Issue 19-10-2012
Featured story
Thought for the Week: Sharing our gifts
Next week Churches Together in England (CTE) will hold a Forum, an event that happens every three years and brings together representatives of the member churches, of county ecumenical councils and of associated bodies. About two hundred and sixty people will meet at Swanwick in Derbyshire to worship together, to...
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Ethical investment: Investing in a better world
When young Friends gathered at the Politically Engaged Young Friends Conference in mid-August, we discussed the arms trade, economic justice and the challenge of holding a tender kiss for three minutes as part of a photo stunt. But what really got us excited was ethical investment.
Ethical investment: Where next?
The idea of ethical investment can be taken right back to the nineteenth century, when Quakers refused to invest in the arms industry. More recently, the early 1980s are seen as the start of modern ethical investment in the UK. For ethical fund managers life was fairly easy then. They...
Look within
Many Friends have found the attempt to divide Quakerism into two categories – ‘theist’ or ‘nontheist’ – increasingly tiresome because it refuses to acknowledge that there is a third category called ‘Quakerism’.
Luton Quakers protest
During Quaker Week 2012 Luton Quakers worshipped and prayed outside Barclays Bank. Chris Nickolay told the Friend that a leaflet was handed out saying that they were doing this ‘because a long time ago Barclays was a Quaker bank. It was honest and truthful.
A moment in history
History was made at the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) on 9 October when four representatives, two office managers, a policy and advocacy officer and two programme assistants were all together at Quaker House, Brussels. Pictured are QCEA staff past and present: Alexandra Bosbeer, Martina Weitsch, Viviane Nolf, Gordon Matthews,...
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Finmeccanica and National Gallery part company early
Italian arms company Finmeccanica has ended its sponsorship arrangement with the National Gallery in London a year before it was due to end.
Occupy is one year old
Occupy London Stock Exchange began on 15 October 2011 and set up camp at St Paul’s Cathedral the following day. It followed Occupy movements in many cities worldwide.
Forty days of prayer
Quakers are being urged to take part in ‘Forty Days of Prayer for the Future of Friends’, which has been announced by Friends United Meeting (FUM). FUM has announced a program designed to gather all its members around the world in prayer conversation and discernment. The program began on 10...
Victory for India’s landless
The 11 October was a memorable day in the history of land rights in India. As Jan Satyagraha’s website announced: ‘The agreement reached between Jan Satyagraha and the Indian government is expected to result in a major policy change on land rights and land distribution, benefitting the poorest population segments...
News in brief - 19 October 2012
GREEN AND ETHICAL INVESTMENTS are up according to EIRIS, the sustainable investment research specialists. Investment has risen to around £11 billion currently from £4 billion ten years ago. The figures were announced for National Ethical Investment Week (14 to 20 October). Mark Robinson of EIRIS said: ‘The credit crunch and on-going financial crisis, plus...
Spirituality – what is it?
Spirituality has become something of a vogue word these days, but what does it mean? My Oxford dictionary only lists the word as a derivative of ‘spirit’, which comes from the Latin spiritus meaning ‘wind’ or ‘breath’. This term is defined differently by monotheists, polytheists, Native Americans, secularists and so...
Friends in France
France Yearly Meeting, which was held this year in Conqueyrac (Gard) in the south of France from 25-28 July, was a great success. Almost sixty Friends attended – more than double the figure for 2012. The theme of the gathering was ‘Learning to know each other in the eternal’ and, over the...
Eye - 19 October 2012
The influence of Friends Together we’ve been discovering Quaker quotes and references scattered throughout literature. However, Eye was fascinated to learn of the influence of Friends in the life of Dorothy Richardson, not just on what was written but the writer herself.
Letters - 19 October 2012
Quakers or Friends I am surprised some Friends are calling for the name ‘Religious Society of Friends’ to be phased out in favour of ‘Quakers’. The origin of both names is obscure, but some say ‘Quakers’ derives from Isaiah 66:2, and ‘Friends’ from John 15:14. These Bible verses give very different images:...