JOAN'S JOTTINGS
Long-standing members will find a Renewal Form included with their Newsletter. It would be appreciated if you could return it as soon as you are able before the Christmas rush arrives. Each year several members put aside the form planning to complete it later but then forget and are eventually taken off the membership list. We are always sorry to lose members in this way as some return later expressing regret that they had allowed their membership to lapse. Those of you who have joined within the last couple of years will be receiving your forms in the same month as you originally joined.
The Newsletter is now included on the NUF website as part of our outreach programme. Would those contributors who do not wish to have their contributions included on the website, or do not wish to have their names attributed, please let the Editor know when making their submission.
Within Unitarianism there are many vibrant communities which might be of interest to NUF members. It is hoped that as many of them as possible will respond to an invitation to have a web presence directly accessed from the NUF website at: www.nufonline.co.uk. The first community, which has now been introduced, is this year's Summer School - Building Beloved Community. Several more have already expressed an interest so I would urge those members who do have access to the Internet to keep an eye on further developments. I would encourage any NUF member who already belongs to one of these many communities to share their experiences through the pages of our Newsletter.
The Anniversary Weekend was celebrated at Great Hucklow in September. President of the GA, Revd. Brian Cockcroft, brought greetings from the GA on the celebration of our Diamond Jubilee before going on to tell us about his life and of those people who had been an inspiration to him. Members were delighted that Brian
was able to be with us for the whole weekend giving a rare opportunity for NUF members to get to know their GA President. Following the celebratory dinner on Saturday evening a group of young adults, including several who had been to the Opus and Concentric conferences in America, spoke with great enthusiasm of all they had learned, the new friends they had made and their hopes for the future.
They have named themselves BUYAN - British Unitarian Young Adult Network - and hope to continue developing links with the NUF, one of the first steps being that of establishing a web presence on the NUF website. As well as developing their presence as an independent community within the wider Unitarian family several have already taken out membership with the NUF. The invitation to share with them in their Epilogue was readily accepted and involved everyone lighting a candle in turn at the same time expressing gratitude for something in their individual lives. The young adults were keen to express their thanks to everyone who had helped make possible their visit to America. The coming into being of this group added a wonderful dimension to our own celebrations and I'm sure I speak for all NUF members in wishing them all the very best for the future.
Each year the NUF Weekend at Great Hucklow attracts the regulars but also welcomes newcomers and this year was no different. For those of you who have never been to a Unitarian event at Hucklow I would encourage you to do so. The NUF Weekend is only one of many residential meetings that members can enjoy. Three speakers are already booked for the NUF Weekend at Hucklow on 15th - 17th September 2006. They will be addressing three aspects on the theme of 'Worship' which will consider, amongst other aspects of worship, the situation of many NUF members who do not meet together with other Unitarians within a congregational setting.
Invitation Days have been held at the Western Union Meeting, (see article by Howard Wilkins) Derby, Birmingham New Meeting and York with NUF members actively participating in each. Rev Chris Goacher, our own Minister, led the service at Derby with NUF President Rev Tony McNeile, Mel Prideaux and Pat Caddick speaking about their experience of the NUF. Material from NUF publications and website was extensively used, as it was at York where Rev Margaret Kirk led the service, and I spoke about the NUF and the important place it had in my everyday life.
The NUF President, Rev. Tony McNeile, represented the Fellowship at the Birmingham New Meeting Invitation Day and writes of its special significance in the following piece.
Joan Wilkinson
A big thank-you to Frank Hytch
Around the chapel at Birmingham New Meeting is a narrow band of window that separates the roof from the walls. Light comes in but so too does the sight of the blue sky filtering through the canopy of trees that surround the chapel. On the day of their harvest festival it created a sense of oneness between the displays of fruit and flowers on the inside and the beautiful autumn day outside. During the service the children held up cards showing the word 'harvest' and out of it made the words 'starve' and 'share'.
The congregation had invited the NUF to share this day with them as part of the NUF diamond anniversary year celebrations. The minister, Simon Ramsay, had given the day the theme of thanksgiving - that we should be thankful for all that fell to us because we lived in this country at this time.
As part of our diamond anniversary the NUF thought that we should honour our longest serving member by
presenting a small gift as a token of our thanksgiving. The records show that Frank Hytch joined the NUF fifty three years ago and that he is also a member of Birmingham New Meeting congregation. Towards the end of the service, those NUF members who had travelled to Birmingham were welcomed by the minister and I was invited to say a few words about the NUF. There was a conspiracy, of course, to surprise Frank with the presentation! Frank Hytch has not only maintained a continual membership of the NUF since 1952 but he has also served terms during this time as Secretary, President and editor of the Viewpoint. This was an opportunity to thank him for all that he has done for us and for the Unitarian Movement generally. He was presented with a clock and a certificate of appreciation and he received a warm ovation from the congregation. In his reply, Frank said how much he had valued the NUF - and that he still enjoyed being a member of one of the Books of Fellowship.
