Equality - Australia Yearly Meeting
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the australian
issue 0321 maRch 2021 issn 1326-0936
The Australian Friend is a web journal published on line
at: AustralianFriend.org. this printable version does not include the
full range of content available at AustralianFriend.org
Visit AustralianFriend.org to:
• comment and read comments about articles in this issue
• browse or search back issues from 2011.
Equality
Journal of the religious society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia
Editorial
R
egular on-line readers may have found that the Australian Friend was temporarily unavailable. It has suffered a near
death experience due to technical issues which I do not understand. We are scrambling to get the March issue up in
time. Please forgive us if we are a little late!
For this issue I wanted to have articles about equality. It is a core testimony of Quakers, and also an issue which has been
in the news lately. What could economic equality look like? How do we achieve racial equality, especially with First Nations
people? Will we ever have real gender equality? During the pandemic we sometimes had flashes of hope for equality, but have
there been any substantial changes?
The first articles to arrive showed that Friends have been reflecting on many things – how does our use of language unite
us, or does it in fact divide us? What do we mean by God? What does it mean to believe or not believe in God? I recall a
Uniting Church minister who taught the prayer: ‘Help me to leave behind the God in whom I no longer believe, and to find
the God who believes in me.’
There were articles about war, about how Quakers reacted to the Boer war, about how to heal the ongoing trauma of acts
of violence committed in the name of nationalism.
And finally we received some very thoughtful articles about equality. The QSA notes tell of the deep thought that goes into
designing a program that promotes equality. Evan Gallagher writes of enabling equality for LGBTIQ people. Kenise Neill
writes of the struggle to meet Aboriginal people on an equal basis. Helen Webb reflects on the effects of COVID in both
bringing people together and keeping them apart. Which brings us back to technology. A great gift, or a real curse?
So finally a reminder that Yearly Meeting will again be by Zoom. A great benefit to the environment, and to isolated
Friends. A financial benefit to the society, and an opportunity to those who found Yearly Meeting too expensive. But to many
Friends, also a loss. We live in interesting times!
Rae Litting
for The Australian Friend committee
On being patterns and examples
Jan de Voogd, a Member of NSW Regional Meeting who died recently, left a
number of typed reminiscences in his flat. This is one of them.
I want to tell you a story of what happened to me in Sri
Lanka some 15 years ago.
I was accompanying a Roman Catholic Priest, Father Sarath.
When he said, ‘this is my body broken for you’ he did not go
on to say ‘do this is remembrance of me’, instead he said ‘let
this be an example unto you’….
Peace Brigades was concerned he would disappear or be This is my body broken for you. Let this be an example unto
abducted if he returned to Sri Lanka. As he was a committed you.
peace and social justice worker I was very happy to accompany
him. While I knew that followers of Gandhi and Christ need
As I travelled with him in Sri Lanka I was increasingly to have faith and be fearless, I was not ready to accept that
concerned at the risks he was taking. How could I protect Father Sarath should risk his life while I was responsible for
him if he behaved like that? I shared my concern with Father his safety. I know now that I was wrong. He was being led
Aloy where we were staying. by his love for the oppressed and powerless. As a follower of
One day Father Aloy said mass for a small group of us. Christ he had little choice.
2 the Australian Friend | december 2020
Contents
FEATURES re g u l ars
4 There is New Light… 12 Poetry
6 COVID effects and On the Labyrinth of Life
technological inequality by Noel Giblett
14 QSA Notes – Equality in
7 A Second Virtual Yearly Meeting society, aid and development
8 A Friendly meditation on gender
10 Know thy Friend – Rosemary Epps
13 The power of witness
16 Quakers and the South African War
18 A non-theist puts a case for God
20 One non-theist’s tale
22 The great turning or the great
unraveling: It’s our choice
23 The art of plain speech
the australian friend | march 2021 3
There is New Light…
We need to take a path not chosen before
Kenise Neill rsj | South Australia and Northern Territory Regional Meeting
...There is new light. If only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it.’
Amanda Gordon, The Hill We Climb, read at the Inauguration of President Joe Biden (20 January 2021).
A
s we remember the brave ago, it wasn’t a particularly flash day and part of my role was approving
moment in 2008 when our for the people on those vessels either.’ the court reports for the Youth Court.
Prime Minister apologised I look back now (with humility) as I
Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of
to the Stolen Generations, we can realise I should not have been in the
Australia ( January 2021)
ask ourselves two questions. How can position to sign off on these documents
we stand in truth and continue to This quote is a vivid example of as a non-indigenous person. I am part
pronounce that Australia is not system- how our whole nation has not heard of white privilege and as such can never
ically racist? Are we brave enough and learnt from First Nations People. stand in place for an Aboriginal person.
to stand with and bear witness to the They have experienced and suffered Insight is gradual and we can all learn
historical and ongoing trauma suffered abuse and neglect over generations. It how to move forward more respectfully.
by Australia’s First Nations People? is not a time now to be divisive and We took a united step forward
I believe we are being challenged as judgemental but it is a time for deep owning up to our history when we
a Congregation, as a Church and as a contemplative listening (Dadirri) and apologised to the Stolen Generations.
