Death by Television

"We will lose our audience," the senior executive of an Irish television told me. "we would lose our audience for the night if it became known that we would not be showing any violent death in our entertainment programmes that evening".

This was said in a serious conversation, when I rang to ask if it would be possible to mark World Peace Day on 21 September by making it the one day each year when no violent deaths were shown for entertainment purposes.

I first became concerned about the use of violent death as entertainment when I stumbled across the following statistic: the average child in Britain or the USA sees more than 8,000 violent deaths, mostly on television, before reaching its 12th. birthday. I live in Ireland, and, though statistics are not available, there are good reasons to suspect that the figure here is even higher.

Apparently, an average adult watches about 15,000 violent deaths for entertainment. It is worth trying to count the number of such deaths in a typical Bruce Willis or James Bond movie. I recommend encouraging children or teenagers to run a sweepstake to guess the number of violent deaths, the next time one of these adventures is shown. Give Smarties to the winner. A typical action movie can have as many as 100 violent deaths. And do look out for the especially graphic end reserved for the villain - very satisfying.

Opinions differ about whether this continuous exposure to violent death is just harmless escapism, or whether it has some affect on our children or on us. These serious effects have been identified by research (for example: that set out by Professor Joanne Cantor as part of testimony to a US Senate commerce committee: see http://www.joannecantor.com/senate2003.htm).

First, we become desensitised to violent death. The images that would have upset us even a few months earlier no longer have the same impact. For example, the graphic image in a road safety advertisement of a small boy being killed by a careless driver becomes so familiar that we just don't notice it any more.

However, that desensitising doesn't make us immune. The second find is that exposure to violence entertainment makes us generally more nervous and insecure. We become more convinced that the world is a dreadful place, full of hostility and threat.

The third finding, not surprisingly, is that there is a relationship between watching violence and becoming more violent. The research is ambiguous, so the link should not be overstated. The relationship is subtle. It can best be compared with the relationship between smoking and cancer: not all smokers get cancer, and not everybody with cancer has smoked. Similarly, people who watch violence do not all become violent, and not all violent people have been watching too much violence on television.

We are told that repetition of advertisements eventually makes an impact on us. This, no doubt, is the reason why the road-safety advertisement is still being shown.

If this is true of paid advertising, then surely it is true of ordinary television. Every time we see a fictional violent death, we pick up the subconscious message that "life is cheap". The more violent deaths we see, the more the ideas is re-enforced. Every time the hero shoots the bad guys, or blows up a car in a chase scene, the message is repeated: life is cheap. Every time the grenade is thrown into the bunker, or the guard has his neck cut, the message is reinforced.

Perhaps it is more than a coincidence that suicide, careless road deaths and violent crime are all most common among young adult males, a group that is constantly being exposed to the subliminal message that life is cheap. But I have yet to find published research on this issue.

Watching violent death as entertainment has apparently become important in 21st century civilisation. We can form a balanced opinion on this only when we are aware of some of the influences. One problem is that any balancing messages are weak: you rarely see reinforcement of the idea that every human life has value.

It is suggested that one day each year could be used as a focus for understanding this issue. It would be appropriate to mark 21st. September, United Nations World Peace Day, by giving attention to this.

If television stations could be persuaded to observe World Peace Day by showing no violent death for entertainment puposes, and teachers at all levels could focus their classes and articles on this theme for this one day each year, then we could begin to have an informed discussion about it.

Unfortunately, there is little possibility of voluntary action on the part of television stations. Under these circumstances, some external stimuli are necessary to encourage a change of attitude. The World Council of Churches could adopt the idea as part of its Decade against Violence. Advertisers could ask commercial television companies not to place their ads in programmes portraying violent death. And ordinary citizens could write to their MPs and MEPs, asking them to bring the matter to the attention of the appropriate ministers.

And finally, anyone can exercise their rights on 21st September by simply turning off any programme that contains violent death.

After all, do you really rate it as entertainment?

(This article first appeared in Church Times, 17 September 2004, and is reprinted with permission. Church Times is found at http://www.churchtimes.co.uk)

Quaker Bolivia Link Study Visit 2005

In 1993 Quakers in USA and England set up Quaker Bolivia Link (QBL), a charity to initiate and support development work in Bolivia, South America's poorest country.

I first heard of QBL when Irish Friends choose this as their Millenium project in 2000. At that time we heard that Bolivia was Latin America's poorest country, that there were 40,000 thousand Quakers there and that QBL could reach places where money was needed. Amicari Health Centre benefitted from the funds raised matched by the Irish Government.

My experience of living and working in Africa and the South Pacific and many years of working in community development in Northern Ireland meant I had an interest in the development of self sustaining communities. So the opportunity to visit South America and see both the spectacular sights offered by the Andes, learn about what was happening in villages and towns in Bolivia and visit historic places both there and in Peru was too good to miss. All I had to do was get to Miami to join the group of 11, ably led by Barbara Flynn a Quaker from California and a veteran of Bolivian study tours.

