"The good news is that God is on our side and will destroy what is oppressing us," @benwildflower.com writes at @sojo.net. "Will we follow this savior in destroying sinful carceral logic and structures or acquiesce to the forces of evil that build partition walls and concentration camps?"

Weaving together history, family and personal narrative, and legal analysis, Rebecaa Nagle tells a vital story about North American Native peoples’ quest for recognition and sovereignty.

Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” In this week's "Look to the Light" message, we look at John 20:27 in the original Greek and find something much heavier than "doubt." quaker.org/2026/04/06/d...

"Grown from an English town the size of four oxgangs, farmed through generations, spreading through Cheshire where good John Sharps, is convicted, in 1679, of crimes against the state—his 'moral failure' a repeated refusal to attend the Church of England..." —from "We Believe in Trees"

All bloody principles and practices, as to our own particulars, we utterly deny; with all outward wars and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatsoever; this is our testimony to the whole world.

A new book by Patricia R. Powers describes many aspects of Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s attempts to act in conscience in relation to Indigenous peoples.

"Quakers talk about integrity in a variety of ways—honesty, fair dealing, not swearing oaths, plainspokenness—but seldom in terms of what engineers mean when they speak of structural integrity." For Nat Case, though, that's the very essence of integrity: "the sense of coherence & holding together."

"I think Quakers remind the rest of Christianity that words are insufficient," says Lloyd Lee Wilson: "that there is something beyond words, something beyond intellectual constructs... [something] vital about this Christ who lived 2,000 years ago and who we say we encounter today in our worship."

Speaking from our most tender place can make us feel vulnerable, but it is there that Spirit resides. Early Friends knew we were all flawed people struggling to live up to and within the Light. They confessed their shortcomings and shared their struggles, knowing the community can bring strength.

While the apostles hid, Mary Magdalene stayed by the empty tomb. Her spiritual mentor had been arrested and made to suffer a gruesome public death. Now, not even his body remained for her to mourn, and two strangers stood in his tomb, asking her why she was crying. quaker.org/2026/03/30/w...

Today is the Trans Day of Visibility. On November 20, however, the lives of recently deceased trans people are recognized through the Trans Day of Remembrance. Staff writer Sharlee DiMenichi spoke with members of Lake Erie Yearly Meeting who convened an online vigil for this purpose last November.

"We have to accept transgender people within the Quaker community in Kenya," writes George Busolo Lukalo, a pastor at Friends Church in Nairobi. "The church needs to find ways of identifying such people within the meetings, loving, and accepting them."

What brilliant timing - a new QuakerSpeak video about Margaret Fell: quakerspeak.com/video/margar... #WomensHistoryMonth #Leadingthechange #WomeninLeadership

Margaret Fell was a judge's wife in mid-seventeenth century England. One day, a traveling minister named George Fox came to her home at Swathmoor Hall. During his stay, he asked Margaret to reflect on what she knew about God—was it all things other people had told her, or did she know God directly?

"It was a rainy Saturday morning when I met with two Quaker women at Stony Run for my clearness committee," Erica Burns writes. "I wasn’t exactly sure what would come out of my meeting with them, but I knew I had nothing to lose by participating."

G. K. Chesterton once said, “It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.” With that in mind, Andy Stanton-Henry shares three Quaker-themed variations on a popular joke format and explores what they reveal about our faith and practice.

Puritans in Massachusetts viewed the Quakers as so powerful a threat to their colony that they passed a law forbidding Friends within their borders upon pain of death. Mary Dyer kept coming back, "willing to suffer, as her Brethren did," and was publicly executed in 1659. quaker.org/2026/03/23/g...

The Wikipedia page on Ann Lee, the first leader of the Shaker movement in 18th-century North America, says that she grew up in a Quaker family. That didn't sound right to Tim Gee, so he did some research... here's what he found!

"The more research I conducted about Quaker contributions to the gay rights movement," says Brian T. Blackmore, "the more stories about my queer Quaker ancestors emerged." Friends like Josiah P. Marvel, who led an organization in post-war Manhattan that assisted men arrested for homosexual activity.

Yurii Sheliazhenko, a Friend and the general secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, is being held by Ukraine's military conscription authority, the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support.

How does the Quaker peace testimony inform your personal relationships? And how has it helped you to experience what George Fox called the life & power that takes away the occasion of all wars? Last summer, we heard from several Friends about the role the peace testimony plays in their daily lives.

For transgender, nonbinary, or intersex Friends, the journey toward truth has often required courage in the face of misunderstanding, silence, and sometimes violence. But it has also revealed the presence of Spirit in the most intimate and transformative ways.

For Catherine Wald, Gunilla Norris’s poems "bring to mind the experience of holding and sharing a message in meeting for worship: something, perhaps, of few words but expansive and resonant, holding the promise of new insight for those who hear them."

"He’s maybe 5. Thrashing, crying post-op. Three nurses, mom, grandma wrestle and grab to subdue, soothe, remove the nasty IV needle in his hand..." —from "Recovering Boy" by Gay Norton Edelman

“Sing and rejoice, ye children of the day and of the light,” George Fox told his fellow Quakers, “for the Lord is at work in this thick night of darkness that may be felt.” Feeling helpless in the face of evil is understandable—but it shouldn't be the end of the story. quaker.org/2026/03/16/t...

🎧 In a special, extra-large episode of the Quakers Today podcast, @petersontoscano.bsky.social introduces listeners to LGBTQ+ individuals living their truth with integrity within their spiritual communities. Join us at the Quakers Today website—or wherever you find your favorite podcasts!