Country to ensure ‘Black Lives Matter’ respectful conversations. However, in the 13 years since the
in all our actions, and go on a journey Let’s work together with First apology the numbers of First Nations
to de-colonise our perceptions, our Nations People to heal the deep, raw children being placed in out of home
prejudices, our systems and our whole and open wound that began for them care is increasing each year. In February
Country. on the 26 January 1788. Their sovereign 2020, there were 17,979 First Nations
We are being called as an Earth country was invaded with the raising children living in out of home care and
community to a deeper spirituality – to of the British flag in Botany Bay. The they are now 10.6 times more likely to
invoke the capacity of our human heart process of colonisation has been brutal. be removed from their families than
to hold tenderly the historical and The trauma they have suffered has been non-Indigenous children. If urgent
current life experiences of First Nations unbearable for them and it is difficult action is not taken, that rate is projected
People across the world. (https://youtu. for us to hear and respond to their to double in the next 10 years.1
be/GKcrL4NxNJM) stories. I pray we can all listen with It is time for all of us to stop another
If we take this journey into the ‘new mercy and compassion and own our generation of ‘Stolen Children’ being
light’ we will grow in our awareness history. removed. We can learn from our
of our conscious or unconscious We took a more enlightened step in mistakes. With urgency, effort and
complicity in white supremacy. 1969, when all states across Australia intent we can address the underlying
I am writing this reflection after repealed legislation allowing for the causes and factors for abuse and neglect
hearing our Prime Minister describe removal of First Nations children of children, and most significantly, the
‘Australia Day as an important marker under the policy of ‘protection’. In intergenerational trauma suffered by
of Australia’s history’ and ‘that the date the following years, Aboriginal and First Nations People.2
should not be changed’, despite being Islander Child Care Agencies were We can have trauma-informed and
seen as a day of mourning by many set up to contest removal applications healing services that acknowledge the
First Nations People. He explained his and provide alternatives to the removal grief and trauma caused by invasion,
position with the words: of First Nations children from their brutality and colonisation. We can
You know, when those 12 ships families. I was privileged to work for five acknowledge and address the systemic
turned up in Sydney, all those years years in the South Australian agency racism, oppression, marginalisation and
4 the australian friend | march 2021
deprivation that First Nations People children had been sexually abused People. I am inspired by Amanda
face every day. by a ‘trusted and white’ community Gordon’s poem to continue to take a
I began working in the field of the administrator; the community anguish path previously not chosen by those of
care and protection of children when when ‘a guardianship’ teenager (who us who have been privileged:
I was 16 years old. For 47 years now was removed as a baby) returned home ...one thing is certain: if we merge
I have been aware of many children and suicided within two weeks; the mercy with might, and might with
who are hurting, and many parents and terrible separation anxiety of children right, then love becomes our legacy
grandparents who have been hurt over who wanted desperately to return to and change our children’s birthright.
generations. I have seen the subsequent their kin and country and the anguish So let us leave behind a country better
suffering and dysfunction in many of grandparents who received tearful than one we were left. With every
communities. and confused phone calls from their breath from a bronze, pounded chest,
In statutory child protection work grandchildren ‘in care’, thousands of we will raise this wounded world
I witnessed the situation many First kilometres from home. into a wonderous one.’
Nations families and communities I often pondered what would
face every day. Whilst investigating Amanda Gordon
happen if I ‘substantiated’ abuse or
notifications of neglect and abuse I neglect, by naming a government
was often appalled by the desperate department or a ‘failing system’ as the Kenise Neill is a Sister of Saint Joseph (and
living conditions of families who attender at the Eastern Suburbs Worship
‘perpetrator.’ I too have perpetrated the
Group in Adelaide) who has had a life-
showed inspirational resilience. They process of colonisation and am part of long passion to make a positive difference
lived in circumstances of extreme ‘failing systems.’ While leading a team in the lives of children.
poverty, overcrowded and substandard of child protection and juvenile justice Since completing a degree in Theology
housing and homelessness, family and workers in Ceduna in South Australia, and another in Social Work, Kenise
community violence, high rates of a dear friend and an Aboriginal Elder has worked in many roles in statutory
incarceration, deaths in custody and child protection. For ten years she was
reminded me that I needed to listen to
the constant threat and removal of responsible for child protection, youth
the Aboriginal Community before I justice, kinship care and the leadership
children from kin and country. I often made decisions affecting their lives. and supervision of staff in the Ceduna
pondered how I (if I was a parent) He respectfully told me that I had, and Coober Pedy areas. These positions
would manage if I was given the same ‘no ears’ – Pina Wiya – and was not involved travelling and working in
set of circumstances? I realised that listening to the community. He told Aboriginal Communities on the West
if the roles were reversed I would not me that I tended to make decisions for
Coast and the far North of South Australia.
cope as well as they did. Their efforts From there she moved on to a position as
families and the community in their Senior Manager for Therapeutic Services
were often heroic. Trauma impacts any ‘best interest.’ I learnt an important for Aboriginal Family Support Services
person’s coping mechanisms. lesson and took more time to listen with (AFSS), where she was responsible for
It doesn’t matter who you are, trauma ‘open ears’ in my privileged position staff training, cultural responses and
affects the way people think and act as a public servant. There were many recommendations for the Youth Court for
and overwhelms their ability to cope times in the succeeding years when Aboriginal Youth Court Orders, and for
and engage. Common symptoms therapeutic program development and
I remembered this conversation and
include fear and anxiety, poor service delivery.
asked families what their dreams were
relationships, substance abuse and for their children and how we (the state
violence.’ This article was first published on the
department) could support them to
Richard Western. SNAICC CE, website of the Sisters of Saint Joseph
achieve what they wanted. I have never
Guardian Australia (12 February 2020) of the Sacred Heart. Reprinted with
met a family who didn’t want better
During the 15 years I worked in child outcomes for their children. permission.
protection for the state government I I also saw the ‘wonderous’ changes 1. Media release – Report highlights
witnessed: a mother working tirelessly to that happened when ‘we listened’ and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
keep her house clean with raw sewerage provided respectful and strength-based children increasingly disconnected from
flowing through her home; homes with family support, healing services and family and culture. 16 October 2020.
dirt floors and no air conditioning; adequate resources to enable families to 2. Media release – 26 January: To
the shame of parents who could not care for their own children. truly close the gap, we must recognise
provide fresh and healthy food for Let’s listen to the cry from the heart the trauma our children and families
their children; the horror and betrayal and respond to the pain, anguish and have experienced. 25 January 2021.
when we substantiated that seventeen desperation of Australia’s First Nations
the australian friend | march 2021 5
COVID effects and
technological inequality
Helen Gael | Queensland Regional Meeting
T
he most obvious effect of Covid not provide the same feeling of unity as a sense of ‘knuckling down together’,
on Friends’ Meeting was the Meeting in person. Clerking a Meeting both for those tasked with specific
initial lockdown – no Meeting for Worship for Business with Zoom COVID-safe responsibilities and those
at all for some weeks, just phone and as well as face-to-face participants newcomers and old hands who attend.