We were well briefed about conditions. Yes, we would have simple, comfortable accomodation, and no, there wasn't any malaria in the Andes, it was too high. In fact we would arrive in La Paz at 13,000 feet and stay between that and 8,000 until we flew to Lima for the return journey. Yes, the local Quakers were all from programmed traditions and we would meet some of them. The press coverage of unrest and road blocks in early June lead to a spate of e-mails round participants. Barbara was in contact with QBL in La Paz and they were monitoring the situation. The crisis was temporarily resolved when the President resigned and the new incumbent promised elections later this year.

On arrival we headed for Sorata, a four hour journey mainly on a dirt road. From there we were able to visit two local villages, Palcapampa and Patata, both helped by QBL in the past. Neither of these villages has a road, so we went by truck to the end of the road and then walked (uphill) for about 40 minutes to reach the village. In Palcapampa, we were met outside the community centre by most of the 22 families living there. Thus began a regular pattern to the visits: introductions, welcome speeches, responses, information about the area and the QBL project, a shared lunch and a tour of the area. QBL staff would take the opportunity to talk with villagers about other potential projects.

It was a great help that QBL staff accompanied us to all the project visits. Barbara did all the translation from Spanish to English and sometimes QBL staff translated from Aymara to Spanish, especially as the women were less likely to make speeches in Spanish. We heard about the strengths of small communities with communal land ownership and villagers who are accustomed to working together. So there is already good collaboration and decisions making structures even in the smallest community.

We learnt that the water and latrine projects were all accomplished with voluntary local labour. QBL funded materials and technical expertise where needed and local people did the rest. In the case of the 'farm diversification' activity, QBL would advise on the introduction of new crops or animals and local people would build hen houses, greenhouses, plant and learn the new skills necessary.

We saw a number of poultry and greenhouse projects, which both helped to vary the diet and allowed for the sale of surplus in local markets. In a largely subsistence economy, people need money so that their children can go to school. Most primary education is free but uniforms and books have to be bought and sometimes travel can present problems. Palcopampa, for example, is two hours walk from Sorata, the nearest secondary level school. Parents there have decided to set up a hostel or 'internado' in which children can stay during the week. This will be supervised by a couple from the village and will have a garden so that the students can help to grow food to keep the costs down. Children from other outlying villages can be accommodated too. This is a marginal area for farming, with its steep mountainous terrain and unpredictable weather. Last year there was a freak hail storm which spoiled much of the potato crop.

Meantime in La Paz and its less salubrious suburb El Alto, QBL is supporting different kinds of work. Las Gregorias is a group of women who weave and knit and sell their wares next door to their workshop. This year the tourist trade was down, partly due to the earlier roadblocks, and the passing trade decreased. One of our group bought a suitcase full of their products to test the market on e-bay. I haven't heard the outcome yet.

Another centre we visited was run by the Catholic Church and catered for learning disabled children. QBL had supported a parents group, enabling parents to meet and the centre to publish material to help parents understand their children's conditions. We also met a group who have translated traditional stories from Aymara into Spanish and English and published books for children with parallel texts in all three languages. Little is written in the native languages of Bolivia and indigenous people are not well represented among either political or other leadership.

Another programme which we became aware of is the Bolivian Quaker Education Fund, set up by an American Friend in New York to provide bursaries for third level education. We met some 30 students supported this year and heard about their studies and what they wanted to do afterwards. This is a valuable programme to support those who have not the money to pay fees. Meetings could send donations to this fund and agree to support a student through their course.

On the way to the Peruvian border we visited Amicari where we had a warm welcome with a band and speeches and a tour of the Health Centre. The doctor in charge told us about the mother and children’s health programmes, the outreach clinics where inoculations are given and showed us the delivery room and new laboratory. Outside the Health Centre is a large board thanking donors including QBL, the Irish Government and the Irish Quakers. Next door is a staff house and the oldest Quaker church in Bolivia, dating from 1924.

After this strenuous programme we visited Lake Titicaca and travelled on to Cusco and Machu Picchu to improve our cultural understanding of the Incas and to enjoy the marvellous landscapes.

Conclusions: came away with a strong feeling that QBL is a good organisation to support. It employs all local staff and works well with communities and organisations to improve lives. Activity is modest and long term. For example, projects set up maintenance funds paid into by each family so that buildings can be repaired or replaced when necessary. Your money goes a long way. I would recommend this type of study tour to anybody interested and would commend QBL as a good cause.

