Issue 22-03-2019

Featured story

Thought for the week: George Macpherson has some words on the Word

FREE 21 Mar 2019 | by George Macpherson

What gives us the right to rule the planet? Surely it’s the knowledge gathered from our forebears over millennia through language: words. Perhaps that’s what St John is referring to in the first chapter of his Gospel: ‘In the beginning was the Word.’

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Top stories

‘Music and the Spirit is everywhere. I find it in the most surprising places.’

21 Mar 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

Damon Albarn. | Photo: Linda Brownlee.

Damon Albarn is spelling out his Griot name to me. I’m having trouble with the letters, so he scribbles on my notes, then points to a gold band on his wrist, engraved ‘Makandjan Kamisokko’. ‘I was bestowed that [name] some years ago in a hut in Mali,’ he tells...

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‘The Question betwixt us is not who is the best Christian, but who is the best Quaker.’

21 Mar 2019 | by Madeleine Ward

George Keith. | Photo: Public domain.

Modern British Quakerism is often (unhelpfully) portrayed as an intractable battle between polarised groups: theists versus nontheists, modernisers versus traditionalists, liberals versus the intolerant. But underlying these purported dichotomies lies a whole range of more fundamental questions: what do we mean by ‘that of God in everyone’? Is anything apart...

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‘Corporate Citizenship: The role of companies as citizens of the modern world’ by David Logan

21 Mar 2019 | by Daniel Clarke Flynn

Close-up of the book cover. | Photo: Courtesy of Panoma Press.

This is a robust personal memoir that was born from a lecture that its Quaker author, David Logan, gave to young people joining Corporate Citizenship, a global consultancy that helps businesses find their place in society. Several of the young people said, ‘You should write a book,’ so he did....

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MP invites Quaker to write on ‘new economy’

FREE 21 Mar 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

North London Quakers called for ‘reform of our banking and financial systems’ in a blog for the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Inclusive Growth.

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Scottish Quakers stand up to violence against children

FREE 21 Mar 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

Quakers in Scotland made the news last week as they welcomed a change in the law regarding the physical punishment of children.

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All articles

Ludlow Friend urges pension committee to divest from fossil fuels

21 Mar 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

Ludlow Quakers addressed the Shropshire Pensions Committee last week in support of a 200-strong petition asking the Pensions Fund to divest from fossils fuels and invest in renewable energy sources.

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Newcastle Friends host Zen musicians

21 Mar 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

Newcastle Meeting House hosted a meditative musical performance based on Zen Art principles as part of its expanding music programme.

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Quakers support Refugees Family Reunion Bill

21 Mar 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

Quakers are urging Friends to write to their MPs in support of the the Refugees (Family Reunion) Bill which reached its second reading this week.

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Bradford Quakers fly the flag for Anti-Nuclear Ban

21 Mar 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

Bradford Friends celebrated the news that South Africa has ratified the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

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Eye - 22 March 2019

21 Mar 2019 | by Eye

Friends, animals and songs… A Quaker singer/songwriter has rolled up his musical sleeves and embarked on a new project focussed on animals and people.

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Letters - 22 March 2019

21 Mar 2019 | by The Friend

YFGM statement As gender-concerned Friends we read YFGM’s statement with interest. We believe biological sex is a material reality, not ‘assigned at birth’. Our sex determines the gendered way in which patriarchal society seeks to limit us. But we also believe that our testimony to equality empowers us to...

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