tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post1609836060170686822..comments2023-10-28T02:59:37.028-07:00Comments on E m e r g i n g ...Q u a k e r i s m ..L i t e r a t u r e ..R e l i g i o n ... L i f e: "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12396312339372162866noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-3323256701564340152013-05-19T10:21:34.930-07:002013-05-19T10:21:34.930-07:00Are you inferring that Unions and Union Bosses are...Are you inferring that Unions and Union Bosses are cruel, but the union rules keep their cruelty in check as well as the inherent cruelty of the establishment!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-77715802078024490792011-02-18T09:19:33.365-08:002011-02-18T09:19:33.365-08:00A recent example of this is when my husband worked...A recent example of this is when my husband worked in a non-union establishment. The boss was apparently a kind and friendly man who had an "open door policy". One day, an older gentleman came to express his concern about how he had been treated by one of the administrators. The boss and the worker had known each other for years, the employee had a well-known record as being a long-time, loyal worker, and the understanding was that they were "friends" who could trust each other. But that day, the boss didn't like to be criticized and fired the man on the spot. Just like that. So much for friendship. My husband, who had had the good fortune of working in places with unions before that point came home very shaken and saddened by that incident. Every place he has worked has had decent people and rotten people. In all the unionized places, the abuses of the rotten people were thwarted or minimized. In the places without unions, your well-being relied entirely on the whims of whoever was in charge that day so you prayed they were in a good mood.Hysteryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02044678910937934731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-92006595007918522172011-02-15T16:46:31.297-08:002011-02-15T16:46:31.297-08:00Interesting comment about slavery, especially in l...Interesting comment about slavery, especially in light of my recent rereading of Huckleberry Finn! In that book, the slave Jim runs away because he learns that his owner, the kindly but forbidding Miss Watson, is planning to sell him down the river even though she had assured him that she would never do such a thing. In the end, Jim is saved from the slave catchers because Miss Watson frees him after her death largely due to a bad conscience. The denouement of the novel might strike some as a bit abrupt, but Jim's unexpected salvation serves to underline the precariousness of his position as a slave. I agree with you, Diane. I can't help but think that anyone who, like Jim, depends on the voluntary benevolence or charity of others (individuals or organizations), might eventually find themselves "sold down the river" too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-25581514928253103562011-02-08T11:59:01.825-08:002011-02-08T11:59:01.825-08:00Yes, Anonymous, I do see that too, but as Woolman ...Yes, Anonymous, I do see that too, but as Woolman worried that slavery rested too much on the assumption of individual willingness to be good to slaves, I worry about a system that relies on individual charity and not an institutionalized baseline. In terms of slavery, I'd rather have a government decision to do away with it, then to rely on individual slaveholders to be compassionate. I would like a system where a nursing home is staffed by well-trained, competent people who are carefully chosen, paid enough and given enough vacation and down time not to burn out.Dianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12396312339372162866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-12994095449925043572011-02-08T09:13:33.277-08:002011-02-08T09:13:33.277-08:00Regarding charity, I see your perespective. But I ...Regarding charity, I see your perespective. But I see the contrary perspective with equal clarity; if we do our acts of charity by proxy, through a vote, we may have a new nursing home full of employees who don't care much about the people they're supposed to be caring for; tender mercies from the wicked. Love your neighbor face to face, not just through a vote.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-61592266798651640632011-02-07T14:40:44.296-08:002011-02-07T14:40:44.296-08:00Thanks Tom,Thanks Tom,Dianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12396312339372162866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-20827930888336455122011-02-07T11:10:22.260-08:002011-02-07T11:10:22.260-08:00I am trying to remember where I read it, but there...I am trying to remember where I read it, but there is a record of the "libraries" that Woolman had access to and lists of the books that he read. It is an interesting list of fairly influential works. Woolman was very well read.<br /><br />I'll try to find the reference and share it. I suspect it was "The Beautiful Soul Of John Woolman, Apostle Of Abolition"<br /><br />BY THOMAS SLAUGHTERTom Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12194918323559385371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-31556517468274261652011-02-04T04:10:54.411-08:002011-02-04T04:10:54.411-08:00Hi Hystery,
This is fascinating. I just read tha...Hi Hystery,<br /><br />This is fascinating. I just read that Bonhoeffer, who connected strongly with the Harlem community in 1930 when he was at union theological seminary, read Uncle Tom's Cabin as a child, translated into German.Dianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12396312339372162866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-73928606093032744942011-02-03T11:30:01.625-08:002011-02-03T11:30:01.625-08:00The question of what texts and contexts affect the...The question of what texts and contexts affect the development of a thinker's thoughts has got to be one of my very favorite questions. I'd love to know what texts Woolman was reading and in what order and combination.Hysteryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02044678910937934731noreply@blogger.com