Issue 04-03-2022
Featured story
War, and peace: Alastair McIntosh’s Thought for the Week
Over recent months, I’ve been reading Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel about Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, War and Peace.
Top stories
Divided we fall: A sombre year by Frank Regan
Recently, the former archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, wrote in The Guardian that 2021 had been ‘a sombre year’. He reminded readers of the 1,500 people who died in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe with its perceived opportunities. He pointed to the increased risks of flooding in the UK, and wildfires...
Self-serving: Tony D’Souza has another tale from the Zen Buddhist tradition
You could tell by his eyes that he was a cold-hearted killer. They had a glassy, fish-eyed look about them that spoke of a heart from which all compassion had long ago been extinguished. He was indeed a killer, but that was just his job – it was nothing personal. As...
Are you experienced? Joanna Dales looks at how Friends old and new have sought ‘real’ religion
The philosopher John Macmurray (1891-1976), author of the 1965 Swarthmore Lecture, ‘Search for Reality in Religion’, invited his audience to reject forms of Christianity that were ‘unreal’.
Quakers condemn the attack on Ukraine
As Friends in Britain woke to hear the news that Russia had launched a full-scale attack on 24 February, Quakers in Ukraine took to social media to tell the world ‘We’ll be grateful for your prayers’.
Armistice
On the high field, battle-green and bracken-amber, three blanketed horses graze in radio-silence and doubting light.
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Quaker becomes chair of Divinity
A Quaker professor spoke at the University of St Andrews last month about ‘Growing Trust in an Anxious Season’. Rachel Muers, a professor of Theology at the University of Leeds, was invited to preach at St Andrews University’s St Salvator’s Chapel.
Quaker furniture maker celebrated
A Quaker arts-and-crafts furniture maker is to be celebrated this month with an exhibition dedicated to his work.
Harrow Meeting donate £1million David Crick legacy
Harrow Meeting has discerned how to use the significant legacy of just under £1 million from former member of the Meeting David Crick. Following research by the Meeting’s treasurer, Sandy Horsfall, and an extended period of discernment, the Meeting decided to donate funds to a number of Quaker and peace...
MPs urged to approve changes to police bill
Eighty-one faith and belief leaders wrote jointly to MPs this week, ahead of final votes on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. As the Friend went to press, MPs debated the bill on 28 February in a process known as ‘Commons consideration of Lords amendments’.
Wars of words: Stephen Cox explores through fiction
The pacifist case is based on the belief in redemption, and that the way of non-violence has power to change the human heart. But systems of aggression can be very resistant to such a change. Even Mohandas Gandhi is said to have questioned whether non-violent resistance to Hitler would have...
Letters - 4 March 2022
Population Phil Chandler’s letter in the Friend (28 January) raises a number of points concerning population, which need answering. Why does he assume that it is only white people to whom this idea has occurred? See, for example, this article by the Ugandan activist, Florence Blondel, who advises Quaker...