After the service we enjoyed a celebration lunch with the congregation. Our thanks to those NUF members who joined us for the day and to Birmingham New Meeting for their hospitality. Congratulations, Frank, and thank you.
Tony McNeile
ANNIVERSARIES
Having just celebrated the NUF's 60th anniversary we congratulate the Jewish community which is celebrating the anniversary of its modern foundation in Britain. After the horrors and massacres of the late Middle Ages there were no Jews at all in this country. In 1656 Oliver Cromwell sanctioned their return - hence the commemorations. How much has happened in the last 350 years. (The apparent discrepancy in the dates is due to the differences in our calendars.)
Dorothy Archer
Doubt may be an uncomfortable state of mind but certainty is ridiculous.
Voltaire
THE PRESIDENT'S PIECE
I am happiest when I am with my own tribe. I have found my tribe to be the people who love life and have an eye for adventure. It's often strange but you do recognise your own tribe as soon as your shadows touch. There is something about them that synchronises with your own thoughts and behaviour and they not only register as 'own tribe' but also as 'my good friend' and it happens at once. I call them the class X people.
Since we last met on these pages I have enjoyed the company of the class X people several times over. First was the NUF anniversary weekend at Great Hucklow. The NUF people do tend to be similar - not in outward appearance, background, age or gender but because they are open minded about their faith. We are able to discuss the things we believe and have faith in quite openly. There is also an openness towards worship that binds us together in spirit without there ever being a need for definition It was a similar story at Derby when a small group of us shared in the congregation's service led by Chris Goacher. We felt amongst friends as soon as we entered that chapel. We were received and listened to with open hearts, I felt.
My spiritual tribe! I once wrote a calendar piece about needing to meet up with more class X people and it has been archived on the NUF web site as one of the meditations.
One of my other tribes is the army Regiment I served with many years ago. Old codgers retain a connection through the regimental association which has a very efficient welfare arm for any who are wobbling on the log but otherwise we just like to meet up now and again. This summer I joined them for a nostalgic climb up the hills of South Wales. It is always good banter and the tribal bond covers the whole range of years - whether like me you served some forty years ago or those newer and younger ones who are able steam up hills only two strides behind their dog. What they all have in common is that they are definitely X type.
We meet our own tribe in many different ways and one of the great things about belonging to the NUF is that you know you are part of a tribe of like minded people. Isn't that a happy thought?
With Best Wishes,
Tony McNeile
THE MINISTER'S MUSINGS
'People may ask you, "How do you know God?" You should respond, "Because he is in my heart." Can we know ourselves if we do not know God? The understanding of ourselves is in understanding God.'
Persian Wisdom
Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, commenting on the above, writes, 'Wisdom comes from boldness, from participation and tolerance, uncertainty, confusion, ignorance, suspicion, pain, suffering, joy, laughter, fun and love.' (2001) Sounds very much like a recipe for the NUF Weekend at Great Hucklow. We sometimes need boldness to participate, particularly when we come together, face to face so infrequently. We might approach such occasions with uncertainty; ignorance as to what is required of us, suspicion of those we do not know? However, at this years NUF Weekend, through much laughter and fun, yes, and love, we did overcome our confusions and grow together in wisdom, both of ourselves, and what we understand to be God. Pain and suffering? Yes, there was that too when we learned of the passing of a well-loved member of the fellowship.
To grow together in peace and love and wisdom is a truly miraculous thing. The NLJF gives us many ways in which to seek and express our religious/spiritual understandings, books of fellowship, e-mail contacts, Newsletter, Viewpoint, etc, but sometimes to look into another's eyes and see a fellow soul looking back with wisdom, with understanding, with love, is the pinnacle of religious fellowship. We all especially enjoyed the participation of the Young Adults who were also at the Nightingale Centre. Visionaries are hard to find but we found them in the Young Adult Group.
I hope many more will want to come to the NUF Weekend next year - it really is worth the effort to overcome all those reasons why we shouldn't.
It is true of any organisation that what one gets out of one's membership, roughly equates to what one puts into it.
