the friend online
17 August 2007

Opinion

What canst thou say? Conscience and the law - preview

Harvey Gillman examines the need to overcome prejudice through our seeing each other ‘eye to eye’

While we as Friends believe that the law should be obeyed, we believe that there are times that we must be ready to break it in the name of a greater authority
  • At best we do this after prayerful reflection, testing out our leadings with others in our worshipping community
  • We must of course accept that others have the right to do the same
  • We must accept also that we may need to suffer the consequences of our actions
  • This I think is clear from our history and our principles


  • Friends in Brighton have agreed to participate in Gay Pride
  • We commissioned T-shirts with a text from the national Quaker website to wear on the parade: 'We feel that the quality and the depth of feeling between two people is the most important part of a loving relationship, not their gender or sexual orientation
  • ' Scarcely pithy and radical, but a message that we wanted the world to see and share
  • These words were turned down by the T-shirt printer
  • When questioned, the printers told us first that the words would offend other customers, then they had the right to turn anything down for commercial reasons without elaborating, then and only finally that they were founded by Christians and our words were against their conscience

  • Harvey Gillman

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    Can Quakers be prophets?
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    Pre-Triennial impressions from Moyallon

    News round-up
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    What canst thou say? Conscience and the law
    Harvey Gillman
    Comment
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    Two Caravans
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