email for any contact. provides an added challenge to One Friend who lived through wartime
Queensland Regional Meeting, like identifying the ‘sense of the Meeting’. Britain drew parallels with that time
most other Regional Meetings, fairly A recent Queensland Baha’i Day in the sense of feeling threatened and
quickly offered Zoom as a means for of Interfaith Harmony – attended via needing to lockdown for safety, while in
individual Friends to join in Meeting for Zoom by some members of Brisbane no way suggesting that this equates to
Worship and small group discussions Meeting – highlighted issues that were the level of threat the UK experienced.
from their own homes. Later, when relevant to Quakers as well as others. With the approval of vaccines for
Friends began meeting in person Several speakers – from Muslim, COVID, most Friends in Australia are
once more in the Meeting House, the Jewish, Baha’i, Sikh, Hindu, Pagan likely to be vaccinated reasonably early
screen and computer equipment in the faiths – related ways the pandemic in the rollout thanks to our largely older
Meeting House was updated to allow has affected all of us. One mentioned and mainly European worshipping
Friends to see and hear those in the that we focused on people who were community. However, some health
Meeting House so they could worship previously largely ignored – cleaners, observers are suggesting that the focus
together and join after Meeting events drivers, undertakers, nurses – and gave on COVID vaccines may pose a threat
even if they lived far away or had them more importance and respect. to other health programs. The World
transport or health difficulties. There was also emphasis by all on how Health Organization and UNICEF
The option of Zoom meetings much the community came together to warned In July 20201 of an alarming
provided some comfort for some help those in need. decline in the number of children
people, but not for those without In summary, they all said that a receiving life-saving vaccines around the
computers, or not adept at setting up crisis brings us together. Certainly, world. This is due to disruptions in the
Zoom. Technology has its benefits but in Brisbane, Friends have rallied to delivery and uptake of immunisation
in many ways can widen the inequality ensure all COVID restrictions are met services caused by the COVID-19
gap, often with regard to age. with Friends rostered to cover all the pandemic. According to new data by
In Queensland, it has been requisite safety advice: maintaining a WHO and UNICEF, these disruptions
remarkable how many of our older record of all who arrive; marking out threaten to reverse hard-won progress
members overcame their fear of new the spacing for chairs (a joint Premises to reach more children and adolescents
technologies to join Zoom meetings Committee-Eldering activity); with a wider range of vaccines.
and quickly realised its usefulness in rostering one person for kitchen duties 1. https://data.unicef.org/resources/
connecting with family members in to boil water and offer DIY morning immunization-coverage-estimates-data-
another state or country. teas with disposable cups for those who visualization/
Of course, a Zoom Meeting does do not bring their own. There has been
6 the australian friend | march 2021
A second virtual
Yearly Meeting
4-10 July 2021
sue parritt | For ym21 host PlAnning committee
F
ollowing Standing Committee’s Standing Committee. of a sizeable safety net for YM21.
acceptance of Victorian Regional Share & Tell: Peter Williams has Children and JYF activities will
Meeting's offer to host a Zoom drafted an invitation to go to Regional be entirely on-line, in keeping with a
YM21, the Committee began work in Meetings and in the Secretary’s virtual YM.
earnest, focusing particularly on the newsletter for those who may like to Regional Meetings have been asked
business process and IT. We agreed that run a session. At present, the plan is to nominate Friends to be Elders and
Zoom meetings should be limited to to have five afternoon sessions of three Pastoral Carers during YM.
1½ hours and aim to have five Formal concurrent S&Ts, and a couple in the The YM21 Host Planning
Business sessions. The YM21 Clerking morning. Flexibility is needed and we
Committee hope Friends find this
team has agreed to meet together in hope the registration form will include
information helpful as we move towards
person in Melbourne for the duration a request for Share & Tells.
a second virtual Yearly Meeting. We
of YM 2021, if possible. Friendly School: Arrangements are
appreciate that some Friends are not
There is a need to protect the being made for two Friends to speak for
comfortable with Zoom technology,
Clerking Team from exhaustion, 15 minutes at the beginning, followed
so we hope that where there is no by 40 minutes of break-out rooms with but we encourage everyone to connect,
decision being made, such as those for facilitators. Questions will be posed in perhaps by joining with a few others, so
Testimonies, Welcomes, State of the line with the general theme: Quakers’ that all may benefit from the spiritual
Society and Summary of Epistles, etc. Place in the World. Home Groups nourishment and fellowship of our
can be planned a little differently from to follow Friendly School will be annual gathering.
normal – creatively, and expeditiously. considered with the IT arrangements.
A proposed timeline for YM business IT Training will be offered to as
has been prepared and accepted by many Friends as possible, to make sure
the austRaLian fRiend | mArch 2021 7
A Friendly meditation on gender
Evan Gallagher (he/him) | Canberra & Region Quakers
Consider the lilies of the gender is correct. In my case, most profoundly spiritual act.
field, how they grow; they people assume I am male and refer I sense that the coming out
experience for transgender and
to me as ‘he’ without asking, and it
neither toil nor spin, yet doesn’t bother me—though I have non-binary people can be similar.
