda in selected communities across
the country.
Based on the precedent of the Miss
issippi Freedom Summer of 1964, it
"attracted over 26,000 volunteers and
over $200,000 in contributions at last
'":WS3j/t- WBHMM'- :: - SteSSi -■ aH^ ;.
HHHHPJr
GREENSBORO, N. C. DECEMBER 14,1967
"Brainstorming" Retreat Held by Union
Sparks Guilford Plans or Next Semester
Brainstorming, bargaining, planning,
and recreating formed the program for
the Leadership retreat, held this weekend
in Reidsville, N. C., sponsered by the
College Union.
The group of 20 students included the
Executive Board, committee members
plus interested students. Mr. Cliff Lowery,
Director of die College Union, gave the
opening address, in which he enumerated
the qualities of leadership as applied to
being Chairman of a Committee. Lowery
explained that a good chairman should
rely on his committee, call regular meet
ings, and use their idea*.
W. fi. Auden's Christmas Poem
Presented In The Hut
By The Revelers
Last year at this time, the Reveler's
Club presented a children's Christmas
play entitled, "His Name is Santa Claus."
This year the club will change the mood
to a more serious tone when they present
W. H. Auden's Christmas poem, "For the
Time Being" Thursday night in the Hut.
The club has chosen to read "The
Nativity" section of the poem, which de
picts the Christmas story in contemporary
times. Speaking choruses will highlight the
selection.
The club members participating will be
Scott Parker, Sally Peterson, Marilyn
Mclntyre, Hank Hadcett, Steve Wessells,
and Chris Coan, all veterans of the club's
recent production of "The Wild Duck."
The presentation will also feature out
standing local talent including Libba Hin
kel, star of Romper Room, Limbo the
Clown, and last year's Christmas play,
Larry Lambeth of Radio Station WQMQ,
and William Patton, the Chaplain Luth
eran of Duke University and UNC-G.
count this past summer," the newspaper
reported. Many Volunteers returned to
their campuses to speak local anti-war
action.
Draft Decisions
While the anti-war movements is be
coming more organizational in an effort
to make the intensity and strength of
anti-war sentiment known at the national
level, the real dilemma concerning the war
remains a personal one-because for the
young American male, attitudes on the
war must inevitably be translated into a
decision on the draft-whether or not to
accept a 2S deferment, whether to go if
called.
October 16 brought the decisions of
young men across the country into the
open when they turned in their draft cards
and pledged "total non-cooperation with
the Selective Service System."
Before that, at a Lutheran Labor Day
Conference on War and Peace, some 28
Following Lowery, Dennis Abrama
witz, vice president of the Union, spoke
on the principles of a good leader. After
a short discussion, the group began the
brain storming session. Brainstorming in
volves throwing out wild ideas in answer
to a given problem such as publicity or
new kinds of entertainment. The ideas
were written down to be refered to later
and worked into a usable method.
Sunday morning, the committee chair
man made plans for second semester. The
Union will be offering a wide variety of
activities which should provide something
for everyone. In the plans are a beach
weekend, a psychedelic band, a jazz con
cert, a kite day, and a hypnotist, to
name just a few.
Plans were also made for two more
retreats: one in March for an evaluation
of second semester and one in April to
plan for next year with the new officers.
One of these may be held in conjunction
with the Legislature for the purpose of
developing more enthusiasm and getting
fresh ideas.
In the final evaluation fo the retreat,
all agreed that it had been a success and
that second semester Union activities
were really groovie.
Mr. Patton was instrumental in bringing
Duke's production of Pinter's "The Care
taker" to the Guilford campus.
The reading is being taped for radio
broadcast and will begin at 7 p.m. Thurs
day evening.
young Lutherans, among them graduate
students, signed a "We Won't Go" state
ment, the Valparaiso Univeristy Torch re
ports. The statement declared that "under
no circumstances" would they fight in
Vietnam nor participate in the military
"so long as the present war continues."
The 2S deferment, held by most college
males, continues to be the target of cam
pus liberals, who denounce the Selective
Service System for giving the college
student precedence over the poor, the
non-white, the ungifted for whom college
is an impossibility.
Spearheading the attack is the National
Student Assn., which last summer pointed
to the inequities of the system and called
for the establishment of a volunteer nat
ional army. But failing that, NSA called
for reforms of the current system, includ
ing the elimination of universities' par
ticipation in the Selective Service process.
The Wesley Foundation at the Univer
sity of North Carolina has started a pro
yam called "The Alternative of Con
scientious Objection" to explain how to
become a CO, the Daliy Tar Heel reported.
The problem of being officially re
cognized as a CO, the Tar Heel said,
comes from the inconsistency of the in
quiring boards. "The contact with local
boards varies," said Jim Kahan, student
CO and speaker at the first program.
"Most boards have a lot of former military
people and they are hostile to CO's."
While opposition to the draft seems to
be on the increase, its still a fact that
most students, even though they're not
fond of the idea, would serve if called.
The draft resisters hope to change all that.
And even though they may succeed in
putting questions in many minds, there'll
always be a few who remain undaunted -
like the lone Kansas student who daily
goes through the paces of a grueling
physical fitness campaign.
His reason: He wants to be prepared
if called to go to war.
(ACP) - Reprint
NUMBER 9