Hi Les: I have no more respect for the history of our Quaker faith than any other works of humanity. We claim ownership of the Underground Railroad, however, we neglect to remember it was an unpopular minority of us which took that risk. Most of our Meetings then, did not grant full membership to Black Americans untill the early part of the 20th century.

It is dangerous to pat ourselves on the back... it leads to blind patriotism.

As to the crack about Mormans... well... no, we are not much like the Mormans, we did not massacre settlers and blame it on Native Americans. We generally kept to our treaties, but even then, the famous "Walking Treaty" was pretty much a scam.

This is why Quakers don't have parades, and should not dwell on our good works, seldom do we or anyone else deserve group praise. Save it for those who really put their lives on the line, alone and against the tide, such as the few diplomats who saved Jews and others when their governments forbid them to do so, for example Congressman Hyram Bingham - whose career in politics never fully recovered from his smuggling Jews and Freethinkers out of France in spite of the US forbiding him to do what his soul demanded.

Parades, fireworks are fun, but in my opinion more dangerous than they are worth. I think we would do better to reward soldiers with jobs and peace. National leaders opt for parades as they are cheaper than jobs.