Smithfield Friends Newsletter April 2000 Smithfield Monthly Meeting of Friends 108 Smithfield Road Woonsocket, RI 02895 Vol.12________________________________________________________________________ No.118 Parsonage: 762-5726 Internet: http://www.oftedahl.com/SmithfieldFriends Clerk: Bruce Kay Recording Clerk Susan Furry Pastor: Marnie Miller-Gutsel Treasurer:RichardFrechette Ministry&Counsel Rhoda Mowry Newsletter: Randy Oftedahl CALENDAR FOR APRIL/MAY EVERY SUNDAY 10:30 am: MEETING FOR WORSHIP First Day School Child care for infants and toddlers LAST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH: Unprogrammed Worship and Pot Luck Lunch OTHER WORSHIP UNDER THE CARE OF SMITHFIELD MEETING OR RI/SMITHFIELD QTLY. MTG. SECOND SUNDAY OF MONTH 7:00 PM: Unprogrammed Worship at Uxbridge Meetinghouse, Uxbridge, Mass EVERY WEDNESDAY 6:00 PM: Unprogrammed Worship and discussion at ACI(Maximum) Other Events: Weds., April 12 7:30 PM: Meeting for Healing at the Meetinghouse Sunday, April 16 Quarterly Meeting at Worcester Meetinghouse Friday, April 21 7:00 PM: Good Friday Tenebrae Service Sunday, April 23 5:30 AM: Easter Sunrise Meeting for Worship Easter Meeting for Worship at 10:30 Saturday, April 29 5 - 7 PM: PUBLIC SPAGHETTI SUPPER Sunday, May 7 Monthly Meeting for Business NEWSLETTER DEADLINE Letter from Marnie Dear Friends, As we look forward to Easter, I would like to share with you part of a poem I found some years ago in the Friends Journal of July 1990. It was written by Elizabeth Cunningham Smyth. For me, Christ is the primal heretic, so powerful, so free, we cannot bear him. We nail him down, we crucify him to fix him forever and forever he rises again and again we nail him down and he rises. For he is the foundation and the undermining of the foundation, structure and destruction, the cornerstone and the blade of new grass that cracks it open. The poem captures the paradox that Christ is both/and, and never what we think. The Spirit of Christ dwells in us in ways that are shaped by our own experience and limited understanding; that same Christ Spirit may speak within someone else in a very different way, in terms that person can best understand. But we are both called to express that Inward Christ in as honest and loving a way as we can. To do this is to participate in the Resurrection. May you have a most blessed Easter. Love, Marnie Readers and Musicians Needed For Our Good Friday Tenebrae Service Our annual Good Friday Tenebrae Service (the "Service of Shadows") will be held Friday evening, April 21, at 7 PM. This is an especially poignant and beautiful service during which the candles are slowly extinguished, accompanied by hymns and Scripture readings. We need musicians, and there are still a few open slots for readers, so if you would like to participate, contact Marnie. Young readers are particularly invited. Meeting For Healing Meetings for healing are held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, at 7:30 PM downstairs in the Meeting House. They are facilitated by a member of Ministry and Counsel. Upcoming dates are April 12 and 26. All are welcome Quarterly Meeting at Worcester Friends from the Rhode Island-Smithfield Quarter will gather in Worcester on First Day, April 16. The Ad Hoc Ministry and Counsel Committee which is discussing recording in the ministry will meet at 9:30. Meeting for worship begins at 11 AM, followed by pot-luck. For the afternoon program at 1:30, Paul Gallagher, a member or Worcester-Pleasant Street Meeting, will give a talk, illustrated by slides, on his work with the indigenous people of Guatemala. Meeting for Business will follow at 2:30. Child care will be provided. Friends are encouraged to car-pool. Easter Musicians Needed Easter is April 23, and we are planning some special music. Practices will begin soon. If you would like to contribute your voice or instrument to the occasion, contact Marnie. Be a Greeter! Help to make us a truly Friendly Meeting--Be a greeter! Choose a date and plan to arrive about 10:15. It's a great way to meet our visitors as well as old F/friends. Think Summer!! Brochures for Friends Music Camp and our own NEYM China (Maine) camp are here. Look for fliers in the basket in the foyer. Bring Forth Your Box Tops The Mowa Choctaw Center still wants your Campbell's Soup labels and General Mills box tops. They are exchanged for classroom materials, such as the three new videos acquired for the kindergarten class. Mowa Choctaw is still 3,250 short of the goal for this school year: these must be sent in by May 1. Please give what you have saved to Eunice Strobel ASAP; she will pack them up and send them off. And don't stop saving--the collection will continue during the next school year. However, next year's collection cannot accept any labels or