Open for transformation: being a Quaker
Ben Pink Dandelion, the 2014 Swarthmore lecturer, talks with Ian Kirk-Smith, editor of The Friend.
Ben, could you tell me about your background?
My mother and father were very strict atheists. They also believed in private education. When we moved north, when I was eleven, they had to choose between a Catholic school and the Quaker one at Wigton, and they chose the Quaker one because they felt it would be less religious. They felt it would do me ‘the least harm’. The plan backfired horribly!
Later, I went to college and got very involved in left wing politics. I dropped out and went to live at an anarchist peace camp. That was when I changed my name, to protest against the tradition of always passing on the name of the father. It was about the only thing we could all agree to do together (being anarchists!) We all chose silly names so it was obvious they had been changed. After a while, I concluded that there wasn’t going to be a revolution in England. I trained as a chauffeur, but also remembered the Quakers and their peace witness, that they had no leaders and no votes, just like my anarchist group. I was drawn back to them.
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