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author Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
date Wed, 18 Sep 2024 15:43:43 +0100
parents 1d1d90cb18b2
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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1 Maternal grandmothr a Quaker, mother raised Quaker
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2
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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3 Father became a Quaker after the 2nd WW, PoW..., attended Leyburn in
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4 Yorkshire.
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5
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6 Lebanon, then Jordans, and first-day school wasn't for him.
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7 A Christian environment, but not a church-goer himself as a young adult.
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8
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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9 'Progressive' school with a Quaker head.
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10
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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11 Life decisions propelled him towards using the I Ching, but that
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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12 didn't last as responsibilities grew.
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13
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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14 1980s, became involved in Palestinian issues, various jobs, ended up
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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15 as a furniture maker and building trades, then assistant manager at
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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16 Hadeel.
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17
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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18 Started observing Ramadan around the time of the 1st Gulf War: an
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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19 active, pervasive engagement with religious practice, studied Arabic.
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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20
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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21 Learned the 1st Sura, the cornerstone of his practice. The nature of
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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22 this as prayer that begins with '...merciful' is so different from the
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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23 caricature of Muslims as fanatics.
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24
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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25 Came to MfW at P&M for four or five years, impressed by the depth of
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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26 some of the Quakers he has met. Made the transition from a "committed
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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27 non-Attender" to acknowledging he _was_ an attender. Really
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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28 appreciated Quaker decision making in contrast to other experiences of
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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29 committees.
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30
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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31 Membership: Last autumn, Lebanon was for his father's job as Head at
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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32 Brummana, mother a Trustee, who visited regularly, and she asked him
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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33 to consider taking on that role. Applied but not appointed, but the
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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34 experience made him think again about membership, see the
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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35 achievements, the remarkable work that has been done by Quakers.
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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36 Andrew Clark, friend of his mother, awesome what one can achieve,
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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37 leaves us a bit ashamed by comparison: working of the Kingdom of
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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38 Heaven.
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39
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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40 "Friends of Truth" can be goal and a daunting challenge.
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41
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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42 "What I think of God" is not relevant, what matters is what 'he' has
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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43 to say to me about how to live my life.
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44
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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45 Wife is as it were a lay preacher in the Zen temple in Portobello.
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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46 There are a lot of connections between their practice and scriptures
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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47 and ours.
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48
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49 Gets into trouble for telling the truth.
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50
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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51 As leaving QMH in Ramallah, "are Quakers Christians?" No
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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52 Christology...
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53
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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54 Obstacles? Vietnam, Palestine, now Ukraine, and XR, are
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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55 difficulties. Worries about the apparent need to take sides: being
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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56 driven by fear is not a good starting point for decisions.
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57
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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58 A member of the crew rather than a passenger.
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59
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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60 MfWfB can be an awesome experience
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61