For our June/July issue, we're looking at ways that Friends today are supporting ministries. Want to tell us what your meeting is doing to encourage and nurture the spiritual gifts of their members, or what you think could be done? We're accepting submissions (1,200 to 2,500 words) until March 30.

At the start of Lyn Bixby's The Pacifist, a young conscientious objector is ready to refuse being drafted to fight in Vietnam. He never makes it out of the induction center alive. The Army says he fell down the stairs and died without regaining consciousness. His sister is convinced they're lying.

Congratulations to Quakers Today host @petersontoscano.bsky.social, who's headed to Northern Ireland next week to serve as the official 2026 International Artist in Residence for the 12th annual Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics (@imaginebelfast.bsky.social)!

"Every bomb dropped on a city lands somewhere specific... Every explosion tears through a life that will never be rebuilt. When missiles start flying, the question becomes brutally simple. Who is about to die so a politician can look strong?"— @anabaptistworld.bsky.social

"As I tried to cope with the profound turmoil I was experiencing due to denying my gender identity," Petra Doan recalls, "I asked two Friends in [my] meeting whether these internal messages were, in fact, a leading." Along with other Quakers, they helped her discern when she was ready to come out.

As a high school student, Chris Stern's negative experiences with missionaries turned him off Christianity.—but, he tells us in an all-new QuakerSpeak video, when he learned about early Quakers and how they became convinced spiritually, he felt he had found the "real news" about Jesus's ministry.

"I don’t need a person to be a 'he' or a 'she,'" Judith Fetterley says. "I dislike the gender binary as much as anyone." And yet, Judith acknowledges, she still has some things to work through when it comes to how gender nonconforming people choose to live into their identities. But she's trying.

In Separation of Church and Hate, @johnfugelsang.bsky.social aims to defang Christian fundamentalism, particularly of the nationalist variety, by using the Bible against it—and the words of Jesus whenever possible. Fugelsang clearly knows his Scripture, his insights shaped by wit AND compassion.

Instead of accusing trans people of abandoning their “original” nature, we might do better to see their rejection of socially imposed gender identities, based solely on the presence of physical characteristics, as a recognition—and an embrace—of their authentic selves. quaker.org/2026/03/09/w...

"He once declared That the spirit is like this. When the sound dances In rustling leaves..." —from "Pneuma" by Geoff Knowlton

"Racial justice work is not only a commitment to your personal growth," Lauren Brownlee and Zenaida Peterson tell readers in their new Pendle Hill pamphlet, "it is also an integral part of the spiritual work to which Friends are called."

"How would I answer the question that came to me so often as a grade-school child, 'Are you a boy or a girl?'" Mico Sorrel considers, and they discern: "My truth in this moment is that I am both/and, and I am neither/nor. I need to remain open to continuing revelation for the remainder of my years."

Anger around injustice is a fuel that can burn for a long time. But it goes off in all directions... it doesn’t connect people." — Adrian Glamorgan on moving from anger to grounded devotion. 🎧 Listen to the full conversation at QuakersToday.org of wherever you find your favorite podcasts...

If you received a thank-you note from 100 years in the future, what would it say? 🖋️ What are you doing today that the future will be grateful for? Comment or Call 317-QUAKERS to share your answer! 🎙️ #Future #Legacy #Imagination #Quakers @friendsjournal.org @afsc-org.bsky.social

"We will not bless these bombs," Stanley Hauerwas and C. Andrew Doyle wrote for @christiancentury.bsky.social last summer, in an essay that's become even more directly relevant to the U.S. situation. "The church is supposed to be an alternative. Let us live like it."

When Diane Randall, then general secretary of @fcnl.bsky.social, spoke with QuakerSpeak in 2014, the U.S. government's propensity to seek out military solutions to international crises, was a key topic. "Conflict is inevitable," as Diane said, "but violent conflict, we believe, is not inevitable."

Gender identity presents Kenyan and East African Friends with a theological and pastoral challenge, exposing tensions between an inherited moral framework and foundational Quaker convictions. Yet it also offers opportunity for renewed reflection rooted in Quaker spirituality and African realities.

Elisha Tyson (1749-1824) was a Quaker philanthropist and opponent of slavery. The early American historian Joshua D. Rothman introduces twenty-first-century readers to Tyson in an annotated reprinting of a biography published the year after his death.

"I was a girly boy— A real live boyish girl. They benched me as a fullback, And made me lead the cheers..." —from "Trilogy" by Douglass Allen

When people become convinced God has abandoned them, they usually decide they need to fend for themselves—and “fending for ourselves” always implies “screw the rest of you.” Walter Brueggemann called that “the royal consciousness,” the animating spirit of Empire. quaker.org/2026/03/02/a...

Have you seen our interview with @katz.theracket.news about Smedley Butler, who led the U.S. occupation of Haiti just over a century ago?

With the chaos, destruction, and uncertainty of the 1640s, many in England expected the End Times and the Second Coming. Erica Canela writes about how Quakers tapped into that energy and shared their message of direct access to Christ with the many English men and women eager to hear it.

"The [@fcnl.bsky.social] strongly condemns the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and the dangerous pursuit of a war of regime change." "As Quakers, we believe there is that of God in every person," the statement continues. "Bombs cannot build the just and lasting peace that true security requires."

"This war is immoral and illegal under both U.S. and international law," @afsc-org.bsky.social said in a statement released shortly after last weekend's joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. "The justifications used by the Trump administration all center on blatant lies."