Meeting for Sufferings: Response to the ‘post-truth world’
A minute from Southern Marches Area Meeting was heard at Meeting for Sufferings
A minute from Southern Marches Area Meeting (AM) on ‘‘‘Post-truth world” – What can we do?’ was heard at Meeting for Sufferings on 7 April at Friends House in London.
Friends in Southern Marches AM have again been discussing the question of restoring truth and integrity to the public sphere. Their minute states: ‘We need to begin with ourselves before we point the finger at others. As individuals we should be more open to listening to those we do not agree with (including via social media), and not just talk to those who share our views. We should also consider reading newspapers promoting different views from our own, and writing letters to them.’
The minute continues: ‘At Area Meeting level we would like to hold a workshop on truth and integrity.’ It asks elders and overseers to look into making arrangements for such an event.
The minute also expresses the wish for the issue to be taken up at national level: ‘We hope that our Yearly Meeting might be a public champion of truth.’
Friends from Southern Marches asked Meeting for Sufferings to test this concern ‘and in particular to consider reviving the programme on Truth and Integrity in Public Affairs, which was laid down some years ago’.
Speaking to the minute, a Friend who is also a civil servant talked of ‘a real understanding of what this means in our present climate’. He said: ‘With the advent of social media this is a time Friends need to start thinking again’ about these issues.
He added: ‘There is a lot of legislation… Get ridding of red tape [can be] problematic, awkward, inconvenient.’
‘The subject is something Friends should take on,’ he said. ‘It does need that wider testing within the Society.’
Another Friend had two observations to make. First: ‘Too much policy is now being based on conviction rather than evidence.’ Second: ‘There is increased contracting out of government services to commercial undertakings, who then claim secrecy as part of that undertaking.’
A request for ministry in this area of public life was also made. A Friend said that there ‘is not a great deal of guidance on this in the current book’.
Another Friend was ‘glad there is some sense of urgency’ about the matter.
The minute will be sent to Area Meetings for further discernment. It is expected that Sufferings will return to the issue in November.
Comments
This is a very timely concern, given the unacceptable anti-Western and anti-Israeli bias in recent pronouncements by Friend House
By frankem51 on 20th April 2018 - 9:39
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