The Friend is a weekly magazine in which Friends speak to each other and to the wider world, offering their insight, ideas, news, nurture and inspiration.
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At Remembrance, when the British nation’s focus is so intently on the fighting (mainly) men and the victories and prosperity they helped provide, even voicing another opinion – or wearing another colour poppy – can be an act of resistance. This is important to remember, because very often a large step for peace, such as attempting to disarm warplanes at a BAE Systems base or sailing into a nuclear test zone to try to prevent a nuclear detonation, is a long way along a path that began with the simple step of refusing to go along with the crowd.
In recent days I have developed a wholly unexpected sideline giving radio interviews about football. The games teachers of my school days would be considerably surprised, having despaired of my ineptitude at sports. I have, however, been talking about only one aspect of football: FIFA’s ban on players wearing a poppy.
When the dust has settled, and battle it is o’er,
What say ye then o’ sons o’ men?
What say o’ bloody war?
The earth is torn and ravaged, young bodies lie around,
The cannon’s roar is silenced,
And sullied is the ground.
Kansas City, Missouri was once the western frontier of the United States. The sprawling Mississippi flanks its border with the state of Kansas. It marks a boundary, the former division between the Northern states (the Union) and the slave-owning states of the South.
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Written by and for Friends on the bench
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