Letters - 17 April 2015
From commemoration to Christ
World war one commemoration
I would like to obtain the views of Friends in Britain on the appropriate ways to commemorate the first world war.
Like many British towns, Harpenden is twinned with a town in Germany. There is a local town twinning group that organises visits between the two towns. It seems to me that the most appropriate way to commemorate the first world war would be to hold multinational events which would include German representatives.
This would emphasise the loss of life on all sides and a commitment to work for peace and reconciliation. The fact that we have been at peace with Germany for almost seventy years should make it easier for us to do this. Of course, there are still tensions within Europe, which makes the need to renew our shared commitment to a peaceful Europe even more important. I am led to believe that this type of commemoration would be welcomed by the German establishment. We have started to explore the possibility of doing this in Harpenden and I would be interested to hear from Friends who have had any experience of similar commemorative events.
I sense that some Friends may have reservations about Quaker involvement in the commemoration of war but I hope that readers will agree that it would be good for us to support events of the kind that I have described above. 2018 might be a more appropriate time for such events.
I would be pleased to receive positive or negative comments on this suggestion.
Trevor Evans
jandt.evans@ntlworld.com
A religion of doubt?
I am sad that Stuart Hartley has felt it necessary to resign his Quaker membership (20 March) and wonder if, perhaps, he may be persuaded to see himself as mistaken.
I do not have the context of the Big Question which distressed him, but maybe the young woman who spoke of doubt meant ‘open to new light’, a concept that has enabled Quakers to adapt to changing times and to survive to the present day as an active organisation. The article ‘A snapshot of British Quakers’ (20 March) shows that Friends are, on the whole, of mature years and, I like to think, are mature enough to cope with uncertainty in matters of belief, taking trouble to examine the roots of Quakerism and the faiths of others.
Stuart sees faith as meaning ‘the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’. I think almost all Quakers believe that in every human being there is a kernel of goodness, or godliness – despite abundant evidence to the contrary in certain cases – and that the human race, if it allows itself enough time, will evolve emotionally and economically into a better society across the globe. Surely, these are things hoped for, but not yet seen.
I also accept the consensus of particle physicists on the nature of matter, but if they decide to start a completely new line of research, I would try to understand the evidence, despite being unable to see anything!
Alison Fairgrieve
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