Mark, I agree that while theologically there is nothing "sacred" about a Quaker graveyard, I think if someone started work next to our meeting, took down the fence around the graveyard, put up a wooden barrier on our property and then dug down 20 feet right next to it that we would be up in arms as well. And I suspect we would be using "the world's language" in doing so in order to communicate our visceral reaction, especially if the contractor is convinced he has done "nothing wrong". That happened when he took down the joint fence between the properties without checking with the neighbors, not to mention putting up a wooden barricade on the neighbor's property. When Abington Meeting (Jenkintown, PA) built an addition on top of an old portion of the graveyard in 1932, they were careful not put a basement under that portion of the building so that the ground would be undisturbed. It was especially noted to those of us growing up in the Meeting that some of those buried in that area were Native Americans, as well as early members of the meeting. And at 4th and Arch in Philadelphia the graveyard used in the early 18th century is under the gravel parking lot, and there are clear policies about not digging or disturbing that area below the surface. So we still want those areas treated with respect, even if they have not been "consecrated" as say the Catholics would. I know also that being able to visit the head stones of those who have gone before us is emotionally important to many, including a lot of individual Friends, and it is strikingly callous to go digging in, putting electric poles in, and putting up fences in a graveyard that you have no connection with or responsibility for, even if you don't come across bones or other human remains in the process, as noted in the article. Yes, early Friends practice of not identifying the location of individual graves made a huge statement about humility, but also remember that starting around the middle of the 19th century most Friends cemeteries have low modest markers that do name the occupants of the individual graves, so we have moved towards the practice and understanding of the rest of the world in this as in many other areas. Not to mention the occasional lead in tracking down ancestors we get by visiting cemeteries and making note of the inscriptions. :) Alan -----Original Message----- From: quaker-roots-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:quaker-roots-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of quaker-roots-request@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 4:53 PM To: quaker-roots@rootsweb.com Subject: QUAKER-ROOTS Digest, Vol 7, Issue 65 Message: 9 Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:52:47 -0400 From: "Mark E. Dixon" <dixon_mark@verizon.net> Subject: Re: [Q-R] Fw: Quakers Say Contractors Desecrated Queens Cemetery -NYTimes.com To: <quaker-roots@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <C5117F6EBF7D4A6181D9E8FCF6EDDC90@MarkPC> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1; reply-type=original I won't defend workers' tearing up any neighbors' property, but what mainly strikes me is that early Friends were so determined not to heap posthumous honors on the dead, while contemporary Friends toss around words like "sacred" and "desecrate" like everyone else. I was in London a few years ago and sought out the grave of George Fox, who was buried at Bunhill Fields in 1691. In the centuries since, a nearby road was widened, so the bones of Fox and his contemporaries were dug up and tossed in a nearby common pit -- and the work was done by the Friends themselves. As I understand it, the traditional Quaker position is that people live on their their works (whatever they were), not by worshipping the spot where they were buried. Mark -------------------------------------------------- From: "Gwen Boyer Bjorkman" <gwenbj@seanet.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 3:34 PM To: <quaker-roots@rootsweb.com> Subject: [Q-R] Fw: Quakers Say Contractors Desecrated Queens Cemetery -NYTimes.com > Read about the Quaker cemetery in Queens, New York > > http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/nyregion/quakers-say-contractors-desecrate d-queens-cemetery.html?scp=1&sq=quaker%20cemetery&st=cse > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > QUAKER-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------ To contact the QUAKER-ROOTS list administrator, send an email to QUAKER-ROOTS-admin@rootsweb.com. To post a message to the QUAKER-ROOTS mailing list, send an email to QUAKER-ROOTS@rootsweb.com. __________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to QUAKER-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body of the email with no additional text. End of QUAKER-ROOTS Digest, Vol 7, Issue 65 *******************************************