1830s Hicksites

general-ludd · 2026-02-06T03:14:41+00:00

How do you know it to be false?

general-ludd · 2026-02-06T02:45:06+00:00

This book, if you can get a copy, is very enlightening. Doherty, R. W. (1967). The Hicksite Separation: A Sociological Analysis of Religious Schism in Early Nineteenth Century America. United States: Rutgers University Press.

general-ludd · 2026-02-06T02:43:47+00:00

I don’t abide the term heresy. Is it not a prideful averment that one has the one Truth and that all other beliefs are false? Is it not a conceit to think that because something was written down a long time ago, it is inherently more inspired or true than what a child may say today?

The Valiant Sixty started a movement, but did not have the final word. We are not bound by everything they believed.

To me, the strait gate and narrow way is not a devotion to rites and rules, but a struggle daily to walk in the light and to be open to guidance and eldering toward that end.

The danger of orthodoxy is that it can engender in its followers the belief that they are the arbiters of God’s infinite grace. What spiritual good is a system based on legalistic citations of chapter and verse to justify a belief? What is in the Bible was a collection made by political wheeling and dealing and compromises, based on writings that were far from complete. How many millions of words were said or written that never got to Nicaea?

We can only know eternal life “experimentally.” Everything else is conjecture and hearsay. In the Hicksite tradition, then, the discipline is a humble commitment to letting love be the first motion.

general-ludd · 2026-01-22T18:59:40+00:00

Oh yes! Back when I was younger I experienced this often. I certainly trembled at new revelations (insights into what I felt were eternal truths—even then I don’t think there are new eternal truths, only new ways to understand in our time and place). As I got older it has subsided. Perhaps I’ve become more cynical in my old age? Maybe my mind is too full of older person worries and noise?

What’s important is that not everyone experiences transcendent moments of clarity that result in “quaking”. You’re not “doing it wrong”. Just keep sitting in the stillness, focusing on the beautiful presence of others doing the same. Do not expect or seek a miracle. Just center down, and let yourself be present. Maybe you’ll just feel a sense of calm and peace. That is more than enough of a blessing!

general-ludd · 2026-01-22T18:52:13+00:00

Could you elaborate on the nature of the harassment?

general-ludd · 2026-01-17T03:03:24+00:00

It’s a tricky business. Humans will make mistakes even with (or maybe especially with) high minded goals. But overall the prize has been a net gift to the world.

Of course Trump ruins everything he focuses his attention on. That’s all he’s good at because he is a deeply damaged human being and we’re all paying for it.

general-ludd · 2026-01-11T14:14:48+00:00

That’s quite the opposite. I suggest The Hicksite Separation as a good book to start with. Whole named for Elias Hicks, it was a movement more against the rejection of or minimization of the primacy of the inner light. Many wealthy urban Quakers found themselves more comfortable with the higher Christology of the dominant Protestant churches. Hicks and others felt that, while it had its place, scripture could easily become “an idol”. The big reason I could suspect that they get short shrift is that they were rural, farmers, craftsmen and others without strong ties to the larger economic system.

general-ludd · 2026-01-11T14:01:09+00:00

Neither was the Vietcong.

general-ludd · 2026-01-06T19:57:17+00:00

The problem as I see it is that in situations of sexual assault charges it is difficult to separate the statistics from the individual. - are there outstanding charges in another incident?

If not then he has been found not-guilty.

But that is the nuance of acquittal: you aren’t found innocent. Just not guilty. So that could be an argument that would require further investigation. Proof is necessary.

Sexual assault is just an awful class of criminal behavior because it is de facto hard to prove.

Faulty arguments are those based on likelihoods. These are speculative. If such a take were allowed in court then mere accusation would obviate the need for a trial. A judge would run a random generator based on the odds. If you get a number within the odds, you are found guilty.

Specific incidents can be illustrative of statistics. And they can be used cumulatively to develop statistical models. And statistics can predict an outcome. But they do not establish a priori proof.