I tell you, even Solomon serious misgivings about aspects of However, the risks can be higher as
masculinity in Australian culture. But coming out can be profoundly visible to
in all his glory was not what happens when the assumption is complete strangers, as well as those we
clothed like one of these. wrong? Assumption of another’s gender know. It can—in some cases—involve
identity can be a layer that hides, or even medical treatments such as hormone
stifles, the real person beneath. In some therapy or gender confirmation surgery,
When we set out on a spiritual path,
cases, it can be a cause for enduring and leading to profound physical and
many of us hope to become something
significant distress. emotional changes.
closer to our true selves. Often this
is not a journey of discovery of an Coming out is a spiritual act But aren’t we all genderless in
unknown inner self but more an the Spirit?
unravelling of outer layers; layers of ‘Coming out’ describes a person
identity taken on (or imposed on us) disclosing their sexual orientation or There is no longer Jew or Greek, there
as we grew from innocence into the their gender identity to another. My is no longer slave or free, there is no
complexity of adulthood. A layer could experience as a gay man is that it is not longer male and female; for all of you
be as superficial as our taste in clothing, so much a ‘coming out’, but a ‘letting are one in Christ Jesus.
our demeanour, and ways of speaking in’. Until I first came out, I had never
revealed or allowed any expression of I have struggled a little with this
and interacting, or as fundamental as
this one fundamental aspect of my question. Inwardly, I feel neither
the very ways we perceive, and wish to
being. I had shut out the world from a male nor female. When I am in silent
be perceived by, the world.
part of myself. One day, after many years contemplation, the question of gender
In recent years, I have become
of distress, I had had enough and chose does not come up. Alone, or when
increasingly aware of the importance of
to let my family, friends and community grounded in Meeting for Worship, I am
gender identity as part of this process
in, no matter the consequences. I was as spiritually naked as a lily of the field.
of self-understanding and expression.
But with other people in social
From the moment of birth, we all bear lucky that I felt reasonably safe doing
settings, my identity is always with
a gender identity. ‘Is it a boy or a girl?’ this, but I have never felt so vulnerable
me. Different aspects come to the fore
is the first question often asked when a before or since.
at different times, but gender always
baby is born. Our assumed gender can While it can involve a new way of
seems to be there.
be the first aspect of our identity made presenting to the world, coming out is
I don’t see this as incompatible with
known to the world. Even before we not about assuming a new identity. It is
Paul’s advice in Galatians. Humans
receive a name, we are likely already a laying down of an assumed identity.
are social beings and we have evolved
being called ‘she’ or ‘he’. Coming out is consciously holding your
Often this assumption about true self in the light, and it can be a Continued on next page
8 the australian friend | march 2021
…even Solomon in all his glory
complex ways of being in community, and 19th century grammarians more sexuality generally were considered
whether consciously or not. While concerned with Latin than English. as part of the ground-breaking essay
we live and breathe around others, However, the singular ‘they’ has been ‘Towards a Quaker View of Sex’ back
we cannot completely lay down all around since Middle English at least, in 1963, the progressive ‘group of
aspects of our identity and become pure and examples can be found in Chaucer Friends’ who wrote it did not have
abstraction—identity is not so much and Shakespeare. My favourite historic the benefit of the nearly 60 years
the foundation of our being but an usage is Virginia Woolf ’s use of the of scholarship and open discussion
unavoidable consequence of it. Gender pronoun for the character Orlando in that has happened since. While the
is a profound part of that. their moment of transition from male terminology used has been superseded,
to female—that was in 1928. transgender and non-binary people, as
‘They’ is the new ‘thou’ I feel strongly that we should, out well as intersex people, were considered
So, what of pronouns? Pronouns of respect, always use the pronouns sympathetically…but not deeply and,
can be many people’s first introduction that reflect who a person truly is when by modern standards, not satisfactorily.
to questions of gender identity. we know them, and quickly correct The Religious Society of Friends has
Increasingly we are being called to ourselves where we slip up. But there is work to do to move towards a Quaker
question the assumptions we make in perhaps a more profound question here; view of gender.
the pronouns we use for people. Is it I am beginning to wonder if the use of Though small in numbers, the Society
appropriate to assume at all? the singular ‘they’ for people whose is blessed as a spiritual community to
Pronouns might seem like a trivial pronoun we do not know could become have a richness of gender diversity. I
matter, but Quakers and pronouns have an expression of Quakers’ testimony to hope that the entire community of
a history. For centuries Friends stuck to equality. Quakers in Australian can be open to
the obsolescent familiar pronouns ‘thou’ the ministry offered by the lives and
and ‘thee’ as part of our testimonies to Towards a Quaker view of experiences of gender diverse Friends,
equality and simplicity. George Fox gender and that meetings and other gatherings
wrote a whole book about it. Friends Friends generally feel called to bear become places where all feel safe to
only let it go when the witness became witness to Integrity. It is often listed share such ministry. I also hope that the
meaningless and the old honorific among our named testimonies. What Quaker way can grow to offer full and
distinction between ‘thou’ and ‘you’ guidance can our faith and practice offer meaningful spiritual support, comfort
forgotten. about the spiritual aspects of coming and (if desired) guidance to those
But there is a new pronoun emerging out as, and simply being, transgender seeking to transition or come out.
or, perhaps I should say, a venerable old or non-binary? Perhaps not a lot if we
pronoun is resurfacing. Using ‘they’ restrict ourselves to looking backwards I wish to acknowledge the support
to refer a specific, known individual to historic writings, but Friends are of Friends and friends who reviewed
can feel strange to those of us whose well-placed to listen for and discern the drafts of this article and offered their
schooling in grammar was influenced unwritten gospel. insightful thoughts
by the pronouncements of stuffy 18th When sexual orientation and
the australian friend | march 2021 9Know thy Friend
Rosemary Epps
rosemary Epps | tasmania Regional Meeting
Rosemary in an unusually nice Kabul garden
B
orn as the Japanese surrendered disappeared into a dark night with her I ‘sat’ with a small interfaith meditation
75 years ago, I was an hurricane lamp to mediate an inter- group in the Ursuline Catholic college
unwitting beneficiary of the tribal skirmish. where I was now the resident nurse.
promise of peace. Eight months later, Nursing training followed, then off The Student Health Centre also kept
my father returned from repatriat- back-packing around SE Asia. In 1970 me busy.
