Letters - 02 September 2011
From conscientious objection to the role of art in the society
Conscientious objection
Last week’s Fox Report (26 August) reminded me of a comment written by Jean Johnson, an American Quaker, at the end of her husband Paul’s letters from prison. He was a CO during the second world war. ‘During Paul’s time in prison I often thought of other Friends who were also in prison… I wondered what the moral of it all was and finally came to the conclusion: in peace time men who kill other men are put in prison; in war time men who refuse to kill other men are put in prison. It gives one pause to think.’
Clare Norton
Sustainability
I came away from a delightful week at YMG Canterbury, with a feeling that we were not seeing the ‘Elephant in the Room’ as regards sustainability. I did not find discussion (perhaps I went to the wrong meetings!) of what happens to jobs without economic growth, nor was Simplicity examined for its effects on the jobless. ‘Simplification’ of my life may be to employ others where possible. Should Friends in Local Meetings and nationally be encouraged to undertake constructive projects at this time – ‘New Deal’ style?
It has come to me there is another possible line of action. Some of the most devastating cuts have ironically been those affecting voluntary organisations. Those of us who have assets – perhaps rather more than sufficient savings ‘for a rainy day’ (for example, ‘better class’ old people’s home) – might choose at this time to invest some of these in a trust fund, the income from which would support charities organising volunteers that have lost or had serious cuts in their local authority grants. Local examples I happen to know of are the Volunteer Bureau, Maidstone Mediation who run Restorative Justice in Kent as well as Neighbour and Peer Mediation in Schools, the Children’s House and RESET for the resettlement of offenders. The recent disturbances have also highlighted for me the folly of closing youth clubs – seven out of eight in my area.
I am sure Friends in other areas know of similar disasters. If anyone is interested in following this up, or knows of such a fund already existing, I would be pleased to hear from them.
Janet Sturge
FWCC World Gathering
Like many Friends, I have been much inspired by this year’s Swarthmore Lecture – both the spoken lecture and the book, which I have just finished reading. I feel moved to look at significant changes both in my own life and in the corporate life of the Society.
One obvious area to examine is travel: many Friends nowadays will not fly at all, and many more consider carefully whether they need to. As a worldwide Society, we need to consider radical ways to reduce our carbon footprint substantially.
Yet I read that one thousand Friends will gather in Kenya for the FWCC Triennial conference next year. Many of these Friends will be flying considerable distances. How can this be an example of ‘living the kingdom of God in a broken world’, when it will contribute so much to the breaking of that world?
But cancelling the conference because of its carbon footprint really would be putting our actions where our words lie. Dear Friends, can any of you honestly say that the world has been helped in any but small ways by any previous conference? I don’t think so, lovely and inspiring occasions though they undoubtedly are. So I call upon FWCC to take the bold step of cancelling this conference, so that our collective carbon footprint is thereby appreciably reduced and so that all of us can better live the Kingdom of God without breaking the world any further.
Sarah Richards
Target setting
Kelvin Beer-Jones contemplates an inevitable nuclear future in his Talking Point (19 August). Nuclear power is not an option if the wellbeing of human and other life is valued. It may be possible to contain the harmful radioactivity that is produced with nuclear energy but there is always the possibility of a leak and as the radioactivity remains for perhaps millions of years we do no favours to succeeding generations to leave this lethal legacy of our folly.
Better to harness energy from the sun as solar energy, from the wind, even though it makes some people uncomfortable, and tidal power, where the loss of local habitat, as in the Bristol Channel, is a small price to pay for contributing to saving life on the planet.
Brian Beecroft
Population
In a letter (19 August) under the heading ‘Population and sustainability’, David Leonard said that when he and his wife got married forty-six years ago, they pledged themselves to what he described as a “‘zero population growth’ family”. What did that mean? Did it mean that they had decided not to have children at all or that they would only have the number of children necessary to maintain the population as it was then – or was there some other desirable benchmark?
I ask this because my wife and I got married in 1944 and had three children. Did we exceed our quota?