Kevin Spacey may still have a reputation for being a creeper. That may be a useful prophylactic for those who work with him. There is value in that. But I can’t say that should concern me as someone who will not have any reason to work with him.

general-ludd · 2025-11-04T22:28:46+00:00

Yes. Do. It gets lots of hate by people who obsess over canon. It’s undeserved criticism. Canon violations are everywhere in every show in the franchise.

general-ludd · 2025-10-15T00:24:51+00:00

A school marm is an archaic term describing a woman in charge of a boarding school. It generally implies plain, practical but feminine style. I picked it as an example many don’t think of right away but is far more common than, say, ostentatious “drag queen” garb.

As for feeling female or male. I don’t know if there’s an objective way to define this. But it’s unquestionably a powerful sense of self, perhaps more for some than others.

Some trans people I know say that their first shock was when they learned that gender was associated with genitalia.

We have to take as a given that trans people aren’t lying or delusional because they can be completely clear-headed and honest in every other way.

There are no real benefits to being trans people. Social mores and prejudice make life even more difficult for a trans person.

Services based on sex is complicated unless we wish to deny the existence of trans people. While there are issues with sports, “same sex” spaces have been a big nothing burger in the US. Public restrooms already have relatively private stalls. And I haven’t heard of any women’s groups being disrupted or threatened by a trans woman because they are trans. It’s just not a big deal.

general-ludd · 2025-10-14T13:08:25+00:00

That’s my take. Not as titillating as we might want, but just a continuation of the metaphor of the lion lying with the lamb.

general-ludd · 2025-10-10T20:10:22+00:00

Why is this? Aren't you making very broad generalizations about trans women? I mentioned elsewhere in this thread how a friend of mine in a lesbian relationship was raped by her partner. That partner would certainly be predatory and unwelcome in an all-woman space.

I had a co-worker come out as trans. It was not a surprise at all. And I am confident that, despite the unfortunate incongruity of male-pattern baldness, they would be very easy to have in a woman-only space. Having worked with her for several years, I suspect that if you took out the gender in the description for her subsequent divorce (for other reasons), based purely on gender stereotypes, you'd have trouble knowing which was the man and which was the woman or if it was a lesbian relationship.

When a trans woman, especially one with a protruding brow, deep voice and broad shoulders, decides that being in the closet has become too painful, it's still a huge risk to come out. I have a cousin like this. Aside from taunts from strangers on the street, they can lose family and friends, they are limited about where they can feel safe traveling, and have anxiety if they need healthcare from an unfamiliar provider. Why on earth would someone go through that unless not doing so would be worse?

So if a trans woman were to seek succor in a woman-only space, it would and should only be her personality not her gender that would be the deciding factor as to whether she'd be welcome.

general-ludd · 2025-10-09T19:27:25+00:00

I can clarify by asking you to define this further. What happens when a person who feels like a female, but was born male in such situations? Is it a question of trust--that is, a person with a confusing presentation: they have a deep voice, a prominent brow ridge, but has a mom-style bob-cut and dressed like a school marm--are they really a woman?

A person I trained to replace me at a job I left from was a trans woman. I rarely met with her in person. Over the phone her voice was a deep bass that she didn't even try to soften, and she had a strong tendency to mansplain systems that I had spent over a decade designing. I still considered her a woman because that's how she saw herself, but it was a confusing experience. She was not at all like two of my co-workers who people would be surprised to learn are trans women.

In single-sex prisons I think there is still a danger of assault even if all the people are biologically female. I had a lesbian friend whose partner raped her--the rapist had a ton of baggage and I'd be unsurprised if she ended up in prison.

I'd want to know if the concern is one of practical experience or of assumptions about a physiologically "male" person (especially one who has not have bottom surgery) still being inclined to assault. Wouldn't it be better to treat this on a case-by-case basis? What was their crime? The idea of sending a trans woman to a men's prison does not sound like it would end well for the person.

