Martin Kelley

Martin Kelley

@martinkelley.com

Senior editor at Friendsjournal.org, OG blogger at Quakerranter.org. South Jersey dad, hiker, runner.

727 followers430 following904 posts

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

Came in first in my division on the White Horse 5k on Saturday. Not my best time ever or even this year butI felt strong and confident throughout and paced myself really well. My first 5k competition was the 2021 White Horse race 5 years ago!

Martin Kelley reposted

David Roberts
@volts.wtf

Here's what I think about when I think back on 9/11. The attack happened on the watch of a Republican president who had been warned, repeatedly & explicitly, that an attack was coming. He dismissed those warnings.

Martin Kelley reposted

sarah jeong
@sarahjeong.bsky.social

i think this is the best epitaph for bin laden i have ever seen

eb99@eb99.bsky.social

I think it's more comforting for some people to think of OBL as some evil genius or tragic victim of imperialism rather than a bog standard delusional ideologically extremist billionaire failson who thought he could accellerationism his way to a theocratic utopia

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

A beautiful meditation on Quakers’ softening on the ideas of times and seasons and how he (and I suspect many other Friends) have come to more fully embrace the seasons of both the wider Christian Church and also the natural seasons of the earth. amorvincat.wordpress.com/2026/09/06/c...

amorvincat.wordpress.com“Creationtide” and thoughts about liturgySeptember 1 has been marked for centuries as the beginning of the Orthodox year, and in recent times as a day of prayer for the protection of the Creation. In 1989, the Patriarch of Constantinople …

Martin Kelley reposted

Anil Dash
@anildash.com

I’m curious, if “eggs expensive under Biden” was newsworthy, how come “Trump intentionally caused every single fucking thing to be heinously expensive” isn’t a story?

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

Signs outside of the Medford NJ meetinghouse. Taken because a Friend at my meeting is thinking about signage that might further convince neighbors we’re not an abandoned space.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

Fuck Google Maps. At some point you have to decide that the official US federal geographic names database has become an unreliable stew of politicized 💩. What happens when President Demented names the Atlantic Ocean after himself?

Martin Kelley reposted

Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans)
@iwriteok.bsky.social

This is what the growth of surveillance is going to bring. Not safety from crime, but new, non-criminal acts redefined as criminal so as to give the police an excuse to exercise power. local12.com/news/offbeat...

local12.comPolice request public's help to find suspect who picked up $30 off ground in WalmartA police department took to social media and asked the public to help them identify a suspect who found $30 on the ground in Walmart.
Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

A fundamental feature of consensus/sense of meeting is that the lack of it defaults to the status quo ("how we've always done it"). This makes decisions that might involve a perceived or real judgements of the behavior of fellow Quakers quite difficult.

NJ Progressive@njprogressive.bsky.social

And a need for consensus can sometimes lead to a middle ground agreement, when the middle ground isn’t necessarily where we should land.

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Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

In terms of putting safeguards in place for children, I agree with a lot of the Stephanie Krehbiel's arguments in the original article's comment thread that what progress we've made has largely been forced on us by insurance companies.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

I've had lots of well-meaning Friends tell me we don't need the basic safeguarding policies (windows in doors, background checks of childcare workers, two-deep adults around kids at all time, etc.).

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

A fundamental feature of consensus/sense of meeting is that the lack of it defaults to the status quo ("how we've always done it"). This makes decisions that might involve a perceived or real judgements of the behavior of fellow Quakers quite difficult.

NJ Progressive@njprogressive.bsky.social

And a need for consensus can sometimes lead to a middle ground agreement, when the middle ground isn’t necessarily where we should land.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

Don't get me wrong, I like our process but we need to be honest about where it fails us. Or more particularly fails members of our community The protracted debates in liberal meetings over same-sex marriage 20-30 years ago drove a lot of LGBTQ away because they didn't want to wait for us to decide.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

I had a wonderful time playing host for a visit by an old Cropwell Meeting family that was visiting the area this week. The highlight was definitely 103 year old Margaret Adele McGee, who told stories of worshiping at Cropwell in the 1920s!

cropwellquakers.orgTruitt Family Visits Meetinghouse - Cropwell QuakersOn Wednesday, August 19 members of the extended Truitt family, led by 103-year-old Margaret Adele McGee, dropped by for a visit to Cropwell Meeting. McGee and her daughter Patti McGee Colston had flow...

Martin Kelley reposted

Annalee
@flowerhorne.com

Replying to @martinkelley.com

I think what it comes down to is that we have a problem with conflict. We have a lot of Friends who just Cannot Handle frank disagreement. Peace as the absence of conflict rather than the presence of justice, etc.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

I’m powered by Freedom, baby! This has always been a sketch location, constantly closing and reopening. There’s definitely been some sort of con going with its owners and this month it’s Freedom Fuels.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

I'm Quaker and my wife Catholic so my four children have spent time in both communities. The only times I've later learned someone they were close to at some event was a predator was in Quaker circles. I'm not kidding. There are Quakers who don't want us talking about this stuff but we must.

gepandz.bsky.social@gepandz.bsky.social

I am glad we are having this conversation, Friends. The only time I've felt moved to stand in the way of a decision was when Mtg tried to bring in a childcare worker without a background check. Older Friends felt they could read the soul of this person, and I heard clearly that that was not enough.

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Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

After these revelations came out I thought back to the visits years before. Had I ever left any of my kids out of my sight? Were there any creepy pats on shoulders or offers to lift them up? I don't think so and there was no trauma of any sort. We were lucky that these were day trips.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

My point: abuse can happen in Quaker spaces. And any naivete that we're somehow immune helps keep it hidden. We protect ourselves by being smart and talking about it over and over.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

I'm Quaker and my wife Catholic so my four children have spent time in both communities. The only times I've later learned someone they were close to at some event was a predator was in Quaker circles. I'm not kidding. There are Quakers who don't want us talking about this stuff but we must.

gepandz.bsky.social@gepandz.bsky.social

I am glad we are having this conversation, Friends. The only time I've felt moved to stand in the way of a decision was when Mtg tried to bring in a childcare worker without a background check. Older Friends felt they could read the soul of this person, and I heard clearly that that was not enough.

View full thread
Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

I took this photo at a Quaker gathering at a Friend's house. He was a respected administrator at a (non Quaker) religious school, seemed like a nice guy. My two oldest sons are just off camera. Police later said the trailer on the left was the scene of years of rapes of foreign-exchange students.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

My oldest son and I had a great tour of this meetinghouse by a kindly grandfatherly type, complete with a trip up to the attic. He's the former principal at the North Carolina school mentioned in the @friendsjournal.org article. Abused multiple kids at at least two schools.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

I'm Quaker and my wife Catholic so my four children have spent time in both communities. The only times I've later learned someone they were close to at some event was a predator was in Quaker circles. I'm not kidding. There are Quakers who don't want us talking about this stuff but we must.

gepandz.bsky.social@gepandz.bsky.social

I am glad we are having this conversation, Friends. The only time I've felt moved to stand in the way of a decision was when Mtg tried to bring in a childcare worker without a background check. Older Friends felt they could read the soul of this person, and I heard clearly that that was not enough.

Martin Kelley
@martinkelley.com

And it wasn't Quakers who outed the three, it was law enforcement and journalists. I could link to news articles on all three. At least two remained active in their meetings.