ing sick prisoners of war. He settled travel in Indo-China was hazardous. Aid work beckoned me to Torit
into general practice in Sydney with Sharing Cambodian roads with North in Southern Sudan with Save the
a friend from Papua-New Guinea Vietnamese convoys and US helicopter Children Fund. In the wake of a 17-year
days, and the practice soon became a gunships was not a comfortable civil war, we tried to provide maternal
mecca for the needy in a pre-Medicare experience. Nor was Vietnam. Nothing and child health services for about
world, meaning long work days, nights made sense: the armed invaders; the 80,000 returned refugees, in a vast area
and week-ends. Dad’s partner’s wife western conscripts who didn’t want to with almost no infrastructure and an
was Margaret Holmes, a committed be there; the corruption; the lack of under five child mortality rate over 50
peace campaigner who formed the moral leadership; Vietnamese families per cent. We worked with Sudanese
NSW branch of the Women’s Interna- supporting members fighting on both counterparts to run the children’s ward,
tional League for Peace and Freedom sides; senseless destruction and the clinics, vaccination safaris and to address
(WILPF) in 1960. Always needing utter futility of war. I left overwhelmed public health. It was a challenging and
extras, WILPF protests provided an with compassion and sadness. exhausting 2½ years.
enlightening education. This dark shadow took time to I met my husband Richard, who
As a young adult, a university work process on what had become a spiritual was working with the Ministry of
camp in the Gulf of Papua challenged journey. Fortunately teaching English Agriculture in Juba. Other rural
my privileged view of the world and in Japan brought many revelations development projects followed – first
was life-changing – especially after which included opening a whole in a poverty-stricken area of NW
our plane home failed to arrive. This new wabi sabi way of looking at the Pakistan; a cross-border project (based
meant a very long coastal walk, relying world. With its Buddhist roots, wabi in Peshawar) to support agriculture
upon the hospitality of local people sabi alludes to a Japanese aesthetic and boost food supplies in Afghanistan
and aid workers, visiting bush hospitals sense which helps us to see beauty in during the Russian War; working with
and joining a CSIRO team surveying imperfection, appreciate simplicity and Kenya’s Community Wildlife Service
wild hinterland and head-hunting accept the transient nature of all things. training tribal wildlife poachers to
country. My final stay was with long Back home for Midwifery Training, become park rangers; and a similar
time missionary nurse, Sr Paul Fairhall working as a ship’s nurse then off to project in Botswana.
who was running a vocational training ANU to finish a science degree in With an American husband and
centre in a volatile Port Moresby Human Sciences and Psychology, plus
Continued on next page
slum. I remember being in awe as she some Asian studies. Besotted with Zen,
10 the australian friend | march 2021First AVP facilitators' training course,
Afghanistan 2010
step-children now in high school, in at the small unprogrammed Nairobi Lee Stern’s faith in Alternatives to
1987 we moved to Maryland for 3 Meeting which shared a building with Violence (AVP) training, and with
years. Encouraged by a Quaker friend, the large, programmed Meeting and support from Katherine and Malcolm
Advices No.1 posted next to the door, ensured joyous hymn singing wafted Smith, we decided to trial workshops
and a sense of ‘coming home’, I began through our silence. to see how they would be received.
worshipping with the Sandy Spring In 1996 we moved to Hobart, Our female colleagues loved them but
Friends Meeting. A time of rich hoping to provide some stability for our
overwhelmingly concluded that ‘this
spiritual nurture followed as I packed in two youngest daughters. I transferred
was what the men needed to do!’ So our
spiritual formation courses; Pat Loring’s membership to Hobart Meeting and
next workshops brought unrelated men
workshops; Lee Stern’s Alternatives to studied Social Work while we were
and women together to listen deeply to
Violence (AVP) training; teaching First occasionally able to visit Richard on
Day school; cooking for Quaker kids at assignments. one another. As they shared deep fears
summer camp; Friendly Eights dinners By 2010, I had joined Richard in and harrowing life experiences, slowly
(ie. with 4 families); and attending Kabul and was working with Judge Najla perceptions of one another changed. No
Friends General Conferences. Ayubi, to raise awareness of women’s longer could they perceive of the other
It was hard to leave this loving rights – a task for which she daily ran as a stereotypical male or stereotypical
community to return to strife-ridden the risk of being shot. Despite women female, but rather as another human
Peshawar. Gulf War One was about to having legal and Islamic rights, these being, simply coping as best they could.
erupt slowing progress, death threats were routinely ignored, with women These were the first of a series
were circulating and it was a great relief generally regarded as the property of of workshops with Julei Korner
to move to Islamabad. Whilst Richard’s fathers and husbands, or under the from Sydney AVP bringing her
project continued to support the control of male relatives. Many women expertise for later training. And what
Afghan Agricultural Department in languished in prison having run afoul of amazing workshops they were – with
exile, I was working at an international the men in their life.
participants declaring time and again:
school as school nurse and counsellor. Attitudinal changes take time
‘we need these workshops to spread all
Fortunately, the discovery of five other – particularly for a barely literate
over Afghanistan…’ I hope that one
Friends across northern Pakistan meant population that have spent a lifetime
day they can!
occasional week-ends together and a living in fear, been traumatised by war,
wonderful boost to collective morale. and lost any sense of trust. Not only were The gift writing this article has given
Another inspiring interlude was education campaigns needed, the more me is to be humbled by how many
leave taken in the British Lake District difficult challenge was to change deeply OTHER people have shaped my life
where we explored 1652 country and held beliefs and attitudes. This meant and made me who I am.
the history of early Friends. engaging the gatekeepers: Afghan
In Kenya, we became sojourners men, no easy task! Remembering
the australian friend | march 2021 11p o etr y
On the Labyrinth* of Life
On the labyrinth of life Into eternity
There are no dead ends Into your sacred centre, then
Just keep going Out to your sacred edge
Into the centre On the labyrinth of life
Then out to the edge Life goes on
Into the centre You may think
For silence, stillness, grace It is you
Then out to the edge Who is doing the walking
With the voice you’ve heard But really
And the courage you’ve been given Each day comes
On the labyrinth of life Whether you are ready or not
You can’t change tracks Each step calls
You can only be on Ready or not
The one you’re on Your only choice
Heading in the direction Is when and how
You’re heading in To answer
Into the centre or Or not.
