Comments:

Janet Toye, 21 February
At the end of Simon Risley's very interesting article about the Orkney 'Satanic Abuse' affair - I did not know about Friends' action - he questions whether he is right to believe that his action was laid upon him by God. He can easily imagine that people who do things he disagrees with entirely, for instance suicide bombers, also believe they are acting according to God's will.

It doesn't seem enough to say that because he tested his concern within his Monthly Meeting he had some kind of guarantee that it wasn't just a personal concern that was misguided. Suicide bombers are supported in their action by fellow religionists too.

What it comes down to in the end is what set of values one chooses to espouse, what kind of world one wants, and what kind of behaviour one thinks is likely to help sustain that kind of world. Personal experience, the culture we've grown up in, and the ways in which we think about ideas in my opinion all influence the kind of God in which a person believes.

Does this mean that one person's God is as good as another's? I'm prepared to say that the kind of God Simon Risley believes in is highly preferable to the vengeful variety. That is what it seems to me is implied by 'taking heed of love and truth'. But I can't prove it. It's a question of 'here I stand'.