Love and Peace,
Chris
GOD'S LUTE
A heart that to God's will
Submits in patience mute
Loves to be touched by Him
It serves God as His lute
Angelus Silesius
REFLECTIONS
I have always thought that there are elements of the Unitarian enterprise that remind me of Science Fiction, in its search for meaning beyond boundaries. One of the masters of twentieth century Science Fiction was Philip K. Dick. Late in life he had a profound mystical experience and, in his last novels he tried to understand this experience by blending elements of Gnosticism with the science fiction genre. In the appendix to 'Valis' he has a list of quasi-religious propositions. Here is item 52:
"Our world is still secretly ruled by the hidden race descended from Ikhnaton, and his knowledge is the information of the Macro-Mind itself.
'All cattle rest upon their pasturage,
The trees and the plants flourish,
The birds flutter in their marshes,
Their wings uplifted in adoration to thee,
All the sheep dance upon their feet,
All winged things fly,
They live when thou has shone upon them.'
From Ikhnaton this knowledge passed to Moses, and from Moses to Elijah, the Immortal Man, who became Christ. But underneath all the names there is only one Immortal Man; and we are that man."
But then, perhaps this is all just too weird!
Kenneth Mullen
THE 100 MINUTE BIBLE
Last Thursday at Canterbury Cathedral the new so-called "100 minute Bible" was launched. It was written by the Rev. Michael Hinton who has severely edited the Bible so that it can be read in its entirety in 100 minutes instead of the week which I am told it would normally take. In response to this a reader of a national newspaper, Mary Ellen Synon, wrote in to say that such a shorter version had been made of the New Testament previously by Thomas Jefferson. She went on to say that Jefferson like many great men of the early American republic did not believe in the divinity of Christ or even in the Trinity and retained only the life and morals of Jesus. Therefore he cut out what he saw as dogma and superstition and kept what he found to be the authentic voice of Jesus which he described as "abstracting what is really his from the rubbish in which it is buried as separate from that as the diamond from the dunghill."
(Daily Telegraph Friday 23rd Sept 2005)
Dorothy Archer
UNDERSTANDING THE BIG BANG UNIVERSE
This article is concerned with developments in the present year concerning our Universe - with a main issue of insight into how it came to be born. It is insight that draws deeply upon quantum-mechanical theory. Almost inevitably it is remarkable and fascinating in the extreme in conception.
There are two starting points to the idea of our Universe having a Big Bang origin. One is astronomical. The other is theoretical.
In California an astronomer, Edwin Hubble, at the Mount Wilson Observatory took pictures of galaxies of stars far distant beyond the confines of our own Milky Way galaxy: this in the years 1922-24. By 1929 he had evidence that there were not only a very large number of such galaxies, but that they were receding from our galaxy at rates proportional to their distance from us. They were all part of a great dilation. That is the basic astronomical evidence.
At Cambridge and Director of the observatory there, Arthur Eddington had pioneered the study of the internal constitution of the stars; and by 1925 he had published a work on this. He understood Einstein's relativity well and he had given much thought to the essential nature of our Universe. In 1923-24 he and his research student Lemaitre began a cosmological study. In it they conceived the origin of the Universe to lie with an incredibly small entry from which the entire universe grew as an expansion. This was an idea which persisted.
The character of the Universe in various aspects must reflect the specific nature of the happenings that made it a big-bang universe. To study this situation calls for a theory of these happenings and of their ensuing consequences. Astronomers were constantly discovering fresh aspects, but for a long time no concerted theory was forthcoming. The build-up in pressure for a statement of theory finally led in 1960 to what has long since been known as the Standard Model, or the Hot Big Bang.
The cosmologists concerned with getting out the statement felt it was not possible to include anything on the originating cause. But their thinking on what could be said to be a first state may be seen in the following light. Starting from the present state, and thinking of the reversal of the flow of time back towards that first state, there will be reached a phase of pronouncedly higher and higher temperatures and pressures. As the regression approaches closely the time origin these must assume a degree fantastic in the extreme. They decided that here must be the state immediately upon the start. A 'fireball' state was the first state.
In working out the consequences of this picture, it became evident that the Universe became transparent after several hundred thousand years. While, since then the matter of the Universe began to clump into galaxies, the radiation emitted in contrast continued to expand and cool. In 1964 Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson of Bell Telephone Laboratories discovered a background of microwave radiation received uniformly from all directions in the sky. It had a temperature of about three degrees Kelvin. Calculations based on the Standard Model gave the temperature to which all such initially emitted radiation would have cooled by the present day as 2.75 degrees Kelvin: Penzias and Wilson had observed the cold remnant. It was a discovery of moment little short of that of the expanding Universe.
All this was, of course, a triumph for the Standard Model, though any model passing through a similar high temperature phase would give a like result. By the 1980s, however, there had become apparent many disparities between theory and observation that were damaging to the model.
