Minutes of Conscience
A Quaker minute of conscience is a written statement reflecting the collective position on a moral or social issue. The following minutes express a shared ethical stance at Fifteenth Street, which has arisen from a process of communal discernment and silent reflection.
A Minute on Mindful Eating and Compassion for Animals
Let us be mindful of what we are eating. Much meat is factory farmed and causes animals to live tortured lives. Is meat that is produced under these conditions healthy for us? John Woolman wrote: “To say that we love God and at the same time exercise cruelty toward the least creature is a contradiction in itself…” Read the full minute.
Approved on June 13, 2021 Meeting for Business
A Minute of Concern for Reproductive Health Care
We believe our position on reproductive health care should be grounded in the essential Quaker belief that every person (no exceptions) has access to that of God within, which in turn leads Friends to endorse freedom of conscience as fundamental and to abhor the establishment of any particular religion and the enforcement by law of its tenets.
Friends believe that every individual has direct access to the Inner Light, which shows us our motivations and true selves, corrects us, guides us, leads us, and gives us strength to act on this guidance. We respect an individual’s decisions made in response to the promptings of the Inner Light. We acknowledge that decisions regarding family planning may be complex and should not be taken lightly. We believe that those decisions are private and to be made through individual discernment and perhaps the testing of a leading with other Friends and medical providers… Read the full minute.
Approved on October 8, 2023 Meeting for Business
A Minute of Concern for Trans People
As Friends, we embrace that of God and the Light in every person and respond with dismay to the current wave of legislation that seeks to demonize trans people and deprive them of life-giving treatment and their basic human rights. We urge our representatives to support legislation protecting the rights, safety, and human dignity of trans people… Read the full minute.
Approved on April 9, 2023 Meeting for Business
A Minute of Concern for Reproductive Rights
As Friends, we embrace that of God and the Light in every person, we believe in human equality, and we respect each person’s spiritual journey. So, we respond with concern to the current wave of legislation that seeks to diminish reproductive rights and protections… Read the full minute.
Approved on May 21, 2023 Meeting for Business
A Minute of Concern for the People of Palestine and Israel
Moved by the great suffering sustained by the people of Palestine and Israel, and guided by the words of our national organizations that help our search for peace and justice, we, the members of the Fifteenth Street Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, urge our lawmakers to: Endorse a ceasefire, de-escalation, and respect for international law against war; protect lives, including hostages held by Hamas, and civilians, both Palestinians and Israelis, suffering because of the conflict… Read the full minute.
Approved on December 10, 2023 Meeting for Business
A Minute in Support of Apartheid-Free Pledge initiated by American Friends Service Committee
WE AFFIRM our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people; WE OPPOSE all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression; and WE DECLARE ourselves an apartheid-free community and to that end, WE PLEDGE to join others in working to end all support to Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation. Read the full minute.
Approved on October 13, 2024 Meeting for Business