Issue 15: May 2017 – Building Bridges Issue
With Brexit, the rise of the far-right across Europe, Trump’s election, escalating inequality and the continuing refugee crisis, we are now in a world where walls are being built between peoples, both metaphorically and literally. The politics of division, embodied in nationalism and isolationism, are the path many governments, including our own, are heading down. In the face of this, ‘that of god in everyone’, that central egalitarian foundation of Quakerism, compels us to keep dialogue open with all – including people we disagree with. Without dialogue, walls will just keep growing.
This issue is dedicated to building bridges, not walls. Every person on this earth has a story, has a perspective, has something to give. We touch upon the potential barriers that separate people, including those within our own community, and how we may overcome them. Our testimony must not be restricted to the meeting house, but must be lived.
In this issue:
- Bridging the Divide – a reflection on a visit to a refugee project in Italy
- Young Friends reflect on interfaith experience and what it means to them
- An interview with two Young Friends on conscience and compromise in working life
- Can storytelling heal society?
