Issue 07-09-2018
Featured story
Thought for the Week: Sniffing the air
Sometimes expectations are not met, leaving me disappointed. I was aware this morning that I needed to connect with my deepest self and had decided to go to my old haunt: Witcombe reservoir. The thing was, though, that this had been a decision of my intellect; it hadn’t arisen...
Top stories
The games people play
Degerndorf is a lovely little German village surrounded by majestic mountains, beautiful rivers and sparkling lakes, and is set amongst picturesque farmland. It is also the location of a barracks built in the mid-1930s for the German army. The military barracks at Degerndorf was later to play a significant...
Aesop’s fables
Once a traveller was walking along a track high up in the hills, heading home to her village. There were no trees up there and she could see for miles, all across the valley. She drew her cloak tightly around her so she was almost invisible amongst the grass and...
Walking in the shoes of others
Resolving the current conflict around what constitutes anti-Semitism requires us to walk a mile in the other’s shoes. Peacebuilding requires that we understand the root causes of conflict. It is more than direct physical violence against the person. There are also the more hidden forms of violence that feed...
Taking the long view
Sustainability is a difficult concept. In 2011 Britain Yearly Meeting decided to be a low carbon society. This is perhaps easier to understand, as low carbon means keeping fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) in the ground, and using renewable, clean electricity to heat homes and businesses, and to power cars,...
What do Friends mean by equality?
Last week I described three possible interpretations of what Quakers mean by equality. I now offer some queries that may (or may not) clarify how equality affects their everyday life. During the industrial revolution, many Quakers became rich. Best known are probably the chocolate dynasties of Cadbury, Fry and Rowntree,...
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Quaker scientist refers to faith in climate change paper
A leading Quaker scientist has published two peer-reviewed climate science papers, one in which he breaks with academic convention by referring to the moral issues involved in climate change.
QCEA highlights proposed increase in EU military spending
The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) has spoken out about what it calls the ‘unprecedented levels of funding for border management and military projects’ in the proposed EU budget for the next seven years.
From Yemen to Huddersfield
Huddersfield Friends received special thanks over social media from people in Yemen for a peaceful protest they held against the UK’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Fourteen Quakers took part in the monthly vigil on 25 August at Huddersfield’s Market Place as an act of solidarity with people in...
Cell block exhibition at Peace Museum in Bradford
A new exhibition by English Heritage features the graffiti of conscientious objectors imprisoned during the first world war. ‘The Cell Block’, at the Peace Museum in Bradford, tells the stories of the graffiti found on the walls of cells in Richmond Castle.
Woodbrooke tutor launches game
A Woodbrooke associate tutor has produced a Quaker card game celebrating the power of prayer. Jennifer Kavanagh’s ‘Prayer Game’ came out of a five-day retreat she led on ‘Unknowing’ held at the Glenthorne Quaker Centre in Cumbria.
Swarthmore Lecture published
This year’s Swarthmore Lecture by Chris Alton, the Quaker artist, has just been published.
Support for hunger striker continues
Quakers were among those joining the hunger striker Ali Mushaima outside the Bahrain Embassy in a candle-lit prayer. The vigil supported the twenty-third day of protest for his father, Hassan Mushaima, a political prisoner.
Evening with trans rights campaigner
Friends House in London hosted an evening with Christine Burns, editor of Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows on 4 September.
The email and the picture / The picture and the email
The email and the picture Aaaargghhhh! They’ve done it again! What a ridiculous email! Don’t they think about others?!! Why doesn’t someone speak to them?!!!
First confession
Chris Patten, perhaps best known as the last British governor of Hong Kong, was also an MP for thirteen years and held ministerial posts under Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher and John Major. Later, he was a commissioner in the EU, chairman of the BBC Trust and chancellor of Oxford University....
Letters - 7 September 2018
Quaker values How many of us know about Quaker values? This was the challenge put to the annual gathering of Nairobi Yearly Meeting on 18 August by Hezron Masitsa, who serves on the Executive Committee of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) Africa Section. Few of those present showed their...