Stanley A Holland
Sentencing of rioters
I was delighted to read the letter from Daphne Wassermann (26 August) about the excessive sentences handed down to the rioters – such a negative response can blight the future lives of these young people. It would be much better to get them to repair the damage they have done and to get some understanding of the hurt they have caused others (for example through restorative justice). Also, the cost of retaining them in prison will fall on the tax payers!
I hope that Friends can make strong representation to those in authority to review these harsh punishments.
Theresa Watts
Renaming Meeting for Sufferings
Some fifty years ago I had short letter in the Friend suggesting that the name be replaced. My thoughts have not changed since. The name goes against the Quaker principles of plain speaking, simplicity, clearness and, above all, honesty. It was true and accurate when first used: it was for those who were fined, had property confiscated and were imprisoned. Today, the main ‘sufferings’ the committee has to deal with are financial and administrative problems.
The only objections seem to be from those who feel that nostalgia is a fitting memorial to those who actually suffered. We can still remember them and at the same time use a name that is clear and accurate, such as central committee, which would let others realise that we are living in the present, not the archaic past.
John Gray
Art in the Society
It was good to see the article (8 July) encouraging Friends to think about the role of art in contemporary society. John Taylor, the late bishop of Winchester, believed that it was ‘artists who kept hope alive’ in many oppressive societies.
I see my role as a Winchester Quaker as a poster artist for our Meeting house. As such I would like to draw Friends attention to the UN international poster competition in support of their campaign against violence to women. Although not an internet person, I submitted five designs along with 2,300 other people.
This was partly in support of this important and overdue initiative, and partly to see if one could win a prize to help the finances of ‘Friend of the Family’ project in Winchester that was celebrated at YMG at York. Finance to keep it going is a real struggle, and the publicity would be excellent. If you go to www.create4theun.eu, you have the opportunity to vote.
Andrew Rutter
Seeking school desks and chairs for juniors
Friends at High Wycombe Meeting are assisting with the re-opening of a ruined junior school in the Murewa District of Zimbabwe, via a personal contact in our Meeting. The building has now been re-roofed, but stands empty. The education authorities in Zimbabwe are able to provide a head teacher from next January, but we need to equip at least one junior classroom. We are willing to ship a container to them, if we can load it with desks, chairs and other necessities. We hope Friends may help us to track down some redundant desks and chairs that we could collect. Our venture is registered as a small charity ‘The Sigh of Relief Trust’: www.sort.uk.net.
Ian McFarlane
Epistle
Ann White’s letter in response to YMG epistle shocked me by its content and, much more, by her apparent unconcern for the effect of her accusation of dishonesty. The clerks, all Quakers present at YMG and, we trust, the Spirit of God, endorsed the epistle and its careful wording. We have indeed inherited the earth and will pass it on to future generations; that is what ‘inheritance’ means – having responsibility for it during our lifetimes, in trust for those who follow.
Even MPs are wary of using the term ‘lying’ about each other’s utterances in parliament. A lie is a deliberate untruth. Is that what Ann White means to say? She may dispute the words used in the epistle. I think they are good ones but she is, of course, entitled to express an opinion on that. Surely she is not entitled to be so gratuitously hurtful and unjust to the honest Quakers who wrote and accepted the epistle.
Barbara Martin
Comments
Concerning the YMG epsitle, having also read it I too was puzzled by the use of the word ‘inherited’. As I understand it, inheritance concerns the passing on of a responsibility to one or more individuals, as a result of the death of an individual who previously held that responsibility. As there is no single individual who has recently died, and who had sole responsibility for the Earth, how can Quakers, or anyone else for that matter, be seen as having inherited the earth? As Ann White clearly implies, the Earth is entrusted to us as Quakers and members of society, along with every other member of humanity. To say that we have inherited the Earth, we lay ourselves open to the charge of arrogance, by attempting to take on a responsibility for which we are not entitled. Steve Brind
By Stve on 2nd September 2011 - 13:32
John Gray suggests’central committee’ as a namme for Meeting for Sufferings. Isn’t this what the Soviet central government organ was called when the Soviet Union was run by dictators?
By John & Sally B on 3rd September 2011 - 8:17
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