Issue 16-11-2012

Featured story

Thought for the Week: Being thankful

FREE 15 Nov 2012 | by Curt Gardner

I am searching for something I have lost or mislaid: I long for a ‘good’ period of worship in which I turn to the God of my younger years. Such occasions have now disappeared; they seem to have slipped through my fingers without me noticing.

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Top stories

Why we need an animal revolution

FREE 15 Nov 2012 | by Heidi Stephenson

Why we need an animal revolution | Photo: Photo: Jean-Pierre / flickr CC.

‘There are two paths, one of life and one of death, and the difference is great between the two.’ So opens the ancient Didache (one of the oldest patristic writings of the early church). Tragically, where the rest of the animal kingdom is concerned, we’ve taken the path of...

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The nature of Christ

15 Nov 2012 | by Alexander Macpherson-Glasgow

Cyril, doctor of the church and patriarch of Alexandria | Photo: Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Out of Egypt I called my son (Hosea 11:1)   All churches claim to represent, if not an unbroken lineage from the apostles, then a restoration of the Apostolic Age. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is no different in making this claim. Unlike other churches, however, it can offer a...

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People in poverty

15 Nov 2012 | by Tony Stoller

For the best part of forty years I’ve been involved in, tried to influence and been impressed by public policy-making in the UK. I’ve been equally appalled too.  Here, at the end of 2012, we can start to see that we are now in a new time. What...

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Grieving

15 Nov 2012 | by Anonymous

I’ve stopped attending Meeting and I’m not sure I’ll return. Why? I feel abandoned and unsupported, uncared for. How come? My mother died recently, yet I’ve had no contact from my Meeting to express sympathy or even ask how I am – except for a kind and...

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All articles

Meeting in Ethiopia

15 Nov 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk

A Scottish Quaker intends to introduce the Quaker way of worship to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.  Peter Cheer, a member of Perth Meeting East Scotland, who is currently on a Voluntary Service Overseas assignment in Ethiopia, plans to hold a Quaker Meeting for Worship in Addis.

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Report highlights concern in Colombia

15 Nov 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk

Plans for a massive expansion of Colombia’s mining industry could have serious implications for human rights violations, environmental damage and lost tax revenues, a new report warns.

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White poppy events in Wales

15 Nov 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk

Welsh Quakers were involved in several ‘white poppy’ events over the Remembrance weekend that bore witness to the continuing need for the peaceful resolution of conflict in the world today.

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Waldo Williams

15 Nov 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk

The distinguished Welsh Quaker poet Waldo Williams was the subject of a special Remembrance Day programme on BBC Radio Wales.  The programme used extracts from a talk given by Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, and contributions from people who knew the famous Welsh poet to paint a picture of...

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Quarterly Coup

15 Nov 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk

The Friends Quarterly, sister publication of The Friend, has managed something of a journalistic ‘coup’ in featuring an article by Justin Welby in the current edition.  The ex-oil company executive, and present bishop of Durham, has just been announced as the successor to Rowan Williams and the 105th archbishop...

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Discovering life

15 Nov 2012 | by Jonathan Griffith

When I was four years old, I set out on adventures in a little walking frame, discovering the world and solving how to overcome the obstacles that were in the way. That little frame, no doubt intended for nothing more challenging than a carpet, took me through long grass and...

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When poets go to war

15 Nov 2012 | by Bill Bingham

When poets go to war, they tell a dreadful tale, They tell of crucifixion, nail on bloody nail. They tell the tale of Cain again, slaughtering his brother. They tell of orphaned children, and broken-hearted mother.

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Eye - 16 November 2012

15 Nov 2012 | by Eye

Bobbing balloons Many thanks to Stuart Wallace, Wimbledon Meeting, for sending in this delightful photo taken in the Palestinian village of Dair Ghassanah.

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Letters - 16 November 2012

15 Nov 2012 | by The Friend

Why did we fight? I am glad to know that I am not the only one writing to the Ministry of Defence. I have been writing over the past two years, with what I call my moral and logical question: how can this country say we need nuclear weapons and...

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