Issue 06-05-2011
Featured story
Fleeing fascism
History allows us the luxury of hindsight. In 1933, when fascism began to spread across the borders of Europe, few people realised the urgent need to enable refugees to flee fascist oppression. The Religious Society of Friends took an early lead in establishing programmes across Europe for refugee relief and rescue.
Top stories
At the gates of heaven
Once upon a time there was a girl called Sinéad, and one day, when she was minding her own business, she unexpectedly died.
Osama’s death prompts mixed reactions
Faith groups and religious leaders have cautioned against celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden. Some have also been critical of the killing and warned that it is unlikely to make the world safer.
Arresting times
Quakers are among those voicing concern over the widespread arrest of activists in the run-up to last week’s royal wedding. A number of Friends were affected by police action that saw dozens of people taken into custody before and during the event.
Egyptian pacifist jailed
Peace and human rights campaigners have expressed dismay at the news that an Egyptian pacifist has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for ‘insulting the military’. Maikel Nabil Sanad was active in the recent Egyptian revolution and published an article criticising the armed forces’ role in the event (see ‘Conscientious...
Friends lay down peace vigil
A monthly Quaker peace vigil in London’s Trafalgar Square will take place for the last time at noon on Saturday. The vigil has been held in the Square every month since 1 May 2004, when Friends in Forest Hill Meeting were moved to testify against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
All articles
Love your enemy
I’ve occasionally had the fantasy that if early Friends had lived for several centuries they would have watched how their earliest hopes had, or had not, been fulfilled. Committed to peace and nonviolence, for instance, they could only be confused by the way scientific progress is hijacked for the...
‘The hardest hit’
Friends in York and Cambridge have written of their concern about the impact of welfare cuts on the lives of people who are disabled and their families. I share this concern. There are many additional threats ahead for disabled people. The Welfare Reform Bill, currently going through the committee...
Letters - 06 May 2011
Death of bin Laden There is something disquieting about the death of bin Laden and the public response to it. Bin Laden organised many atrocities, but I would question the right of any state to summarily ‘eliminate’ any person and dump the body in the sea. President Obama will gain...
Stuffed and starved
This book will make you angry. And if you still have any illusions that the majority of those who process and manufacture our food have our best interests at heart, then they will be dispelled. Today on this planet, 800 million people are hungry, and they are outnumbered by one billion...
The Eternal
The article on ‘The Eternal’ by Howard Grace (22 April) moved me to review my view of the Eternal. On the mystery of God, I feel that there probably is a God, in the sense of a creator of the universe and everything within it, including us. My provisional view...
Eye - 06 May 2011
Bibles hit the road Eye’s path was crossed again this week by motorcycles bearing religious bodies. A number of members of the Christian Motorcyclists’ Association are leather bound. They will hit the road with Bibles in hand to bring the message to an increasingly secular society.