Friends declare ‘not in our name’
Two declarations have been made by Southern Marches and Mid Wales Meetings
Southern Marches and Mid Wales Friends have put together two declarations for speaking truth to power.
The declarations were prompted by a growing concern about the direction in which our society is moving, the Meetings said. They referred to the ‘deliberate dismantling of our welfare state, the diminishing of the value of many of its members and the denigration of our environment’.
Two ‘Not in our name’ declarations were prepared, one by young adults, parents and grandparents, and the other by young people. The Meetings hope to see both used as part of a national campaign of protest at the policies being perpetrated by the government.
The first declaration objected to ten actions, including ‘plundering our natural resources for the benefit of a few’, ‘careless disregard of the cohesion of our society’ and ‘honouring of profit above my person’. The young people’s declaration objected to ‘the over-testing of children in education’, ‘testing on animals’ and ‘restricting money to support vulnerable young people’, among other things.
Southern Marches and Mid Wales Meeetings said: ‘We are aware that Quakers at many levels are grappling with this issue but we are concerned about the absence of a visible Quaker presence speaking truth to power in a way that is heard by our friends, our neighbours, our colleagues and ourselves.’