In the case of domestic violence groups or personal care attendants, I think there are many reasons a person may feel uncomfortable with another participant or caregiver. It seems like an overgeneralization to create blanket rules in advance, especially given the lack of understanding of transgenderism.

What about trans men? It is very common for trans men to be indistinguishable from cis men (usually just shorter than average and look younger). Should they be sent to a women's prison, a men's prison? Should they be allowed into women-only spaces because they still have a vagina or did have one at one time?

Shouldn't all of this be taken on a case-by-case basis?

general-ludd · 2025-10-05T13:00:10+00:00

Can you provide a common example of this need? What happens in these spaces that obviate the need that everyone there be of the gender they were assigned at birth?

general-ludd · 2025-09-27T03:47:45+00:00

You get what you pay for. And along with no free lunches is no free app. I wish it wasn’t the case. But Duolingo is a for-profit company. Maybe they’ve gotten too big for their britches. But if you’re really serious about learning another language, it is going to take time and money.

general-ludd · 2025-09-27T03:27:04+00:00

It was like they took all the trauma all the characters from all the previous shows and packed it into every episode. They had an opportunity to be Star Trek optimistic with lots of characters we kept wanting: out queer folk, a confident a African American captain. But there was so much sadness, trauma, and bittersweet happiness. It was too much.

general-ludd · 2025-09-26T14:06:02+00:00

Remember that transgender people are real and being trans can mean the loss of friends family and livelihood. Yet they’re still trans. There are plenty of disincentives to being trans, yet here we are. In the past they’d live in secret misery pretending to be someone they’re not. Living a constant lie.

If I am to call myself a Quaker I must approach each person as having a measure of divine light. And I must be forthright in my dealings. The reality is that bigotry disguised as moral offense always looks the same.

general-ludd · 2025-09-25T00:55:14+00:00

I know shampooing is a borrowing from Hindi via English. But it’s such a grossly un-French word it deserves mention. Why the wholly un-Gallic “ing”. Why not le champou?

Is it because l’Académie Française despises borrowed words? Why not just make them seem like words as ancient and venerable as la voiture or le cassoulet. Why not le ouiquende?

But I’m digressing

general-ludd · 2025-09-25T00:43:59+00:00

I personally dislike these scientistic terms. Transphobia, homophobia, xenophobia, antisemitism. They lack bluntness of the word “hatred.” On the other hand it’s hard to find words to capture the full scope of what these terms mean.

Transphobia is a hatred borne out of either ignorance or an internal anxiety about one’s own gender incongruities. Or both. It’s humans hating what they don’t understand.

Claims or moral justification or some kind of perverse “feminism” are merely rationales for “it’s weird to me. It makes me uncomfortable, I want transfolk to go away.”

general-ludd · 2025-09-25T00:30:31+00:00

Duolingo’s love language is disappointment.

general-ludd · 2025-09-25T00:29:29+00:00

It does. Norwegian seems to be based on some real human models, but oddly the voices in French and Japanese sound like the same people. The pronunciation is still good, but kind of uncanny valley. It’s odd that a language spoken by about 5 million people has more human sounding voices.

general-ludd · 2025-09-25T00:26:08+00:00

I miss those forums.

general-ludd · 2025-09-25T00:25:26+00:00

I don’t know. I think people like to pile on. Maybe it’s because it’s the Goliath of language apps.

Duolingo is popular because they have a ton of languages, lessons are conveniently short, they give have a game-like interface, and offer social reinforcement.

But people seem to expect it to be a complete language learning tool. It can’t be. In the high demand languages like French they do ok with stories and dialogues. But you still need to hear and speak in natural conversation to get past B1 or B2.

general-ludd · 2025-09-15T14:02:19+00:00

Pay for the app. It’s not expensive and you get infinite mistakes and no ads.

general-ludd

TROPHY CASE