Friends Journal

10/17/2026

"Marginalization and dehumanization are not compatible with rest, especially not with rest patterned after God’s resting at Creation," Monica L. Miller writes at Anabaptist World. "Understood this way, observing the Sabbath comes with a sprawling to-do list of social transformation until all can safely rest."

When anyone invokes the Ten Commandments in a conversation on politics, perhaps your skin crawls as much as mine does. That is, until I realized one commandment can topple Empire by itself: the fourth one. More specifically, both of the fourth ones.

10/16/2026

“Corporations are not people... They are robots.” 🤖💼

In this clip from the season finale of Quakers Today, Dov Baum (Director of the Action Center for Corporate Accountability at AFSC) challenges how we view corporations. They aren’t inherently “good” or “evil”—they are profit-maximizing machines. So, the question isn’t about their morals; it’s about how we use our collective power to ensure they do less harm.

Join hosts Peterson Toscano and Diana Yañez for the final episode of Season 6 as they explore how to move from individual financial guilt to targeted, collective action.

🎙️ Tap the link in bio to listen to the episode, or visit QuakersToday.org!
📖 Connect with Friends Journal at FriendsJournal.org

How does shifting your view of corporations from “people” to “machines” change how you think about economic activism? Share below! 👇

FriendsJournal FaithInAction SystemicChange

10/16/2026

Imagine: your photo was taken many years ago when you were a political prisoner during the war in South Vietnam. After the war, you were freed.

Fifty years later, you are stunned when a journalist comes to your village with some black-and-white photos and asks you if you can identify anyone in them. Your eyes fill with tears when your own face stares back at you from one of the pictures.

​​A Quaker antiwar activist’s documentation reconnects people decades later.

10/15/2026

"Rarely does one find so much wisdom packed into a book of about 130 pages in length," Stephen W. Angell says of Nothing Can Separate Us, a new anthology of writings by the twentieth-century African American theologian Howard Thurman. "This is one to read slowly and savor."

The writings of Howard Thurman continue to speak to the conditions of a wide variety of spiritual seekers through a new anthology.

10/14/2026

Most of us can’t just hand Caesar back his coins, walk away, and set up a blessed community of our own someplace else. We have to believe that we can carve out opportunities to do good within an exploitative system. Meanwhile, however, Caesar’s enforcers do their damnedest to force us into obedience and allegiance.

This week's Look to the Light message asks: What should Quakers do in such situations? How can we push back against oppressive systems and remain true to our testimonies?

https://quaker.org/2026/10/12/give-therefore-to-caesar/

10/13/2026

🎧 In the final episode of a season dedicated to Friends' relationship with money and finances, Quakers Today co-hosts Peterson Toscano and Diana Yañez reflect on what they've learned and focus on concrete, practical next steps to align our money with our values.

Listen now wherever you find your favorite podcasts—or visit Quakers Today at Friends Journal!

Quakers Today, hosted by Peterson Toscano, features writers, musicians, and thinkers who are seeking wisdom and understanding in a rapidly changing world.

10/13/2026

From the very beginning of their movement, Quakers sought to break down class divisions. Arising out of rural communities in northern England, they quickly gained a reputation for a class conscience so bold it was downright rude. But within a few years, fabulously wealthy plantation owners were joining the Religious Society, along with highly educated, upperclass Friends.

To this day, class issues permeate the Quaker community. How have they played out in your meeting, and in your faith journey? We're gathering Friends' stories for our January 2027 issue—if you'd like to submit an article for consideration, follow the link to learn more! (Deadline: October 26)

Friends Journal is an independent magazine serving the entire Religious Society of Friends. We welcome articles, poetry, art, photographs, and more.

10/13/2026

"That is the challenge Randy Woodley sees for Western Christianity today," John Andrew Gallery writes in his review of How Western Christianity Got It Wrong: "to rid itself of the accretions that have distorted Jesus’s teachings over the centuries and return to a focus on his actual message."

Contrasting the differences between Native American views and Western Christianity, Randy Woodley reminds us of the power of Native wisdom.

10/12/2026

The life of Mary Shadd Cary (1823–1893) offers a master class in the values of self-reliance and humanitarianism that are associated with the grit and spirit of independence that are being celebrated during America250, the semiquincentennial of the founding of the United States.

The Inner Light of Mary Ann Shadd Cary.

10/11/2026

In the fall of 2020, Quaker peace activist George Lakey started talking with friends and colleagues about the possibility that Donald Trump might reject the results of the upcoming presidential election if he lost the electoral college count. Subsequent events proved those concerns were warranted.

With midterm elections in the United States less than a month away, and Trump's Republican Party facing the prospect of losing control of one or both houses of Congress, now is the time to start thinking about nonviolent resistance strategies should the nation face another assault on the democratic process. "We’re far more likely to be successful if we’re prepared," as Lakey told us back then, "and it’s very likely if we just waited to see that the actions that would be taken would be very frequently marred by violence because this is a violence-prone culture."

"There's this possible constitutional crisis coming down the pike," warns Quaker peace activist George Lakey.