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Permalink Reply by John Fitzgerald on 4th mo. 3, 2009 at 5:03am

Hi Alice, I really liked what you said on the BYM message board:

"To me, the real question is about what are you being called to do, to bring God's peace, which overcomes all injustices. Who is your enemy? What is your prayer for them? What will help you hear more clearly what you are required to do to obey and foster the transforming Power of Love?"

This is very close to some Tolstoy I've been reading recently (The Kingdom of God is Within You), where he expounds the nonviolent, nonresistant principles of Christ's teaching.

I think at one level what has happened is that those who allow groups to use Friends House just can't be in a position to vet every word which every speaker says. That just seems impossible at a practical level, never mind the appropriateness of such vetting.

One can imagine other situations (eg Northern Ireland) where if Quakers had responded to pressure to prevent groups from meeting, the space for reconciliation would never have been created. That said, the NI situation involved different parties meeting, rather than the rally-type event which seems to have happened on Monday.

The thing which makes me most sad about all this is how unpeacefully those from both sides have behaved! It makes me wonder how the language of peace can be borrowed and emptied of meaning.

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Permalink Reply by Alice M Yaxley on 4th mo. 3, 2009 at 8:26am

... how unpeacefully those from both sides have behaved! It makes me wonder how the language of peace can be borrowed and emptied of meaning.

Ah yeah! Too right. But the beast speaks with the voice of the lamb, see it written in Revelation!

I have felt really opened up by this. A flood of words came to me on that thread for sure. Maybe as Walter Wink says (something like), the power of prayer is to invite God to change us, to open up the space within us where God can act. Feel like that's what is happening to me!

I agree about the necessity for a space for stuff to happen - especially when the banner is something like "Stop the War" as in this case which is obviously core Quaker stuff. I think hearing each other is the start of peace making.

Wonder whether local Quakers with worries about use of the space would be willing to sit in all meetings at Friends House in prayer?! There could be a rota ... ;)

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Permalink Reply by Nathan Swift on 4th mo. 3, 2009 at 10:53am

I wonder if the venues themselves could be instruments for the message of peace? I notice that one of the elements of the "rally" under discussion was that the walls were covered with banners proclaiming quite a different message. Suppose that the venues had their own banners or signs proclaiming peaceful intent and messages of peace, and a policy requiring that hall users not cover them? Possible?

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Permalink Reply by Alice M Yaxley on 4th mo. 3, 2009 at 3:26pm

Nice idea!

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