box tops that show an expiration date of June 1, 2000, or earlier. So if you don't get your labels to Eunice in time to mail before the end of April, check those dates! Are You a Friend in Education? Quaker educators on all levels, and in all varieties of schools, will gather at Eariham College on June 22-25, for a conference on Spirituality in Action: Quakers In Education In the New Millennium. Keynote speaker is Parker Palmer. See brochure on bulletin board--Marnie can provide additional fliers and registration blanks. Application deadline June 1. And if you are interested in Religious Education, investigate the conference for RE educators and parents, Awakening Minds and Hearts, August 17-20, at Massenetta Springs, in the Virginia mountains. For more information on that conference, contact the FGC office, 1216 Arch St., 2B, Philadelphia, PA 19107; Web:www.fgcquaker.org. FGC General Gathering 2000 The Year 2000 Gathering of Friends will meet July 1-8 in Rochester, NY. The theme is "Deep Roots: New Growth. Brochures are available in the foyer. Smithfield Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Minutes of Meeting for Business April 2, 2000 2000-25 Opening Minute Smithfield Monthly Meeting met in a regularly scheduled meeting for worship with attention to business at noon on April 2, 2000. Rhoda Mowry presided in the absence of Bruce Kay. Six people were present and Bruce Kay presided. We began in worshipful silence. 2000-26 Approval of February Minutes The minutes of the February 6, 2000 business meeting were approved as published in the newsletter, with one correction to minute 2000-8 2000-27 State of Society Report For Ministry and Counsel, Rhoda Mowry presented the State of Society Report, here attached. Friends approved it as written, with several expressions of gratitude for Susan Kay's gifts in written ministry. 2000-28 Representatives to Quarterly Meeting Rhode Island Smithfield Quarterly Meeting meets April 16. We appointed Marnie Miller-Gutsell as our representative. 2000-29 Advertisement for April 29 Fund-raiser. Friends authorized Rhoda Mowry to put an advertisement in the newspaper announcing our fundraising supper on April 29. 2000-30 Parsonage Fence Friends discussed again the question of painting the fence around the parsonage. We regret that our Meeting does not have unity on this issue and ask God's help to find and do the Divine Will. 2000-31 Campaign of Conscience for the Iraqi People Marnie Miller-Gutsell announced that a threshing meeting is planned after worship next Sunday, April 9, regarding the Campaign of Conscience for the Iraqi People, as we requested last month (minute 2000-19) 2000-32 Closing Minute No further business arising, we closed with a period of open worship, purposing to meet next for business on May 7, if God permits.. Respectfully, Susan Furry Recording Clerk Smithfield Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Thoughts on the State of Society April 2, 2000 Every year January rolls around. Our minds turn briefly to annual reports. And it's cold. The snow is deep. It can wait. We put it off 'til February. We put it off 'til March. Every year in March, our Ministry and Counsel Clerk reminds us: "The State of Society Report is due in April" -- just like taxes -- Again? Already? Another one? Didn't we just do one? Any volunteers? . . . . No . . . . Any ideas? . . . . No . . . . Any thoughts? . . . . Silence . . . . We feel our long and heavy hesitation. We sit with our puzzling reluctance. Then we prayerfully begin to share our thoughts. We can't put into words that which we can neither feel nor know. To put it bluntly, We don't know the state of our society. The words we have written in years past, don't seem to fit now. Where we are now is not a lesser place -- just a different place -- more like being on the road. Though we worship together, we do not all know one another well. We feel close and yet we feel scattered. We feel a deep sense of God's love and God's guidance. We experience a spiritual warmth and richness within our Meeting. The Light and Spirit of God is evident -- even radiant at times -- in the individuals with whom we worship. Individually and collectively, our lives hold all the big and little things that matter so much -- the moments -- the choices -- the challenges -- the memories --the day to day stuff of life and of faith -- Dare we recognize also The times we worship side by side, alone . . . hiding the unspoken fears the nagging questions the silent tears that fall softly and unseen among us? As a meeting, as a community of faith, what does all of this mean for us? Who are we? Where are we? Where are we going? Are we at a crossroad or on a new road -- or does it really matter? It is April now. The snows have melted. Gather us, Lord. Show