SPRING 2021
UK and world news, poetry, recipes, reviews & more….
Our Spring 2020 newsletter
This edition of the journal begins with a piece of research into Quaker history shedding light on the apparent contradiction between the pacifist belief of early whaling Friends’ in Nova Scotia pacifist beliefs and their violent and cruel behaviour towards...
Member’s report: APPG inquiry into eating in care
ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON VEGETARIANISM AND VEGANISM (Chair: Christina Rees, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales) 28 JANUARY 2020. Respect for religious and philosophical beliefs whilst eating in care The All-Party Group convened on Tuesday 28th January 2020...
Purple Paws or Poppies
Liz McDermott Lampeter Quaker Meeting The Quaker Testimony to Peace leads many Friends to protest against wars and other types of violence against people. Whilst many Friends have included other species in their concern (e.g. Woolman, Ley etc.) QCA, established in...
Profile: Many Tears Animal Rescue
Many Tears Animal Rescue (MTAR) interview with Sylvia VanAtta by Liz McDermott, Lampeter QM In one corner of my garden, under the flowering raspberry bush, there are 3 dogs: Sox, Joe and Kip. Dogs who all came to me through Many Tears Animal Rescue and are now,...
‘Animals are the mystery of the nature’ – Learning from Young Quakers
From an Address to Ireland Yearly Meeting, Dublin 27/4/2019 - Giving Young People's Issues A Quaker Context Jasmine Piercy I bring greetings from the 23rd annual Central European Gathering of Friends, from across 12 countries in the region – the CEG, which recently...
IN MEETING FOR WORSHIP
QUAKER CONCERN FOR ANIMALS
We seek to work with persons of all faiths, and none, who share our Concern, in all parts of the world.
QCA ENCOURAGES QUAKERS
Quakers believe everyone is equal. This inspires us to try to change the systems that cause injustice and that stop us being genuine communities. QCA hope to foster recognition that ‘everyone’ includes our animal kin, our fellow travellers on this earth’s wondrous journey.
Peace
Quakers are perhaps best known for our peace testimony. It comes from our belief that love is at the centre of existence and that all life is of inestimable worth. It has led Quakers to refuse military service and work creatively for peace, and to denounce, too, the millions of animal lives lost to human conflicts. Tens of thousands of non-human animals are subjected to weapons testing every year, including explosives, gunfire, biological and chemical agents.
Truth and integrity
Quakers try to live according to the deepest truth we know, and we connect most deeply to this in the stillness of worship. This means speaking the truth at all times, including to people in positions of power. Living with integrity means living compassionately.
Simplicity and sustainability
Quakers are concerned about excess and waste in our society. We want to make sure our use of natural resources – which do not belong to humans alone but to all creatures – is sustainable. We try to live simply and to find space for the things that really matter: the living world and our experience of stillness. QCA maintain that nothing is more contrary to these intentions or more damaging to our well-being than the global north’s over-consumption of the cheaply sold flesh of non-human animals.
Since its beginnings in the 17th century, the Religious Society of Friends has had an instinctive concern for animals.
Our founder George Fox condemned hunting and hawking. John Woolman, the 18th century American Quaker and anti-slavery pioneer, wrote;
“To say that we love God and at the same time exercise cruelty toward the least creature is a contradiction in itself.”
- In 1891, the Friends’ Anti-Vivisection Association was founded, with Joseph Storrs Fry as its first President and among its members, the MP and former Editor of The Friend, Joshua Rowntree.
- Later, as animal concerns grew, the association became the Friends’ Animal Welfare and Anti -Vivisection Society.
- Finally in 1978, the association changed its name to Quaker Concern for Animals.
Advices and queries number 42 reads:
Show a loving consideration for all creatures and seek to maintain the beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over Nature is used responsibly, with reverence for life.
Quaker Concern for Animals activities include:
- Supporting our members, practically and spiritually, as they work to help animals and to raise awareness of human impact on non-human life
- Providing literature, articles and newsletters
- Supporting conferences and religious services
- Cooperating with other national and international animal protection groups, including ecumenical and interfaith groups
- Lobbying of organizations, media and politicians
- Protesting against animal cruelty
- Funding animal charities, especially smaller, specialised ones.
- Day to day activities are managed by the clerk and a committee, meeting twice a year.
Membership is open to persons of all faiths and none, and we are a founding member of The Animal Interfaith Alliance.