Out to the edge On the labyrinth of life
Into the centre, then There is One who waits
Out to the edge At your centre
On the labyrinth of life Waits to hold you
There are twists and turns Longs to hold you
Each path beckons anew If you will allow
Each step a new one ‘Lie down
So take your time Take your rest
Slow down In me
Feel the path Don’t you know?
Beneath your feet Haven’t you heard?
Feel your feet I make all things new
Bear your weight Again and again
Feel your shape Including you.’
Moving through space
Through time and space Noel Giblett, Queensland Regional Meeting
F
or those unfamiliar with pausing in the centre and listening for as the spirit in which the pilgrim enters
*labyrinths, it is vital to note that Spirit, before heading back out to the and walks the path.
they are not the same thing as edge (your edge, your outer world). As David Whyte says, translating
mazes. Many of the old European Antonio Machado:
Mazes are arguably a cruel trick cathedrals had a labyrinth in the Path-maker, there is no path.
designed to baffle and defeat you—full crypt and the priest/s would walk the You make the path by walking.
of dead ends and blind alleys. labyrinth before conducting the service. By walking you make the path.
Labyrinths are the opposite. They are A contemplative mindset was seen as
an invitation to let go and experience vital preparation for authentic worship,
contemplative-mind by means of a if not for all of life.
walking meditation—you cannot get So, walking a labyrinth can be
lost (although you may feel temporarily a means of entering into a state of
so). You enter in silence and reverence surrender and deep receptivity. Like all
and all you have to do is stay on the practices, the more you surrender to the
path, into the centre and then back practice itself the deeper the experience.
out to the edge (your beginning point), But, rest assured, it is entirely possible
hopefully knowing the place as if for the to walk a labyrinth without being in
first time (TS Eliot). With practice you the slightest bit touched or affected!
learn to walk slowly and purposefully, Labyrinths vary in design but ultimately
perhaps holding a question or an issue, it’s not the design that matters as much
12 the australian friend | march 2021The power of witness
Kaye Wright | Victoria Regional Meeting
I
t was about twelve years ago when I the answer to. How on earth do you psychiatrist) and helped with her
heard an interview on the radio by assist in the healing of a person who healing. They would do this together as
Margaret Throsby which changed has experienced psychic and physical many times as it took. Gradually, this
my life. I can’t remember the details but injuries as deep and intentional as would diminish.
the spirit of the interview is still clear these? We listened intently for the I sat there with tears streaming
and still with me. woman’s answer. down my face, as I imagine every
The interviewee was an elderly She said that trauma as deep and
other listener was doing. For a few,
woman in her eighties and the story as profound as this can be healed
long moments there was silence. This
concerned her younger life as a with much time. And listening. And
is called ‘dead air’ on the radio and is a
psychiatrist, working in her twenties. I companioning. Over the course of her
big taboo, especially for a professional
can’t remember her name. She qualified practice she saw many hundreds of
just at the end of the second world war survivors and the process was always ABC broadcasting station. But we all
and she lived in America. As the stories the same. knew the reason. Margaret was sitting
started to trickle through about the She would see the survivor three there opposite the interviewee with
survivors of the concentration camps in or four times a week and just listen tears streaming down her face, too.
Germany, she started to feel a pull. She to them, maintaining eye contact, as After a little while, the woman
knew she must go and work there with they related their story. She would nod started to talk about something else a
the survivors. It was not a choice, she sometimes or say a word or two but it little lighter and then Margaret came
had to go. was mainly the listening she provided. back on air. To her great credit, she said
The interviewer asked if she believed Then, in each person’s story, there she had needed some time to regather
she was being called by God. The would come a time when the person herself as she was weeping. If we didn’t
woman said ‘no’. She did not believe in would start to keen. She knew when respect Margaret before, we certainly
a higher power. She could not explain this time was approaching. She asked
did now.
what it was that drove her to do the the survivor to sit on the floor, cross
What this unexpected interview
work she ‘had’ to do. legged if they could. She sat opposite
taught me was the value of listening,
We listened with fascination and them, also cross legged. She would
just listening. Also, the value of
horror to some of the stories which hold out her hands to the survivor
came from the survivors she helped. and the survivor always took them. companioning. Sometimes, the greatest
The trauma was profound. You couldn’t Slowly, rhythmically, they would rock gift we can offer is simply to be present
actually imagine anything worse. It was backwards and forwards together as and to be a witness to another soul’s
the ultimate in human cruelty. the survivor keened. Sometimes, she suffering.
After a time, the interviewer asked would join in with the keening. This
the question we all wanted to know was a natural response for her (the
the australian friend | march 2021 13QSA Notes
Equality in society, aid and development
Ai Leen Quah | QSA Project Manager
For those of us whose motivation in aid of women’s rights and empowerment, mediation and counselling support for
and development stems from notions access and participation, and protection cases of domestic disputes. The most
of social justice, the concept of equality and safety for women and children, are common cases dealt with by these
is a central focus. Upon inspecting key considerations in project designs as committees relate to domestic violence,
the root causes of the poverty or food well as being woven through activities child marriage and girls’ education.
insecurity that our projects aim to and discussions as part of community Despite being banned by Indian law
address, you will often find that many meetings, planning, training days and in 1948, negative discrimination on
of the issues – access to water, markets, informal counselling. the basis of caste is another enormous
credit, household and community QSA partner Vasandham Society in challenge that Vasandham (and in fact
decision-making, opportunities for Tamil Nadu, India, presents a good all of QSA’s project partners in India)
quality education, income generation, example. Having set up the Vaigai continue to fight every day. The nuances
leadership – are the result of some form Women’s Federation (VWF), a strong of this region-specific power dynamic
of unequal power dynamics or status grassroots network for women and remain ever-so sensitive, and even with
quo in the first place, and that social run by women, the two organisations the incremental pace, whether spurred
and economic inequalities are often now continue to support a number by society or within project contexts,
closely correlated. of initiatives aimed at improving the commitment pays off. Vasandham
The journey of achieving ideals of gender equality and women’s and girls’ manager Guna Kunasekaran reflects
equality is a long one and a continual rights. In the past year, their work has that it took 10 long years of inter-caste
work in progress. It is encouraging that enabled over 6,000 women to access group facilitation before VWF members
every step towards it is a success in its appropriate and affordable financial would accept to enter the houses of
own right. A degree of equality is also services including credit, loans, and members of different castes, let alone
integral for sustainable solutions to financial and animal insurance. The invite each other into their own homes.
