Don’t use that tone
I am distressed by the waspish and self-righteous tone that has crept into some of the letters to the Friend. At the heart of Quakerism is the conviction that, despite the grief and horror that we may see around us, there is another way: a wholesome – in every sense – way of relating to our fellow human beings. We have never been a ‘Do as I say, don’t do as I do’ movement. How are these letters speaking of our lives, and our faith?
Hilary Curwell
Reaching safety
I am shocked and saddened by Clive Ashwin’s letter (10 October), especially as it comes from a supposedly Quaker source.
Let me express my opinion by asking him if he would have opposed the Underground Railroad, which helped 100,000 escaping slaves reach safety. It was illegal. Helpers (‘conductors’) could well have been labelled people smugglers or ‘criminal gangs’. Or would Clive have supported Canadians who objected to the non-legal ‘invasion’ of these uneducated, black, indigent immigrants?
In my opinion the present opposition to the boat people is little other than racism.
Stephen Petter
