Letters - 29 July 2022
From Reparations to Energy prices
Reparations
The concept of reparations seems to trigger some fierce responses among Friends. To an extent they mirror a wider national controversy over responsibility in the present for sins of the past. We weren’t personally involved in chattel slavery or the exploitation of empire; the British working class were also poor and exploited; and anyway there seems no way to reliably measure the vast monetary implications or to agree on a payment formula with worthy recipients.
For Quakers, further objections may arise from pride in our record as pioneering renouncers and campaigners, and from the fact that even our entire resources in the present day could be no more than a drop in the ocean of indebtedness. Why squander them on merely signalling our virtue and contrition? Part of the answer may lie in the importance of signals. If Quakers – as enslavers, bankers and industrialists – were among the first to (personally and corporately) face the conflict between the foundations of their faith and the foundations of their prosperity; and if we believe that they made a significant difference as exemplars; how can Quakers today seek to minimise the enduring legacy of their own participation? Woke (without sarcasm) to this legacy we must, at the very least, consider what reparation is possible and necessary. So the signal in Britain Yearly Meeting’s (BYM) decision is a start. Reparation, whatever else it means, cannot mean repairing the harm to lives that were lived and lost in the past. Nor are legalistic definitions of much more use than analogies with post-war vengeance on defeated enemies.
A financial legacy to BYM of £6 million, designated for ‘fostering the gifts of children’, has been mooted as a sum that could be made available for the commitment to reparations. We understand every child to be born gifted with that of God, a spiritual gift that ‘delights to do no evil’ but must be fostered. The implications for human equality and communion have often been overlooked or denied. Money doesn’t fix the wrongs of the past but, insofar as BYM’s residual wealth was ‘ill gotten’, it can be used for urgent repair in the present.
Simon Colbeck
Disconnection
I feel I have to reply to Tina Day’s letter in the Friend of 24 June as I, too, have been having similar thoughts about my membership of the Society of Friends.
In the last three to four years, the emphasis has changed from one where it was the action and inspiration of individuals backed by their Meeting for Worship, which directed our policies. Quite often it was very small acts of kindness done out of love which started the spread of something bigger, but they were remembered by all who had contact with them.
Now, it appears that management methods have taken over.
We are a Religious Society, trying to put our faith of love and caring into our everyday lives and, I believe, showing that humans are not whole unless we recognise the spiritual side of our nature.
What is the use of outreach if it doesn’t come from the heart?
So, for the first time in my many years as a Quaker, I feel disconnected with those who are at the centre of our organisation. However, I’ve decided not to resign as I would then not have the chance to change things.
Margaret Sadler
Food for thought
The letter from Kathy Gollin (15 July) gave me much food for thought. When is it the right time to leave a group that no longer shares one’s particular viewpoint? Where do I belong? How do I treat others? Am I patronising them or do they think I am? Do I ever really listen to another person? Is it ever possible to live peacefully in a seemingly diverse group let alone a Quaker one? Is it possible for a Quaker to be racist, sexist, a class and age discriminator, a non-theist or, God forbid, quite deaf to the opinions of other people? How can I possibly love my neighbour when s/he is so annoying?
From my own experience I have to confess to all these failings. After many stopping off points on a long spiritual journey, leaving by the wayside happy Baptists, Anglicans and humanists, I finally wash up among Quakers and find my home – and Kathy’s. Currently I pompously probably best describe myself as a ‘Universalist Quaker Theist’. This is all because I once read number seventeen from Advices & queries, which states ‘Think it possible that you may be mistaken’. This quaint notion speaks volumes to me, although I still hate it when other people tell me I am wrong because they know better than I do.
At the end of the day all we have are our opinions and these change according to the facts as they reveal themselves throughout time and generations. Radical activists without exception become dinosaurs as the world turns on its axis. We pass the baton on to the young with grace, hopefully at the right time, and sit back and trust they will learn how to live together as they themselves change and experience life itself, and even, if they are lucky, grow old themselves.
My mother, who lived to be 101, used to say ‘Nobody ever thinks they will grow old’. I disagreed with her then but now, in my eighties, I know she knew what she was talking about. Still, sitting still as a Quaker dinosaur is a good place to start and continue… ‘sic transit gloria mundi’, as they say.
Jennifer Bell
A bit more life
What a truly extraordinary edition of the Friend that of 8 July was – there is so much killing off within its pages and there are such weird oxymorons! Derek Guiton ‘neglects the atheism at the heart of Christianity’. We hear of ‘The Death of God’ (again and again, seven times I think in one article). Elsewhere there is reference to ‘a cadre of reactionary Friends’. Finally, just say no to the exclusivity of worship (of God) we are encouraged – we can revere a tree. Clean the Quaker blackboard, remove these (offensive?) words, we are urged. (While we’re about it should we go the whole hog and rub out or review ‘grace’, ‘revelation’, ‘prayer’, remove ‘Religious’ from our name, in fact to make ourselves truly inclusive?)
Why? What deeper replacing spirituality are we offered? This ‘sweeping out of the old and bringing in the new’ occurs when, perhaps worryingly, nothing new, spiritually, is being introduced. Rather, this linguistic removal process strikes me as a sort of spiritual aphasia, or worse – when the meaning of words are truly forgotten, rather than mislaid – a sort of Quaker dementia.
I read this edition on returning from the funeral of my best friend, who I had known for fifty-five years – a Christian believer. His life was a testimony to what his whole being spoke of – a deep appreciation of the transcendent, not as a word, but as a revelation to him – a passion for life, and love. He was kind.
Enough of this killing off please. Let us have a bit more life.
Neil Morgan
Energy prices
Gas and electricity prices have risen by nearly 400 per cent in five months and another increase is expected later this year. There is no price cap for charities. We are with Good Energy.
This, clearly, puts at risk our Quaker support for anonymous groups, small religious groups and work with the vulnerable. I speak as much for other small charities in such a situation. The government is promoting charities such as ours to support these vulnerable groups but the situation will become critical as time goes on unless it is addressed.
I am just bringing this to the attention of Friends and to the attention of MPs and councils locally in Kent. One small thing could be done. Rochester Quakers switched from gas (in line with government and climate change advice) to electricity three years ago. The increased use of electricity pushes us into usage at the twenty per cent VAT rate for larger users of a single fuel. Twenty per cent VAT for any charity on quadrupled prices is huge. A step to reduce this back to the normal five per cent (or zero) before the autumn bills would be useful. I hope I speak for other charities as much as Quakers.
(Our Rochester building is Grade Two listed and therefore we cannot take energy-saving measures such as installing double glazing or solar heating panels.) Currently our utility bills have risen from about £3,000 to £11,500 annually and VAT is about £1,200 annually.
John Spencer
