It is time

A letter to IYMC  (an epistle, if you will) from Stephen Snyder, Clerk of Minneapolis Friends Meeting and often times attender at Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative)

Minneapolis Friends feel so blessed by the outpouring of support for Twin Cities friends and wider community that we have received from other Meetings in the United States and abroad.  We also feel deep sadness and anger that our federal government has created a masked “army” that is literally terrorizing our cities, attacking migrant populations and peaceful protesters and disrupting our economic life.  Many workers are afraid to venture out of their homes for fear of being detained, many shops and restaurants have had to close, public schools have closed on several occasions to protect students, teachers and parents. The Trump administration is withholding funds threatening many social programs in Minnesota and “weaponizing” the Department of Justice (if it can still be called this) against government officials opposing their attacks on immigrant populations in Minnesota. 

In one of his visions, George Fox, living through a period of civil war and persecution against early Friends, saw an ocean of darkness and death, but he also saw an ocean of Light and love flowing over and through it.  So too, Minneapolis Friends here are filled with gratitude and even joy at the out pouring of love as people all over our cities organize to care for others threatened by this darkness.  Many Friends participate in organized networks such as the Immigrant Defense Network and Faith in Minnesota that train citizens in non-violent resistance and support for migrant communities.  Others host refugees, volunteer in the schools, contribute to food banks, and serve in other ways.  As John wrote in his gospel centuries ago, the Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.  All of this gives us hope as we live through the darkness around us.

We can also find courage from George Fox’s epistle written from his prison cell in 1663 where he reminds Friends that we are not alone.

“Sing and rejoice, ye children of the day and of the light; for the Lord is at work in this thick night of darkness that may be felt. And truth doth flourish as the rose, and the lilies do grow among the thorns, and the plants atop of the hills. And upon them the lambs do skip and play. And never heed the tempests nor the storms, floods nor rains, for the seed Christ is over all, and doth reign. And so be of good faith and valiant for the truth; for the truth can live in the jails. . . .”

Please share our greetings and gratitude with others in the Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative). We appreciate your loving care and support.

Stephen Snyder, Clerk

Minneapolis Friends Meeting

Many among us — people of good will and faithful conscience — are wondering: is now the time? Are we at the time when our most fundamental rights as human beings and as citizens are being existentially threatened? No one will announce that it is that time. There will be no proclamation. We must listen to our conscience and, with our brothers and sisters, decide to suspend the normal order of things and step into the breach to declare the truth we see with our eyes, hear from our neighbors and know in our hearts. 

We call upon people of faith and all our neighbors in MN to join us for a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Truth and Freedom. On this day, we withhold our labor, our dollars and to demonstrate our non-compliance with the radical violation of justice being meted out upon the people of our cities and our state.  

The federal government of the United States has decided that the free people of Minnesota are enemies to be subjugated. They have deployed agents with guns and lethal force to harass and intimidate children, families, businesses and workers. The federal government is withholding and weaponizing federal funding for small businesses, food assistance, education and childcare to ensure our compliance. The federal government has used official channels to spread lies about American citizens and our neighbors, seeking to turn us into enemies who deserve violence and punishment. The federal government has explicitly emboldened and celebrated provocateurs and grifters who sow seeds of hatred toward the people of Minnesota and our leaders, explicitly inviting division and political violence. The federal government is advancing an unlawful and unconstitutional siege on their own citizens and people. 

It is time.

And we know what must be done. God has not left us without teachers. We draw strength from the prophets, from the leaders of the civil rights movement — the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Baker, Rosa Parks — and from the moral witness of Mahatma Gandhi. When unjust laws stripped the people of India of their rights, Gandhi called the nation to a day of prayer, fasting, and civil disobedience. 

Now we invite Minnesotans and all people of good will to do the same — to call for ICE out of Minnesota immediately. 

Our movements will offer you opportunities to act and no action is too small — from delivering a meal to someone in need, to acting as a legal observer and witness, to staying home from work, to marching with Minnesotans at 2pm in Downtown Minneapolis, to walking out of your school, to praying publicly — all are an embodiment of Truth and Freedom. 

Will you join us?

Sign up to participate in this day here. 

If you are a clergy person, sign up to participate in this day here. 

Why Truth? All attempts by Pharaohs and empires to repress and subjugate a people rely on lies. The lie can be a comfort, a temptation to trust the lies of those who are perpetrating injustice. It invades our minds and hearts to convince you that what you know to be true is, indeed, not true. They seek to make Renee Good, a mother and an American, a “domestic terrorist.” They seek to make the Minnesotans standing up for their neighbors and their constitutional rights, “enemies” to be repressed. They call their invasion, liberation. These are lies. We must, with moral clarity, not merely speak the Truth, but stand, with our bodies, to be the Truth. Through this action, we invite all Americans to see the truth as well.

Why Freedom? Freedom is an action. It is something we earn together with our neighbors and communities. Freedom is our freedom to live, to breathe, to move and to love but it is our freedom to be public, to defend ourselves, to participate in self-governance that makes us safe from repression and harm from our state. There are times when it must be — and has been — defended by our fellow Americans and this is one of those times. It is our turn.