Also, here's an interesting analysis of the way Obama tries to trick people into saying things, exposing a debater's strategy and mentality, not a search for truth.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/obamas_linguistic_trap.html
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The Quaker Vote
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Doris Clinkscale, a Green Street member for 40 years, says many Quakers prefer quiet persuasion. "We don't really advocate that kind of very strong pushing people to vote," she says. "We encourage. We inform. We tell them our position, and then we wait for their inner light to show them the way to go."
Quakers advocate for peace through the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Quakers worldwide in 1947, and the Friends Committee on National Legislation. These programs include assistance for Iraqi refugees in the Middle East and trying to influence U.S. policy in a peaceful direction. Recently, though, that direction could involve something previously anathema to Quakers: keeping some boots on the ground, at least temporarily.
"We still call for immediate withdrawal, and we have to explain what that means," says Peter Lems, who directs the Iraq efforts for AFSC from an office in downtown Philadelphia. "We realize it doesn't mean all of the U.S. troops leave tomorrow or next week or within two months. But we do say that there needs to be a timetable … We all want law and order. We all want justice. But … law and order and justice in Iraq comes around faster with a deliberate removal of military law, of U.S. troops."
Even Quakers who are unwavering about pacifism are often willing to engage in the mainstream political process. "I'm not going to find a candidate that fits my views on pacifism," says Mary Lord, a Quaker who has worked for AFSC on peace and conflict resolution. "What I have to look for is who is more likely to move where I am … One of the questions I ask is, 'Of the two Democratic candidates—both are trying to move us away from the Iraq war—but what are the lessons we're going to draw from the war, to keep us from going into another war?'"
Preferring a candidate who has a post-cold war view of the world, Lord says, "I'm leaning to Obama, although I worry, because I lived in Washington, D.C., for many years, and it's an unforgiving place. Hillary has surrounded herself with people who are more traditionalist, and so I worry that she would fall back on the same kinds of policies."
Like many Democrats, many Quakers say they will support the ultimate victor between Clinton and Obama. "What ever Democrat is nominated, I'll be out on the street working for the Democrats," La Fontaine says. "The distinction between the Republicans and Democrats is much stronger than the distinctions between the Democrats."
© 2008
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