Issue 22-04-2011
Featured story
A perspective on the Eternal
Some people, who interpret certain biblical stories literally, believe that creation happened about 6,000 years ago. Personally, I go with evidence pointing to a ‘Big Bang’, which dates the universe at about 13.7 billion years, with the emergence of human beings some hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Top stories
Clive Stafford Smith speaking truth to power
There are risks in doing this kind of work. Clive Stafford Smith is the legal representative of some eighty-five of the 780 or so prisoners that have been, or still are, held in Guantanamo Bay. Unlike some of them, he has not been tortured. But if he reveals publicly an allegation...
Scottish and Welsh elections
Quakers in Scotland are calling on candidates in the upcoming Holyrood elections to put economic justice at the heart of their policies. South-East Scotland Area Meeting have produced a model letter for Friends to send to candidates about the impact of cuts and the gap between rich and poor.
Israeli peace activist murdered
A leading Israeli peace activist has been murdered in Jenin. Born to a Jewish mother and Palestinian father, Juliano Mer-Khamis often referred to himself as 100 per cent Jewish and 100 percent Palestinian. The actor, director and political activist was shot dead outside the Freedom Theatre, which he helped run in a...
Soup run reprieved?
Quakers in London remain concerned about the plight of homeless people in the city following confusion over a potential council decision. A housing charity has predicted that people will be ‘queuing up to commit acts of civil disobedience’ if Westminster Council pushes ahead with a by-law that would ban soup...
Noel’s story
Kenneth Clarke, secretary for justice, wants to see a decrease in the prison population. He knows that short term sentences are a revolving door to more crime and too short for effective rehabilitation. But he must carry the climate of opinion with him. Statistics are important but real life stories...
All articles
Boycotting Israel: Quaker action is justified
Meeting for Sufferings’ decision to boycott goods made by Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is welcome and the least we should do in view of Israel’s continuing oppression. The West Bank is divided into three areas. The Palestinian Authority has limited powers over Areas A and B,...
A Quaker boycott
Meeting for Sufferings is urging us to boycott goods produced by ‘Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories’. This is not a boycott of ‘Israeli goods generally’ but only those from a small area where settlements ‘have been repeatedly condemned as illegal by the United Nations’. Since this statement appeared...
Carnival Day
Slugs ‘Mucous gastropods without shells, bilious brown and green, chocolate box black and blue’ slaughtered our delicate shoots on carnival day in our market town. Should we execute? Salt or pellets would do the trick. They’d liquidate, leaving, by the morning, a...
Piero della Francesca’s ‘Resurrection’
The eyes of Piero’s risen Jesus gaze with the compelling blankness of a man who, just this very moment, has walked out of hell. It is a face that even atheists have found they recognize. Its gaze reminds us of Auschwitz, Srebrenica, Hiroshima, Burma and Tibet, Libya, Rwanda,...
Eye - 22 April 2011
You and your underwear The common stereotype of the Quaker is the hat-wearing, oat-selling, peace-loving Friend with staunch values. There’s not much truth in that for current Quakers, you might say, and there’s nothing raunchy about it either. When this popular image was referred to by a guest...
Letters - 22 April 2011
We’re not all in this together Barbara Forbes (‘We’re not all in this together’, 8 April) asks if Friends House meets the Wage Ratio Campaign standard of 10:1. The wage ratio for Britain Yearly Meeting staff, including contractors, is less than 4:1. Michael Hutchinson, acting recording clerk Britain Yearly Meeting, Friends...