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Dear Reader Friends in the U.S.A. often pride ourselves on our diversity. Friends United Meeting is racially diverse­in fact, most of us are black. But that is only true globally: most of our members live in East Africa. The fact is Friends meetings, whether in Kenya or the United States, are almost completely homogeneous in terms of race, social class, and education. We also often pride ourselves on being the first predominantly white religious group in the U.S. to free ourselves of the sin of slave-holding­and of later Quakers' role in the abolition movement. I love that heroic history and enjoyed editing the fascinating stories of the Underground Railroad in the Reminiscences of Levi Coffin. Our Quaker forebears did well in standing for justice but, by and large, we haven't done what it takes to open the doors of our meetinghouses to people of color. Skip Schiel, p. 4, and Gordon Browne, p. 6, help us look at our mixed history in regard to racism. FUM's purpose statement is all about spiritual hospitality. And the Gospel is all about breaking down those walls which stand between us and God, and the walls between people. Vanessa Julye's article, p. 9, puts the challenge: are we willing to change in ways that will extend hospitality to people who don't look or feel "like us"? Beginning on p. 26, we have a special discussion section in which we look at two approaches to social justice being advocated by Friends. This continues the discussion we initiated with Ron Sider in the fall of 1996 in his articles, "Toward an Evangelical Political Agenda." Next month, our regular "Viewpoints" and "Reviews and Releases" columns will return. Please write and let us know what you are thinking. Ben Richmond

3 Salt and Light: Bruce Bishop Questions and Doubts 4 A Friend on the Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage Skip Schiel 6 And Your Neighbor as Yourself Gordon Browne 9 Diversity Within the Religious Society of Friends: Do We Really Want It? Vanessa Julye 11 Commitments: The American Sin Johan Maurer 12 News 14 News from Friends United Meeting 16 Focus on Ministry: Visit to a Refugee Camp Nancy Maeder 18 Bible Study Anne Thomas 19 Turning Points Ann Miller 20 Meeting Directory 24 Classifieds SPECIAL SECTION: 26 On The Moral Economy Herb Fraser 27 "Emweakenment" and the Moral Economy Jack Powelson 31 The Responsiblitiy of Dual Citizenship Florence Kimball 33 Passages 35 The Back Bench: On Raising Bi-Cultural Kids Nancy Thomas

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