Letters - 20 June 2014
From the Ukraine to sounding trumpets
A solution for eastern Ukraine?
The Russians in the Ukraine are afraid. The economy has failed, the previous president was seen as too close to Russia and so, in many eyes, the Russians are to blame. History instructs us that when an economy fails a minority community is picked on, bullied and demonised, and a blind eye is turned to criminal and violent acts against those thought to belong to it.
Could a joint Russian and European police force, to bolster a restored local force, be a solution? How it could work is another matter, but I’m sure that the will would be there given the seriousness of the situation.
While we all know that the police are no angels, it could give organisations interested in peace and stability a safer space to aid communities to find their own ways to cooperate and solve their problems.
Mary K Marshall
Thinking outside the box
I have been remembering UA Fanthorpe’s powerful poem, ‘Friends Meeting House, Frenchay’, as it is so relevant to the theme of Yearly Meeting this year. It is about the transformation of the spirit in Meeting for Worship, and looks back to ‘three centuries of reticent, meticulous lives’. But, I have also been recalling Simon Best at the Kindlers’ conference begging us to ‘think outside the box’, as we tried to grow as a Society.
I have been on so many peace demos, and I wonder what effect it had. And now along comes someone – perhaps she is a Friend? – with a brilliant idea that we should knit a seven-mile pink scarf to stretch between Aldermaston and Burghfield, afterwards to be made into quilts for the needy of the world. So some eleven thousand metre-long pieces will involve many thousands of knitters, most of whom have never thought of going on a demo. Lots of them, it is hoped, will turn up on 9 August when it will be in place. It will be a family day of fun and peace, but not without many reminders of its main purpose. Thinking outside the box, indeed. We must practise!
Jeanne Jones
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