Does it matter if you don’t have any particular faith viewpoint?

I don’t, but I do take questions of faith and belief seriously. When I told friend that I had “lost” my Catholic faith and he laughed uproariously, wanting to know where I had lost it, I didn’t find it funny.

Despite the elevation of science and technology, religious beliefs still inform much individual and collective human conduct for good or ill. Is that because as humans we live such short lives and crave some kind of deeper meaning? Or is it because spiritual practices offer hope of becoming better people and thereby reduce the suffering we cause others and ourselves. In the face of major human-activated climate disasters, both of these standpoints become urgently relevant.

In my experience, Quakers are one faith group ready to respond to the consequences of the activities of consumer, fossil-fuelled capitalist societies.  This year Quakers celebrate 400 years of George Fox’s iconoclastic ministry; Fox urged people to take responsibility for their own spiritual awakening by listening to their deepest inner truth.

Needless to say he and his followers spent time in prison. These practices did not involving listening when priests, ministers and the ruling classes told them how to live.

Quakers strive for simplicity, integrity, equality, community and stewardship as opposed to dominance of the Earth, and for peace. Over centuries this has led them to actively oppose slavery, to provide famine relief, to bear witness in places of conflict and to negotiate worldwide for peace. In the face of global climate disaster they are still quietly listening for where their inner truths will direct them.

Written by Suzanne Regan, Fellside, Kendal.

To share an insight about how your faith impacts your view of things, please contact: faithviewpoint@gmail.com.