Alan Guth of the Department of Physics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology saw one defect of particularly great moment. It was first dealt with in his publication with Paul Steinhardt in Scientific American of May 1984. The gas dynamics relating to the first state of the Standard Model is, Guth saw, materially inconsistent with the observed essentially simple dilation of the Universe. The great fluctuations of the 'fireball' gas would inevitably have caused expansion in one direction in space to be distinctly different from that in another, While observation was that of an isotropic expansion, the Standard Model could not meet with this. Guth sketched out a model including a special inflationary phase which could possibly fit in with observation.
By the 1980s it was clearly recognized how the galaxies have not developed as anticipated. They are smaller and spin faster than they would in the circumstance of their control simply by the gravitation of their visible content of matter. The gravitation controlling them seems to be enhanced by some invisible matter - matter which does not interact with the electromagnetic field and has come to be referred to as dark matter. The Standard Model has nothing to say about dark matter.
Dissatisfaction with the Standard Model among astrophysicists and cosmologists has of late risen to a high point In June this year there was a special convention on the subject at Monço in Portugal, a crisis conference. The occasion was reported in New Scientist of 2nd July, one week later. The title of the reporting article is 'End of the Beginning'. It quotes Richard Scapa of the European Southern Observatory in Santiago, Chile. The Standard Model had failed, he said, in major ways, such as with the expansion of the Universe and with the galaxies. With such failure, the solution had been no more than to bolt something extra on, like inflation and dark matter - this for the sake of preserving the notion of a first hot dense state. Eric Lemer, President of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics in New Orange, New Jersey, declared that this was not science.
Then in the evening of the 18th August there was a highly scientific programme on TV that came over as if it was intended to redress this situation. The programme was on Channel 4 at 9.00 p.m. and it was entitled " E=mc2 ", Einstein's most famous equation that he announced in 1905. It showed how the energy associated with mass is equal to the mass multiplied by the square of the speed of light.
Because of Einstein's great interest in light the programme started, in considerable detail, with the work of Michael Faraday and James Clark Maxwell. Maxwell as mathematician used Faraday's experimental work to demonstrate how light was electromagnetic in nature. In one respect Einstein's interest in light took him to his special theory of relativity, and later to his general theory. But Einstein was very much aware of early quantum developments, and of Max Planck' s use of such ideas in his study of 1900 of the equilibrium condition of electromagnetic radiation with the walls of a cavity enclosing it. Planck, it must be commented, only used energy quanta in the energy exchanges taking place between the radiation and the walls of the cavity.
In 1905 Einstein had found the quantizing rules that quantized the actual electromagnetic field. This, in particular, placed in his hands the deeply important equation of the title of the programme.
An instance of the importance of the equation was given in the release of energy in nuclear fission. The whole subject of nuclear power was but a step on. Against this setting, and now at the end of the programme, it was stated that the equation was also highly illuminating of our own existence. It showed how our expanding Universe ever came to be.
Highly locally there was an immense upsurge of energy. And then immediately the energy began creating particles. From them the galaxies were formed, and the stars and indeed our own habitat. As if to enhance the significance of the statement the programme thereupon ended abruptly.
It was indeed all highly scientific. The upsurge of energy is explained in quantum theory in Heisenberg' s formulation of the uncertainty principle of 1927. The creation of particles takes us to the work of Paul Dirac when, in 1928, he applied relativistic considerations to basic quantum theory. This explained the creation of all matter whatsoever in particle-antiparticle pairs. It was a work of great power and illumination.
It is to be noted that in the start of the Big-Bang understood on these lines, temperature is not a notion that is applicable. The start cannot be said, scientifically, to be either hot or cold. But the spreading out of the particles would have been desirably symmetrical. So there was no isotropic problem built in at the start.
With the immediate creation of particles, there would have been the quanta of gravity. Again Heisenberg's indeterminacy principle enters importantly. Because of the exceedingly small energy of such quanta, they would have been very slow in creation. Other heavier particles would have sped away. But because the quanta of gravity travel with the speed of light, after no great interval gravity would have caught them up. That would have put the brake on the expansion rate. This slowing down was a vital matter. Time was necessary during the universal expansion for galaxies to form and stars to condense, all in order that we should have a habitable world provided for us. Once again the critical nature arises of the kinetic energy to gravity balance. Too much kinetic energy in this balance would mean no galaxies and no stars. Too little and the whole expansion would disastrously reverse into a big crunch. How critical the right balance is has been well recognized. And it is often seen as a strong argument for the Presence of Design.
John E. Best
A PERSONAL VIEW OF RELIGION
I became a Unitarian after an orthodox Methodist upbringing because I wanted to reconcile religious feeling with rational thinking. I would call myself a religious humanist or perhaps, from a different angle, a rationalistic Universalist.
