Dear Friend Dorothy:

I am afraid I am not in unity on thy comment that the worst Quaker school is more Quakerly than...

What does it mean to exclude a young Quaker child from an education to a school which closely identifies with that child's home faith, as some "Quaker" schools do, for the reason that that child is not "intelligent" enough to recieve a Quaker education.

Well, from personal experience I can tell thee it is an isolating feeling of separation which almost drove me from my faith as a child. I can see the same sense of isolation in the children of poor Friends of color in our meeting whose children are excluded. I can also this in the expressed sense of isolation on the part of a Jamacan birthright Friend who only has gone to Quaker schools all her life, but cannot dream of getting a job to teach in the eleat school which is associated with her Quarter. Exclusivity is a word that is so foreign to our faith that is cuts to the soul of our Meetings.

Yes, it is a liberal middle class community, and some might think that that is in keeping with the spirit of our faith. But for me, our faith is more about a community of simplicity and truth. Exclusivity cuts against both.

By the way, what became of this young Friend who still cannot spell, but was judged to be to stupid to florish in my home Meeting's school? I grew up to go to one of the five law schools which can call itself the top three law schools in the US. (There is a story there... )

We are loosing generations of Quakers as a direct result of these schools being called Friends Schools, and then alianating young Quakers and their families.

Instead of being a healthy outreach to a community beyond, we are bringing into our faith people who cannot understand the evil of class division in our community of faith and unkindness devaluing a Friend because of the myth of I.Q.

I could go on, but, it is just too sad to think about tonight.

Thine dearly in the light
Lorcan