The whole group. Photo: Photo courtesy of George Thurley.
Castle or community?
George Thurley and Oliver Robertson write about a recent conference that considered the role of Quakers in building a new Europe
As European Quakers, what is our vision for Europe? What needs to be changed? And how can we, as a continent-wide worshipping community, take action to translate our vision into reality? These were the questions considered by 110 Friends from twenty-three different countries gathered in Brussels at the start of December.
The theme of the conference, ‘Castle or community?’, was chosen nearly twelve months ago but turned out to fit the situation Europe faces today perfectly. Friends arrived in a Brussels emerging from the ‘lockdown’ just a few days earlier, with the murders in Paris, and France and Britain’s militaristic responses fresh in their minds. The refugee crisis, along with the repercussions of the Greek crisis on the European Union, also contributed to thinking about whether Europe is becoming more open or closed.
With so many Friends gathered together, there was never likely to be a single issue that dominated, though the subject of refugees, and how they are viewed in Europe, came closest. Rachel Bayani, Bahá’í representative to the EU, spoke of how the dehumanising rhetoric of ‘floods’ of migrants gives the sense that Europe is being overwhelmed. Too much focus, she said, is on the differences between races and cultures, rather than our primary shared identity as humans. The assumption is that we are so different we cannot live together, and that we have nothing to learn from those coming: they just have to conform to our, better, civilisation. The actions of citizens, said Doris Peschke from the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe, has been both positive and powerful, in changing the reactions of governments that at first did nothing and then tried to stop people coming. We can look at the issue differently, she added: ‘Perhaps floods of working-age people coming to [a rapidly ageing] Europe could be an answer to our prayers’.
The conference’s keynote speaker was Molly Scott Cato, one of two Quaker MEPs. She gave a broad-ranging speech covering her experiences of being an MEP, and how current European economic and trade structures fail to promote peace in the world. The current European Commission is pushing for economic growth in all sectors, including the arms trade, she said, despite the fact that destructive jobs that ‘lead to death are not equivalent to other jobs’. Yet, there are also some positives. Molly spoke movingly of the solidarity between French and German parliamentarians in response to the Paris shootings, which was a powerful reminder of the European Union’s clearest success: preventing war between its members since the end of the second world war.
The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) and Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), the two Quaker agencies running the conference, left a lot of space for Friends to develop their responses to what they had heard and to consider the actions they were led to take. Participants formed small groups working on climate change, food, refugees, the arms trade, Quakers in Eastern Europe, the EU referendum and more. Each group was challenged to bring back at least one concrete action to the plenary session, whether they committed to set up a network, write an article or talk to their Meeting about the issue. We hope we will see the fruits of all these fledgling groups across Europe in the coming months.
The conference was always intended as part of a wider process; as a waypoint along participants’ individual paths, and their collective one as Friends, allowing them to stop and reflect, establishing how to move forward together. The conference was shaped by events that came before it, and perhaps it might help shape some events that come after it. Friends parted energised and ready to act together to create positive change. We hope this energy can be sustained and spread throughout the European community of Friends, as we continue our work to build the Europe we would like to see.
George is a conference organiser and QCEA sustainability project officer. Oliver is clerk of QCEA.
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