us what can wait and what cannot wait. Give us eyes to see that You walk this road before us. Give us ears to hear and hearts to trust that Your word may be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. (Psalm119:105) Amen. "Alarming food shortages are causing irreparable damage to an entire generation of Iraqi children". -UN FAO and WFP, September 1995. Facts on the Sanctions War More than one MILLION Iraqis have died since the start of the blockade in 1990. -United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), December, 1995. The blockade has killed more than 567,000 children under the age of five. - United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), December, 1995. More than 4,500 children under the age of 5 are dying each month from hunger and disease. - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), October 19, 1996. Since the onset of sanctions, there has been a six-fold increase in the mortality rate for children under five and the majority of the country's population has been on a semi-starvation diet. - World Health Organization (WHO), March, 1996. "The increase in mortality reported in public hospitals for children under five years of age (an excess of some 40,000 deaths yearly compared with 1989) is mainly due to diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition. In those over five years of age, the increase (an excess of some 50,000 deaths yearly compared with 1989) is associated with heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, liver or kidney diseases." Approximately 250 people die every day in Iraq due to the effect of the sanctions. - UNICEF, April 1998. ON THE QUESTION OF SANCTIONS IMPOSED AGAINST THE IRAQI PEOPLE At the February meeting for Business, the Peace and Social Concerns Committee brought to the meeting a request for corporate action in defiance of U.S.-backed UN imposed sanctions against Iraq. Since that time, a threshing session was held on the matter, and the question will again come to the body of Smithfield Friends for consideration. Historically, the Society of Friends has taken positions on political issues which have significance within the framework of the moral and religious beliefs of its community. . And it has sought to confront injustice through non-violent actions. Opposition to US policy toward Iraq falls within this sphere. BACKGROUND Historically, the Society of Friends has taken positions on political issues which have significance within the framework of the moral and religious beliefs of its community. . And it has sought to confront injustice with non-violent means. Opposition to US policy toward Iraq falls within this sphere. The policy of economic sanctions against Iraq which our government spearheaded in August 1990 as a means of forcing the Iraqi army to withdraw from Kuwait was followed after the Gulf War with new UN Resolution-sponsored sanctions designed to force the Iraqi government to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, pay reparations for damage done to Kuwait during the war, and halt the buildup of conventional weapons. The international community, through the United Nations Security Council, supported the initial sanctions enthusiastically. However, even in August 1990, there was recognition by members of the Security Council that use of a siege to starve civilians as a means of achieving its political ends was in breach of established international law. The humanitarian crisis which began to unfold shortly after the 1991 Gulf War was partially relieved by an "oil-for-food" program administered by the UN Sanctions Committee under the United Nations Security Council. However. the Sanctions Committee, under the control of the US and UK, has used the authority given it under the various Resolutions in an ongoing attempt to create leverage on the Iraqi government. This has been vigorously fought at every turn by Saddam Hussein, with some success. Meanwhile, US policy has shifted away from the initial objectives of the UN-approved sanctions and has become a means of permanently "containing" Saddam Hussein until he can be somehow removed from office and his regime brought down. The 10 year old sanctions regime has led to the death of over 1.5 million Iraqi civilians. Today, United Nations studies reveal that 30% of the population of young children are chronically malnourished and one in four infants is born underweight because of maternal malnutrition. The Iraqi government is now allowed to sell as much oil as it can with which to purchase humanitarian supplies as well as equipment required to get its oil industry operating again. However, the sanctions committee has deliberately used delaying tactics by simply not approving - putting on indefinite hold -requests for shipment of supplies ordered