poverty and food security, let alone for scheme stands out in that it boasts an Back on our own turf, in Australia we
peace and stability. incredible 98 per cent return rate, with are often viewed as one of the more
Gender is perhaps one of the most an evaluation attributing a part of the successful stories of multiculturalism,
obvious and universal dimensions of success to the social support that comes but according to who, and whose
inequality that we continue to chip with membership. Apart from informal version of history? Australia remains
away at within our own society and peer support, women-led anti-violence the only country colonised by the
workplaces as well as in the world and committees run awareness campaigns British that has not signed a treaty
work of our project partners. Themes and provide locally-accessible with its Indigenous people1, and we are
Across all of QSA’s projects in 2019-20:
• 308 women were supported with training
and/or opportunities towards leadership roles
• 1,036 people (61 percent women) were
actively engaged in discussions on gender equality
and women’s equal rights
• Over 541 girls received a better and
culturally-sensitive, quality education
Vaigai Women’s Federation group grading in process.
Credit: Vasandham Society
14 the australian friend | march 2021What does it mean to be Australian,
and do we all really get a fair go?
also the only ‘first world’ nation with a it is discrimination. For those lucky such as aid and development, is it
colonial history that has not recognised enough not to be well-acquainted not important that representation,
its first people in its constitution2. We with issues of race and discrimination, participation and access to decision-
have yet to reconcile with and embrace perhaps it feels as men initially did making should reflect the cultural and
our factual history and identity: we before understanding that women ethnic composition of Australian society
know that geographically we are located had reason to feel angry about the and the overseas communities that our
in the Asia-Pacific, but the Australian status quo. Without the experience or work seeks to serve? What impact
psyche has not quite arrived there yet. understanding, it is either considered might this be having in our work and
We pride ourselves on supposedly unimportant or uncomfortable enough our cross-cultural relationships? If our
giving everybody a ‘fair go’, but not not to discuss – as questions of power sector’s work centres around addressing
everyone is equally treated or valued as often are – and the privilege of being inequalities and disadvantage, is it
such. able to choose whether to engage with not important that we seek to address
According to the Australian Human the issue or not often goes unrecognised. and reflect this in our own practice?
Rights Commission3, despite For the unlucky, it is an everyday matter To reflect on our unconscious biases
comprising 24 per cent of the population, around which there is little choice but and internalised norms, we must
non-European and Indigenous to become overly familiar with, because understand and challenge ourselves, our
people are severely underrepresented it shapes one’s life experiences so well-established systems and society.
at just 5 per cent of senior leadership profoundly. This takes courage, it requires patience,
in Australian business, politics, The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a and a willingness to reflect on our own
government and universities. Whether light on some of the ingrained social and place in the structures of power.
intentional or not, subconscious or not, economic inequalities within various 1. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-
this is a reflection of those whose power disadvantaged communities and across australia-40024622
and privilege dominate the structures countries, and is expected to continue 2. Linda Burney, https://www.abc.net.
and systems of Australian society, and exacerbating these cracks in society. But au/news/2019-10-10/fact-check3a-is-
the bias of a certain set of assumptions, COVID-19 has also brought us to a australia-the-only-first-world-nation-
ways of thinking and working. crux in that we are facing the need to with-a-c/11583706
It is these minute dynamics that rethink, reconstruct, and to ‘build back 3. https://humanrights.gov.au/
ultimately amount to social and better’. Perhaps it is time to bring these our-work/race-discrimination/
structural inequality; some of it necessary conversations to the fore? publications/leading-change-blueprint-
reflects disadvantage, and some of In internationally-focused sectors cultural-diversity-and-0
QSA is a member of the Australian Council for International Development and is a signatory to the ACFID Code of
Conduct. The purpose of QSA is to express in a practical way the concern of Australian Quakers for the building of a
more peaceful, equitable, just and compassionate world. To this end QSA works with communities in need to improve
their quality of life with projects which are culturally sensitive, as well as being economically and environmentally
appropriate and sustainable.
Find us on Facebook for more photos and stories: facebook.com/quakerserviceaustralia.
Unit 14, 43-53 Bridge Road, Stanmore, NSW 2048 Australia • administration@qsa.org.au
Phone+61 2 8054 0400 • Fax: +61 2 9225 9241 • ABN 35 989 797 918
the australian friend | march 2021 15Quakers and the South African War
Peter D. Jones | Tasmania Regional Meeting
The South African (Boer) War – an introduction
Europeans – the Portuguese – first reached the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 but the Dutch laid their claim to the region in 1652
as a supply station on the way to the East Indies, and the first settlers – a mix of mostly Dutch families but with some French
Huguenots and Germans – became known as the Boers or ‘farmers’ while their language evolved into Afrikaans.
When the British took over after the Napoleonic wars, the Boers moved up country to what became the Orange Free State and
the Transvaal while British settlers arrived in the Cape Colony and Natal. In the late nineteenth century, diamonds and then
gold was discovered so thousands of ‘Uitlanders’ (‘foreigners’) poured in to disrupt the lives of the Boer settlers in the Transvaal.
Cecil Rhodes, who had become Prime Minister in the Cape Colony, cast envious eyes on this new source of wealth. He lent his
support to Dr Lender Starr Jameson in his raid on the Transvaal in 1895 with the hope of provoking a rising of the Uitlanders
in what became known as the Jameson Raid.
The raid was a failure but tensions between the British and the Boer republics continued to rise as the Uitlanders resented their
status in the Transvaal, and the situation was further complicated by the support given by Germany to the Boer cause and their
President, Paul Kruger. Humanitarians were also alienated by Boer treatment of ‘the native races’ in their republics.
