atheism

Powell House Nontheism Among Friends

The “Nontheism Among Friends” workshop was originally designed and led by Bowen Alpern (Scarsdale Meeting), the late Glenn Mallison (Ithaca Meeting), and myself (Scarsdale Meeting), at the Friends General Conference Gathering in 1996. Twenty years previously, Robert Morgan (PYM) had led a “Workshop for Nontheistic Friends” at the FGC Gathering; so far there has been no trace of any follow-up. The 1996 workshop was taken up by other leaders, and has been offered ever since at the Gathering. Many Friends have led similar conferences at Woodbrooke Study Center in England, Pendle Hill, and at their Monthly and Yearly Meetings.

Nontheism Among Friends workshop — Jan. 26-28, 2007, NY

Powell House conference center, NYYM http://www.powellhouse.org Robin Alpern and Joan Lukas, facilitators As early as 1976, the Friends General Conference Gathering hosted a well-attended Workshop for Nontheistic Friends. In the decades since, Friends have become increasingly aware of the theological diversity of our Religious Society. Through experience and statistical studies, we have learned a large … Read more

What is a Nontheist?

Both within and outside the informal association of Friends who call themselves nontheists, there is little common understanding of what the word nontheist means. There is also little common understanding of related words such as atheist, agnostic, humanist, and materialist, but believers and unbelievers alike have at least a sense of what they mean by … Read more

Welcome!

Nontheistfriends.org presents the work of Friends (Quakers) who are more concerned with the natural than the supernatural. Some of us understand “God” as a symbol of human values and some of us avoid the concept while accepting it as significant to others. We differ greatly in our religious experience and in the meaning we give religious terms.

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Keeping an open mind

By Peter Arnold There may seem to be a tendency in medical research to regard the body as a machine whose unpleasant symptoms indicate faulty parts, most doctors know that many of these symptoms will fade away as the body repairs itself. Ones general practitioner may keep an open mind on homeopathy, acupuncture, herbalism and … Read more

Only Human

In the summer of 1991, at the Sea of Faith conference in Leicester, two intellectual bruisers debated religion and humanism. One was Nicolas Walter: anarchist, peace activist and passionate rationalist. The other was Don Cupitt: elegant, Cambridge, deanish and donnish. Their debate was not the familiar one which had raged for a century, between humanism and Christianity. What was at issue was not humanism but the kind of humanism which might speak to the condition of a postmodern world at the scruff-end of two Christian millennia.

Quakers and the Environment: Three Options

Quakers live in and are part of the environment. Since the early days they followed the conventional practice of separating their faith from the world around them. Later, with the growth of the environmental movement, a second option emerged, that of spiritualizing nature. Then, with the development of nontheism among Friends, naturalizing religion became an … Read more

My Spiritual Journey

Presented at Twin Cities Friends Meeting (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA), spring 2000 or so I received a list of questions to help me prepare for this morning’s talk. I understand it was just intended to help me approach the subject of my spiritual journey, and not as a set of directions. I considered politely setting … Read more

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