Issue 09-09-2016
Featured story
Thought for the Week: The light shineth
I have been struggling with depression much of my adult life: not mine, but that of other people. I am one of those annoying people who are, generally, blessed with happiness, so working with people who suffer the distress of serious depression has not been easy. This was especially true...
Top stories
Poverty is theft
The nineteenth century French radical Pierre-Joseph Proudhon famously coined the slogan ‘property is theft’ in his book What is property? Or an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government. Why not ‘Poverty is theft’? It is the theft of hope. It is the theft of dreams and the...
Active hope
‘Since 1950, we have used up more resources and fuel than in all human history before this.’ I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this statement in the book Active Hope: How to face the mess we’re in without going crazy, by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. However, we know...
Quaker renewal: The meaning of membership
Over recent decades membership has become a contested issue for British Quakers. Some Friends object to the membership process on principle, such as a supposed conflict with our testimony to equality, or are uneasy about the process of ‘judging’ who is acceptable to become a member.
Greenbelt 2016
Most British Quakers have come from other churches, and many of us are refugees: we ‘come home’ to Friends, but we would not have left our churches without some dissatisfaction, often with a particular congregation. Our memory of a denomination from ten or twenty years ago may be jaundiced.
Peace and justice
As the old joke goes: ‘Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.’ Martin Drummond (12 August) is right to stress that criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic. But this does not mean that some critics of Israel don’t sail close to the...
All articles
Junior Gathering 2016
Seventy-three young Friends and twenty-two staff met at Leighton Park School in Berkshire between 20 and 27 August for Junior Gathering.
Young Friends gather in Yorkshire
Yorkshire Friends Holiday School (YFHS) took place at Bootham School, York, from 21-28 August.
Rowntree report highlights inequality and referendum vote
A report just released by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has highlighted the close link between poverty and those who voted for Brexit in the EU referendum.
Old Jordans put on market
The historic six-acre estate and property at Old Jordans in Buckinghamshire is on sale for £15 million.
Volunteers help with calendar
Volunteers at the Quaker Tapestry Museum have chosen tapestry panels for the museum’s 2017 calendar and offered personal responses to their favourite ones.
Quaker students face hurricane aftermath
Three-quarters of the students at Belize Friends School are absent from class due to the damage Hurricane Earl caused to their homes last month.
Work of leading peace studies scholar recognised
Paul Rogers, the global security consultant and professor of peace studies at the University of Bradford, has been awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from Leeds Beckett University for his outstanding contribution in his field.
Peace and justice
As the old joke goes: ‘Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.’ Martin Drummond (12 August) is right to stress that criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic. But this does not mean that some critics of Israel don’t sail close to the...
Eye - 09 September 2016
New seat for historic seating A beautifully-carved chair that may once have upheld George Fox has been on a journey. The ‘George Fox chair’ had been upstairs in Exeter Meeting House since before living memory. However, research into the intriguingly-named piece of furniture unearthed that, prior to its move to...
Letters - 09 September 2016
Who do we care about? I am both saddened and, yes, angered, by the article by Peter Staples (2 September). As far as I know, Friends try to seek that of God in everyone. That includes people we disagree with. Peter asserts that the people who run the EU ‘aren’t...