When war finally broke out in October 1899, there was great enthusiasm for the cause in Britain and throughout the Empire,
including the Australian colonies, where volunteers soon enlisted to head for South Africa.
O
ne of the books that I got for Quakers there. We are not sure when while he lived in Natal (1893–1914),
Christmas, was a new book the first Quakers arrived at the Cape particularly Michael Hunter Coates
on Breaker Morant and the though we know that Backhouse and from Lancaster, but Quakers living in
Boer War (1899-1902) 1. This reminded Walker visited there (1838–40) and held South Africa were few and scattered,
me of another armed conflict where Meetings for Worship in Cape Town though visiting Friends often came
Quaker opposition to an imperialist as well as travelling inland. There were through on their way to and from the
war made them very unpopular at also visits by the Quaker Nantucket Australian colonies.
home. It’s also interesting to note that whaling ships and the crew apparently The Manchester Conference was
the Boer War has now been added to held Meetings for Worship as they held at the same time as the Jameson
the list of wars we have recently started used the Cape as a base for operations Raid (November 1895) and there was
to ‘commemorate’ here in Hobart, with in the South Atlantic. Apparently local a lot of correspondence in The Friend
the focus on the Boer War statue on the Methodists used a Friends’ Meeting about what was happening in South
edge of the Domain – despite the fact House to worship there as well. Africa as tensions rose. London YM
that the war started before Australia British settlement in South Africa recorded around 60 or 70 Friends in
became an independent nation state. began after 1820 and one early Quaker South Africa in 1898, mainly in the
The Boer War memorial in Bellerive – originally a Wesleyan Methodist – Cape Colony and Natal, so few in the
reminds us of what the war was really was Richard Gush who settled near Boer republics of the Orange River
about, ‘Not for self but Empire,’ but the Grahamstown, and was known locally Colony and the Transvaal. When
war has been drummed up to promote as Quaker Gush, and there is a plaque war finally broke out in 1899, Friends
the military myths about the creation in his memory at Salem where he were very divided and confused, as
of the Australian nation and its support lived. London YM was in a dilemma this was a new kind of war, ‘Christian
for ‘our great and powerful friends.’ as tensions developed in the late White races’ fighting each other and
There were a few Quakers in South nineteenth century, as the Anti-Slavery using new destructive weapons, while
Africa at the time of the Boer War, Society disapproved of the way that the press was whipping up a patriotic
mostly of course from the British the Boers treated ‘the natives’ in their fervour for the war so that any doubters
community in the Cape Colony, territories, but on the other hand, they were immediately labelled ‘Pro-Boer’.
although Friends’ House in London sympathised with the Boers suffering Friends did become active in the South
has two letters dated 1728 written by injustice at the hands of Imperial African Conciliation Committee
a British Friend from York Monthly Britain. We know too that Mahatma
Continued on next page
Meeting who was in touch with Dutch Gandhi had contact with Friends
16 the australian friend | march 2021NSW Bushmen in South Africa, 1901
but the Peace Society, chaired by the prisoners were sent into exile on islands into some rather divisive and unsavoury
Quaker, Edward Pease, was divided, like St Helena and Ceylon. Joshua and arguments over interpreting the
and so was the Liberal Party which Isabella Rowntree visited South Africa mortality statistics.
many Friends traditionally supported. for three months in 1901 to see for It was certainly an interesting period
Reynolds Weekly News recorded in themselves and met Mahatma Gandhi in Quaker history with the theological
March 1900 that the ‘sect is on longer there, though they were unable to visit debates in the aftermath of the
to be regarded as a strenuous and united the Boer republics. The situation was Manchester conference and subsequent
peace organisation’. George Cadbury complicated by a patriotic outpouring gatherings, the emergence of new young
got into hot water with a letter in when Queen Victoria died in January leaders, and then the rising tensions in
The Friend (2nd March 1900) when 1901, but on a personal note, I was the lead up to the Great War. Many of
he wrote that he was now convinced cheered to read that A.E. Theobald the issues faced by Friends 120 years
that the war was caused by the self- of Bath Meeting (where I first attend ago resonate today, and I still recall
interested motives of the great financial Meeting and joined the Society)
the jingoism unleashed by the tabloid
companies and not by the behaviour of had sent a letter to the City Fathers
press in England when I was spending
the Boers. He was supported by Joseph criticising the honours heaped on
a term at Woodbrooke after Margaret
Rowntree whose family was later to Lord Roberts (of Kandahar) when he
Thatcher decided to go to war with
suffer from mob violence at public returned to England after handing over
Argentina over the Falkland Islands.
meetings in Yorkshire when the crowds command of the war to Lord Kitchener.
Hardly anyone knew where they were
also smashed the windows of Rowntree George Cadbury got into further
and the only reason I did was because I
family homes. trouble for refusing to tender for orders
was a stamp collector and stamps from
As the war deteriorated with of chocolate and cocoa for the troops,
Kitchener setting up ‘concentration but when commanded by the Queen the Falkland Islands and Dependencies
camps’ for Boer families after the to supply chocolate for her Christmas were much sought after. Nonetheless
Boers had resorted to guerrilla warfare, present to the troops, he obeyed, but on the parallels with the Boer War were
Friends set up the South African War terms which eliminated personal profit much the same, with Friends caught
Victims Fund, receiving reports from for himself. Many Friends worked in a cleft stick over opposing the war
South Africa about conditions in the with Emily Hobhouse whose reports but not supporting the Right Wing
camps. In all, 43 camps were set up, of the appalling conditions in the military junta in Argentina.
housing 116,500 white people, of whom camps caused great distress in Britain First published in the Tasmania
26,000 died, with 20,000 of them being although they infuriated the military. Regional Meeting newsletter.
children under 16. African camps were These reports were publicised by The 1. Fitzsimons, Peter: Breaker Morant .
set up for the farmworkers where over Friend which kept Meetings informed Hachette, 2020
13,000 died while captured Boer male around the country, though Friends got
the australian friend | march 2021 17You can also read