World Gathering of Young Friends - Epistle

Greetings from the World Gathering of Young Friends 2005. 226 Friends gathered together in Lancaster University, United Kingdom, from 16th - 24th August 2005. Our theme was 'I am the vine, you are the branches. Now, what fruit shall we bear?' taken from John 15; and William Penn's challenge 'Let us then try what love will do'. Among us, 58 Yearly Meetings and 9 monthly meetings and regional groups were represented, with speakers of more than twenty different languages. We were called to be gathered together at the place where our Quaker movement first bore fruit, the heart of 1652 country. We returned to our shared roots, to the birthplace of our collective spiritual identities. Through climbing Pendle Hill as a community, to live out George Fox's vision of a great people gathered together, we found a unity with the place and one another, among the bright green hills, surrounded by grazing sheep.

We felt great joy in being together and many Friends gave thanks for being here. However, our hearts were filled with sadness too. In the hall where we met there were many empty chairs, and we were always aware of those Friends who could not join us here in Lancaster. Many were absent because they were denied visas, others because they found when the time came that they could not join us after all. Their loss is our loss as well, for without their presence we could not feel their truth reflected in their words, their experiences, their faces and their smiles. However we could feel their presence in our hearts. We have selected 2 representatives from each region to go to a post-WGYF gathering in Kenya to share with these brothers and sisters the Love and Spirit that we felt in this gathering.

Twenty years have passed since the last World Gathering of Young Friends, held in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. To what purpose were we summoned once more?

Here we tried each other's forms of worship, silent and programmed, songs in many different languages, scriptural readings, hand holding. We were open, amazed, stretched and blessed. We learned that the great presence in our lives can be called by many names, Jesus, Christ, God, Inner light, Spirit, Love or many others. Ultimately, through listening to the Spirit that moved us, not the words in which we expressed our movement, we strived to become one organism, one body made up of many different parts (1 Corinthians 12:13).

We were united not so much in the expression of our faith as in our common desire to be unified and by the power of the Spirit amongst us during these 9 days. We were challenged to put aside the labels we hide behind, programmed, unprogrammed, liberal, evangelical, and come together as Friends of the Truth, seeking together for the common truth behind our language. We have not finished this process. We are only at the beginning of a long path, but the love and joy we have felt in being in this place together have allowed us to come this far, and we pray that they will lead us further yet.

The time here has been a chance to reflect on our lives. We have been challenged to recognize ourselves as God's children, and respond in willing devotion. The love we have found here is not for us to own but to share. We desire to show our love by doing good and avoiding harm to all people and to all the Earth. We must let others see this love and know its source so that they may come to share it.

The Spirit present in our gathering summoned us to be a gathered people, and spoke through the many different people and cultures here to remind us of its glory, power and purpose. The Spirit is at work in all of us, and it is calling us not to judge one another's forms of worship but to examine our own hearts, find our own calling. We are called to take what we have experienced here and give it back to our communities.

Far away meetings now have faces, stories and friendships that make them real to us. Bridges have been built at our Gathering which we call on Friends everywhere to nurture and support. We will keep this contact alive through exchanges, more frequent gatherings and opportunities to work together. Through this contact we will give strength to each other and share our gifts. We must face the future challenges of the Religious Society of Friends together.

Where we explored the theme of the vine and the branches we found that its fruits are born from love. We have experienced what Love can do in this Gathering, now let us try what it can do in the world.

France Yearly Meeting

Pauline Goggin of Limerick Meeting found herself somewhat unexpectedy at France Yearly Meeting in 2005. Its members are scattered all over that large country, but it makes up in enthusiasm what it lacks in numbers. It is helpful to small Meetings on the continent of Europe for some visitors to be present, and it is good for us at home to learn about Friends elsewhere. Pauline reports as follows:-

While travelling in France this August, I became aware that the French Yearly Meeting would be held in Nimes in the same month. I thought it would be a good opportunity to meet French Friends and replenish my spiritual well, if indeed it would be possible to attend, at such short notice. I knew that the correct procedure would have been to apply to the Clerk, giving reasonable notice. However, I needn't have worried, I was facilitated to attend and welcomed in a very warm and Friendly way thanks to the kindness of Jeanne at the Quaker Centre in Paris and Louise Elias who was in charge of accomodation and of course Axel Jensen, the Clerk of yearly meeting.

The Assemblee Anuelle Francaise was held in the beautiful retreat centre, La Gardiole, set in wooded hills about 50 kms west of Nimes. Surrounded by vineyards, Olive groves and various mediteranean fruit trees. About forty five of us had gathered to reflect on the theme of the Yearly Meeting. Many countries were represented including Italy, Britain, Germany, Ireland, Madagascar. I was delighted to meet Gill Trapnell who was the delegate from Ireland Yearly Meeting.

