In turbulent times we might be finding it difficult to know what we can do to create the better world that is our vision.
As Quakers we are impelled by our faith to make our lives an active witness for peace and justice. Our historic testimonies to equality, justice, peace, simplicity and truth challenge us to alleviate suffering and seek positive social change.
The Quaker Peace and Social Witness Equality (QPSWE) steering group is planning activities which we hope will make it easier to take part. We aim to encourage and coordinate our faith in action.
Do our current Advices and Queries spell out current dilemmas sufficiently, and in particular do they help us to think about new areas of challenge, particularly how using animal products is contributing strongly to climate change.
We can meet more easily on-line, enable access for those who are less mobile, and of course for a lower emission of carbon. But we do lose some of the joy of meeting, and the process of communication can be frustrating. So, we are trying out some new ways to do this.
How are we helping to make this a reality in our Meeting? What more do we need to do, and what are the steps we can take?
The 2024 Yearly Meeting of Quakers took place at Friends House, London and online on 26th-30th July 2024. With regard to Equity and Justice the following Minutes were agreed and recorded with specific reference to climate change, anti-racism and the welcoming and affirmation of transgender, non-binary and gender diverse people.
Minute 17: Anti-racism, our Quaker journey
...As a religious society we are still failing to live up to our testimony on equality...We declare our commitment to becoming an actively anti-racist faith community. We are still wrestling with what this means for us…
Minute 31: Acknowledging and Welcoming Gender Diverse People
Our testimony of equality stems from the religious conviction that all people are of equal spiritual worth, that each one of us is unique, precious, a child of God.
...We seek to provide places of worship and community that are welcoming and supportive to trans and non-binary people who want to be among us…
With glad hearts we acknowledge and affirm the trans and gender diverse Friends in our Quaker communities, and express appreciation for the contribution and gifts that they bring to our meetings...This is what love requires of us.
Minute 33: Faith-based action for climate justice
...climate crisis is here, and that it affects us already.
What more does love require of us here, and now?
Seeking to reduce carbon emissions is an urgent priority, but without interrogating and disrupting our existing economic systems, this will only us back to an unjust system, and may encourage corporations, governments and individuals to delay necessary action and avoid systemic change.
...Climate justice is anti-racist work. The people most affected by the urgent and systemic crisis must be placed first in gaining this justice...Quakers in Britain must join with Friends and others across the world learning and acting together.
2022 Minutes 27 and 33
...just as our Quaker forebears were sometimes on the wrong side of history, so we are all complicit in systems of oppression today...love and justice require us to tell the truth, as best we can, about historical and contemporary injustices...work to understand how reparations might be made for the harms of the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism and economic exploitation, the trauma and impact of which is felt in the lives of Friends and others today.