Letters - 24 March 2017
From disabled access to prayer
Disabled access
I support and applaud the actions being taken by Esther Leighton (10 March). As a wheelchair user myself, I know how frustrating it can be to be denied lawful access to shops, buses and restaurants.
Of course, it is not just wheelchair users who experience difficulty – people may find their guide dogs are refused admittance, people with learning difficulties may be shunned, other mobility impairments are not catered for. It is shortsighted on the part of any business to refuse disabled people access, after all the disabled pound is just as valuable as the non-disabled pound!
Friends’ commitment to equality is longstanding and we may all support the actions of those who seek to improve equality of access to services for all people.
Erica Thomas
It’s a ‘we’ thing
Ben Pink Dandelion is very perceptive in that Quakerism isn’t an ‘I’ thing but a ‘we’ thing (10 March).
This put me in mind of a saying from Proverbs (Qur’an): ‘Go to the Ant, thou sluggard: Consider her ways, and be wise!’ So that’s what I did. Here’s a thing: Ants have two stomachs. One is for holding food for their own consumption, whilst the other is to hold food to be shared with other ants.
I remember an episode from my time in India in the early 1980s, I saw a little boy and offered him a biscuit which he promptly put in his shirt pocket.
‘Why aren’t you eating it?’ I asked.
‘Because my little sister at home has never tried a biscuit. We’re going to have half each.’
I nearly wept. ‘Little boy’… would you like to advise the UK government on social care?
John Champneys
Speaking out on climate change
I would like to support Sue Holden’s letter (3 March). I find it quite shocking that so little notice is taken of climate change by our government and by many people. There was nothing in the recent budget about reducing our CO2 emissions or preparing for the consequences of climate change.
As Sue says, it seems the human race may not be able to survive the changes that will take place and future generations will face much suffering, as will many other species. As our unsafely stored nuclear waste will be unsupervised it may also cause very serious damage.
There are a great many examples of how to change completely to renewables, for instance, solar-powered buses in China and hydro-powered boats.
The Centre for Alternative Technology has developed its programme for Zero Carbon Britain. There is no excuse for saying it is impossible.
Sue asks whether we can face the challenges of our own demise. I somehow doubt it, but positive action is still possible.
Anne Adams
Fracking
I think that Peter Hancock (10 March) has missed the point regarding Quakers’ concern about fracking.
The excuse for fracking should never be about how much energy we consumers need or are using. The fact is that energy can be derived in many different ways. Countries like Germany have shown that this can be done without any need for fracking or extending the use of fossil fuels or nuclear power. They have concentrated their efforts in developing renewables, such as wind and solar.
Having looked very closely into fracking I can see no reason whatsoever why any Quaker, or anyone concerned with environmental and moral issues involved with the fracking industry, should be anything but against it.
For people living near a fracking site the process of injecting a highly toxic cocktail of chemicals and radioactive materials into the ground and water table around them is horrifying. This coupled with the other proven side effects of fracking process should be reason enough to be against it.
Polls have shown that most people in Britain are against fracking. The Scottish government have made it clear they will not allow it. Westminster is still driven to promote the process, presumably because of the usual money-driven corporate pressure that has driven all poisonous industry in the past.
Quakers throughout history have drawn attention to and fought against wrongs that mainstream society and establishment politics have chosen to defend – now, in my opinion, is no time to change that tradition.
Miles Fielding
Oh dear! Peter Hancock is in favour of fracking. He claims fracking is ‘part of the short to medium term way forward’. Everywhere fracking has taken place so far has proved to be damaging both to local communities and to the environment. It is not being driven by need, but purely by the pursuit of profit. One of the companies engaged in fracking in North Yorkshire is owned by Barclays Bank ‘as an investment’. Another privately-owned company is fracking in Lancashire.
Many leading climate scientists say that, in order to stand any chance of maintaining a habitable planet, we have no choice but to leave all fossil fuels firmly in the ground. To continue extraction will only continue to exacerbate a runaway increase in mean global temperature.
We do not need fossil fuels. We already have the technology and the ability to do without but for as long as our banks and major institutions continue to invest their money in the oil industry it will continue to be seen as the only viable option.
In 2011 Quakers decided to become a sustainable, low carbon community – of both Meetings and individuals. Ever since then Quaker Peace & Social Witness and more recently Britain Yearly Meeting’s Sustainability Group have been working hard to persuade even more Friends to modify their lifestyles in line with that commitment. Part of that is to divest our money from companies supporting the fossil fuel industry.
Pete Redwood
The Green Belt
I agree with many of the comments on the Green Belt made by Paul Honigmann (3 March). However, few people are aware that we are short of quality productive agricultural and horticultural land on which to grow food for an ever-increasing population.
In Spain, quality growing land is largely exempt from new building – apart from essential buildings needed for food production.
I have witnessed building development on the high cliffs of various Spanish Costas. If this were to happen on the cliffs of North Devon or Cornwall, there would be an outrage!
Anthony Fox
An antidote
If you need an antidote to all the anxieties caused by Brexit and the presidential election across the Atlantic, you could turn to a new website: ‘She decides, You can help’ (www.shedecides.com).
It lifts my heart to read how a Dutch government minister set up an initiative to pledge money the day after the Mexico City Policy was re-instituted.
This policy bans US aid to overseas groups providing or advising on abortion as a method of family planning.
After a recent conference, fifty more countries pledged £155 million to plug the new gap in aid for family planning work.
I believe this kind of initiative is to empower women to control their own family size. This, in turn, is vital for the population reductions needed to bring down the number of consumers and CO2 producers in the world.
So, bravo to the Dutch for a swift, appropriate and visible response! The UK already has a large budget for family planning aid.
Cherry Foster
Prayer
Roger Seal asked (3 March) if Friends pray.
I pray following the Daily Office used by the Society of Saint Francis, which my friends think is odd as I come from a Pentecostal background. As well as these four daily prayers I will also fire off (in a nonviolent manner) a few rounds of one-line prayers throughout the day: for people I meet, or if I am writing an article for one of my editors.
I pray silently, sitting on the bunk in my room, or at my desk. I pray because God and I are in a relationship, and we have to talk and listen to one another; this is what keeps the relationship alive. I also pray because if I talk to myself about the concerns I take to God I will get it wrong most of the time rather than just some of the time
Mark H