I could take breaks from trying to understand with my school French and catch up on what was truly being said, taking advantage of Gill's fluency in the language. One multi lingual Friend took responsibility for interpretation for those others of us who were linguistically challenged. This she did, very discreetly at the back of the meeting room and it really helped me to feel connected to the work French Friends were engaged in.

Although the ministry during Meeting for Worship was given in a mix of French, or dual French/English, it was not a problem to join with Friends worshipping together and the wonderful silence held us all. It was always possible to talk with willing Friends after Meeting to receive their ministry.

The theme of the Yearly meeting was "Rayonnement: Interieur et exterieur" whose meaning (as I understood it) lies somewhere, between "being seen" (as Quakers) and "outreach" and maybe both. Through a programme of excercises and small group meetings we were inspired and encouraged to reflect together on how we each live out our Quakerism in our daily lives, in our own personal experience, in our interactions with others, and within our communities. We were also encouraged to think about how we as Quakers interact with and are seen by the world (if indeed we are seen at all).

I became aware of French Friends concerns about isolated Friends in France, and the problems smaller groups of Friends have in Europe to stay in touch with each other and how best to support each other given the great distances there are. I was reminded of other conversations about similar concerns with Spanish Friends in Barcelona.

We were also told about the work of the Tara Project in South Senegal, a cause that is dear to the hearts of French Friends. This project is trying to help the local people overcome the severe problems of growing food in an area, which has been greatly affected by water shortages and water salinisation.

Interspersed with the work of the meeting there was also time to celebrate with Friends the newly refurbished Meeting house at Congenies, where there is a weekly meeting for worship now. We joined them for a meeting for worship there.

With plenty of fun and laughter games and entertainment in the evenings the four days flew by. I left there very warmed and nourished by the experience.

(Pauline Goggin, Member of Limerick Meeting, has been travelling with her partner Walter in their boat around the coasts of Spain, Portugal and France for the last few years.)

Junior Meetings

From Lisburn Monthly Meeting:

In September Ainda Andress introduced the topic of work with Children and Young People, outlining the South Belfast programme for 3 age groups. This included the opportunity for the young people to choose, study and support a charity each year, covering a range of topics from a suggested list (see below) and organised walks and outings for families.

In the discussion, the difficulties of small numbers, a wide age range and few ad@it helpers were raised. It would be helpful for children from small groups to be able to join with other Meetings.

Some ideas were put forward:
* Better communication between Meetings is needed, e.g. could events be publicised via the Yearly Meeting website?
* Visiting Friends could do a session with children, especially older children in different Meetings. Perhaps a list of volunteers could be drawn up?
* A children's charter has been drawn up by Coleraine children and could be circulated to other Meetings
* A list of children in each Meeting, with ages, would be useful
* South Belfast's list of topics covered should be circulated and sent to The Friendly Word * A contact person in each meeting would help the flow of information.

At the same meeting Dawn Marie Rafferty gave a report of World Gathering of Young Friends and listed the range of events attended by Irish YFs.

The matter will be considered again in March when Simon Best, a Rowntree Fellow from Warwickshire MM will, be the speaker. Simon is open to the idea of leading a workshop on supporting the spiritual development of children and young people when he is here and any other meetings interested in this should contact the clerk of Lisburn Monthly Meeting, Felicity McCartney or a member of Monthly Meeting's committee.

Felicity McCartney

From South Belfast Preparative Meeting:

A Suggested Programme for use with Children and Young People: Quakerism and its relevance today

Quaker Faith and Practice:
Advices and Queries, Friends and the Bible, The World Family of Friends, QCEA, FWCC, QUNO, Management and administration of the Meeting and the whole of the Society of Friends, Informing and encouraging attendance at JYM, Yorkshire Friends Holiday School etc., Quaker publications.

Quaker History:
History of Britain in the 17th century, Work of Quaker personalities e.g. Elizabeth Fry, George Fox, John Woolman, History of Friends in Ireland and Friends Ambulance Unit.

Coleraine Preparative Meeting's Children Charter

Towards a Charter for Children in the Meeting:

1. Children are equal partners with adults in the life of the Meeting
2. Children should be allowed to join in the full life of the Meeting if they wish Learning is for the whole Meeting, adults and children
3. Learning is for the whole Meeting, adults and children
4. Fellowship is for all - each belonging meaningfully to the rest
5. Service is for children to give as well as adults
6. The call to ministry comes to all God's people of whatever age
7. The Holy Spirit speaks powerfully through children as well as adults
6. The discovery and development of gifts in children and adults is a key function of the Meeting
7. As a Quaker Meeting we must learn to do only those things in separate age groups, which we cannot do in all conscience together
8. The concept of 'The Priesthood of all Believers' includes children.

Adopted by the children and young people of Coleraine Meeting from a 'Charter for Children in the Church' displayed on a wall in the foyer of Corrymeela Community.