under the "oil-for-food' programor donated by humanitarian groups around the world. Orders include contracts for reestablishing the operation of the Iraqi oil fields. The people of Iraqi thus remain in a lethal crunch between its government's dictator, Saddam Hussein, and the western nations led by the US and the UK. And the western press has worked hand in hand with our government to keep its citizens largely ignorant of the devastation which US policy has brought upon Iraq. The sanctions against Iraq represent the tightest economic embargo ever imposed in modern history. Of questionable legal and moral validity at the outset, the sanctions have been continued far beyond the point at which they achieved their original goals. They now represent no more nor less than a vengeful and genocidal peacetime siege without precedent in recorded history. The policy stands outside the accepted bounds of international law and acceptable moral precedent. PROPOSED MINUTE As members of the Smithfield Friends Meeting, we view the current US policy toward Iraq as morally reprehensible. It has taken the lives of over 1.5 million innocent Iraqi citizens, mostly women, children, and the elderly. It is, in effect, a war against a country without declaration of war. We cannot conceive of any intentions of a government which could justify continuation of such a policy. Our traditional peace witness comes from a deeply held belief in the essential unity of humankind and the sacredness of each individual. We feel called to confirm that witness both in word and deed. We do not feel bound by a continued governmental prohibition of supply of humanitarian goods to the people of Iraq, and will take steps to assist people in need in Iraq. POTENTIAL ACTIONS 1. There is one fairly well worked-out action which Smithfield Meeting can take as a corporate body: officially sign on as a participant with the CAMPAIGN OF CONSCIENCE FOR THE IRAQI PEOPLE and make a donation to the campaign. What will this entail? a. The Campaign of Conscience is jointly sponsored by the AFSC and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Thus, it is working closely with the Emergency Committee of the AFSC to coordinate its efforts. b. Currently, it plans to purchase gas chlorinators (used for water purification) and to submit a request for authorization of shipment to the US Dept. of the Treasury. This item was suggested by a group recently returning from Iraq and represents an item which could be seen as "dual-use", although a completely legitimate and needed humanitarian item, thus stretching the sanctions to include items beyond foodstuffs and medicines. Treasury must approve items coming from the US because the US economic embargo preceded the UN-sanctioned embargo. c. Because the US Treasury may hold the request indefinitely, a letter will be submitted stating that failure to receive a response within 120 days will be taken as denial of approval and arrangements will be made to ship the goods. d. The emergency committee of the AFSC is working with the Mennonite Central Committee, one of the few NGOs with offices in Baghdad. The goods will be shipped to that group. They will be flown out of New York in order to provide US customs with the opportunity to embargo the goods. e. Presumably, if the US Treasury approves, the request will be forwarded to the Sanctions Committee at the UN in New York, where another indefinite hold may be placed and a similar kind of non-violent confrontation will be required. The exact procedures are known to the AFSC as they have been through this process in the past. 2. Smithfield Meeting could also choose to take direct action of identifying persons in Iraq that require humanitarian assistance, and sending materials directly to those individuals. This will, of course, require more organizational and planning work. 3. Another action might be informing other church groups in our area of the action taken by Smithfield Friends in an effort to gather greater momentum behind this effort. 4. We may also choose to make our decision and actions known directly to our Congressional Representatives, and to notify the local press. Oppression in the extreme appears terrible, but oppression in more refined appearances remains to be oppression, and where the smallest degree of it is cherished it grows stronger and more extensive: that labour for a perfect redemption from this spirit of oppression is the great business of the whole family of Christ Jesus in this world. -John Woolman, A Plea for the Poor, 1763 Smithfield Monthly Meeting of Friends 108 Smithfield Road Woonsocket, RI 02895 Smithfield Friends Meeting Spaghetti Supper Saturday, April 29, 2000 Serving 5 to 7 PM Come! Invite your friends!! Homemade Dessert! Adults: $8.50 Children (6-10): $4.00