Mercurial > hg > rsof
changeset 181:9f75965cd550
x
author | Henry Thompson <ht@markup.co.uk> |
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date | Sat, 07 Dec 2019 16:23:41 +0000 |
parents | 58b7456e970e |
children | 028774258ac9 |
files | Sufferings/2019-10-04/report.txt |
diffstat | 1 files changed, 130 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-) [+] |
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--- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/Sufferings/2019-10-04/report.txt Sat Dec 07 16:23:41 2019 +0000 @@ -0,0 +1,130 @@ +*Meeting for Sufferings* + +4--6 October 2019 + +Henry S. Thompson, SE Scotland AM representative + +All the papers for the meeting are available online at + + https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-2019-10-agenda-papers-package + +The minutes and other follow-up material are available from + + https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-2019-10-follow-up-package + +This was a residential weekend meeting, at Woodbrooke, which was +welcoming and peaceful as always. + +We heard a number of reports (all in the linked-to documents above), +and had some thoughtful deliberation, but very few actual actions were +taken. + + +*Court & Prison Register* + +We spent rather a lot of time agreeing guidelines for what does and +doesn't count as "suffering for the faith". + +It surprised many that there was a presumption that any Friend setting +out on a course of action likely to result in arrest should test their +concern with their Meeting in advance if at all possible. + +*Sustainability* + +"How might we be called to act next?" + - Eldership + "All creation was being set free to be true to itself" Eden Grace 2019 + "Right purpose, right use, right relationship" Ditto + - Oversight + Action depends on community, acting alone is too hard + Enable and support us: changing community norms [wrt energy use] + Economic growth vs. finite resources + - Living Faithfully + Think about energy _as part_ of a decision, not a retro-fit +Is the Eco-church movement a possible source of guidance? + +Some anger was expressed about the narrowness of our witness: "too +neat, too tidy": impact needed on wider community (i.e. not just the +"white, middle-class") + +In a small group, I heard the phrase "Just transition" ['just' as in +'justice'] for the first time: to bring the less privileged with us on +sustainability, we need to show there is a way forward that does not +destroy what little livelihood they may have. See [1] for an +introduction to this idea as included in the 2015 Paris Agreement. + +Trees came up a lot in discussions of action that can be taken +locally, and the suggestion of creating Quaker burial grounds to grow +trees and save the huge energy costs of cremation. + +*Trustees* + +We returned to the topic of structural changes in Britain Yearly Meeting. + +"Meeting-centred support" [2] is the new buzz phrase, 'vibrancy' is no +longer mentioned. + +Woodbrooke: numbers down over several years. Need to renew purpose to meet +Friends' and peoples' needs. A survey was done, main points noted were: + * Woodbrooke needs to come to Friends; + * But it's too expensive (particularly when compared to getting someone from Friends House 'for + free'). +The planned changes are an opportunity for renewal. JW Rowntree said +"Woodbrooke should not be a privilege for the rich". + +*Quaker Stewardship Committee* + +We learned about this little-known body, which works to help Meetings +take proper care of their resources, principally but not exclusively +property. + + "We are a bottom-up organisation, and I don't know of any other" [a + member of Sufferings] + + "The bottom _is_ the top" [Ursula Fuller, Clerk to the Committee] + + "Yearly Meeting decisions are taken with care because they are + understood to be, as a matter of our faith, decisions by _all_ of + us." [ditto] + +*Assisted dying* + +This has come around again from in concerns sent to Sufferings from +several English AMs. We attempted to focus on what we _as Quakers_ +have to say. My memory of our experience in Scotland is that we are +unlikely to reach unity on the question, but might that in itself may +be a worthwhile contribution to the wider public discussion? + +"Not reaching unity is not a failure" [Paul Parker, Recording Clerk] + +MfS session reflected a wide range of positions. + +Studied neutrality is also a possibility [3]. + +We were usefully reminded that even _considering_ assisted dying is, +at least currently, very much a possibilty only to the privileged. + +*Speaking out* + +We were reminded that there is a policy governing "public statements +and comments" from, among others, Area Meetings (typically having been +agreed in an Area Meeting for Business and published over the name of +the Clerk), and individual Friends, particularly in the context of +marches/vigils/protests where any of us may find ourselves confronted +by a microphone and camera [4]. + +That there is a moderated Facebook group was brought up, see topic +*Post-truth world* at MfS 2019-02-02, and in particular my take: + + Finding the courage to challenge lies is hard enough to do in + person, it's even harder to do on social media, where the response + may well be both many-fold and obnoxious, the latter particularly in + response to challenges from women. + + Can we find ways to provide safe online spaces [perhaps taking EAPPI + as a model]? + +[1] http://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/publication/climate-change-and-the-just-transition-a-guide-for-investor-action/ +[2] https://quaker.org.uk/our-organisation/support-for-meetings/meeting-centred-support +[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3505400/ +[4] https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/speaking-out-briefing