I followed the links to an article on consensus decision making The entire article seemed to me to be on the simplistic side perhaps due to my ongoing research in Organizational Communication but it had a section on Quaker decision making I dont know if it would be appropriate to link back here sort of a  degree thing but it certainly is relevant    Perhaps an article on Quaker meetings might be worth considering Im thinking in terms of examining several types of Quaker meetings clearness weddings threshing as well as business in light of Quaker philosophies or traditional practices Put another way I am growing increasingly sensitive to cataloging weird Quaker ways of doing things in a decontextualized sense Perhaps we would be better off discussing how the Quakers beliefs led to these different ways of meeting    Some suggestiongs  Universal ministry everyone a minister  immediate access not mediated by Priest or ecclesiastical structure  privileging peacemaking refusing to accept any sort of social darwinism in which the strongor aggressively vocalprevail and  testimony of integrity challenging participants to put beliefs into actions even if it leads to unconventional methods   It doesnt have to be an apologetic for Quaker practices but it would help explain why these practices are held so closely by Quakers even of dramatically different theologies   And thank you all for putting up with my bull in a china shop entrance My entries could have been read as patronizing and as assuming that I was the only real Quaker present I did not intend to communicate that I am sorry I suppose that several Quaker sensibilities were at work even here among the tools and spare parts Thank you for your gracious patience all    Roy  but I still dont get all of the clever codes and secret handshakes  apparently there are different norms for the page discussion site than for the programtopic discussion site and for a third sort of discussion place which I havent really assimilated in a coherent manner yet