Let me try to explain. I believe that the basis of religion is in the feelings - the sense of profound awe at the universe and its contents, the uplifting sense of joy in the process of life and experience, the faith that however badly things turn out there is never cause for total despair, only perhaps for despair in particular finite matters at worst, and the being a part of the human race with all its social relations including the love of those closest to me.
Most religious people have expressed these feelings in terms of dogmatic belief, holding to the truth of certain propositions regardless of logical justification, propositions about the Incarnation, the absolute truth of the contents of a Holy Book, about reincarnation and karma, about life after death, papal infallibility and the like (or maybe an equally dogmatic rejection of some of the above or of scientifically accepted theories such as the Theory of Evolution). I prefer to leave it that religious feelings are just that - feelings - and not matters of fact or guarantees of truth, and are valid for psychological reasons.
I see God as a function of the human spirit, as a personification of all that is best in humanity. I'm rather dubious about the idea of God as a creator of the physical universe, but I can understand God as an initiator of great things through human action (since I see God as a personification, this is the same as saying that great things can be done by humans inspired by what is good within themselves). I would distinguish between God as a separate person, in whom I don't believe, and God as a personification of what is essentially a human attribute or set of attributes. In a sense, we could thus say that all humans are to a lesser or greater degree incarnations of the Divine.
Because I hold these views, I can see good in all religions, together with many anti-religious beliefs, insofar as they are open to these feelings and have a morality based on human love and compassion, while I reject as superficial at best and ungodly at worst all dogmas and all intolerance of followers of other beliefs. I know many people would argue that Universalism is either impossible or a superficial hotchpotch. I don't agree. Different religions have different myths, histories, rituals, forms of worship and indeed language, but none of these should be exclusive - the richness of all is better than rigid insistence on those of only one religious tradition. Nor do I believe that people should be limited to those traditions in which they grew up, simply because a geographical accident of birth made them Christian, Moslem or anything else.
John Spriggs
LUNCH AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE
On July 10th was one of those honoured to be there at the lunch given by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in the garden of Buckingham Palace. My son accompanied me. There was a vast marquee. We sat at tables of ten people, sparkling with snowy linen, crystal glasses and silverware. At our table there were couples like me and my son, from several parts of this country, a Sri Lankan woman with her daughter, and a Chelsea pensioner. Other tables were equally mixed. The Royal family came, some top political figures and top Service Officers, but that lunch was given in celebration of us, the ordinary people who had kept on keeping on!
My own invitation came from having taken part in the Home Front Project. This was a Heritage Lottery Fund project to find out and record what life was like for ordinary people who had lived through those years. And the interview with me and with many others was featured in the exhibition in the Living Museum in St. James Park. A book was hastily produced from those interviews, its theme outlined by a quotation from Louis McNiece:
'Under the surface of flux and fear, there is an underground movement
Under the crust of bureaucracy, quiet behind the posters,
Unconscious but palpably there - the Kingdom of Individuals.'
I'd shunned McNiece from schooldays, mostly from having to attempt to glean meaning from incomprehensible poetry, but this registered.
And isn't our religious movement, especially our own NUF part of it, a Kingdom of Individuals? We do not seek to try to enforce a group mentality, but to encourage members to find and express their own beliefs, doubts and questions. From such freedom, that the Unitarian way confers, comes a tolerant attitude towards the other and a greater willingness to offer the hand of friendship.
Margaret Phelan
PRINCE OF CHARITY
Last year Prince Charles helped to raise over £100 million for charity. He is patron or president of 352 organisations and 16 'core' charities including the Prince's Trust. The prince also gives £2.5 of his own money to charity each year.
Web News
ALLSPIRIT
Spiritual unfoldment: poetry, writings, quotations, song lyrics,
sacred texts.
www.allspirit.co.uk/index.html
Alister Hardy Society:
www.alisterhardyreligiousexperience.co.uk
DAVID STRACHAN
I have learnt today (20th September 2005) of the death of David Strachan. Some weeks back I went to visit him again and was told he was in hospital and would not recognise anyone, but he did return to the nursing home. He lived for about five days after that and died on 6th September.
David thought very highly of the National Unitarian Fellowship, in fact he thought it was essential. I used to help him with his computer at times, and also discuss religion in general and Unitarianism in particular. He was a very committed Unitarian, but became critical of its direction. At this time he had a period of mental decline, caused in part by illnesses, but carried on and used the NUF email to express his dislike of the General Assembly Object. The NUF he considered had not gone down the same road. David was a Universalist in the sense of wanting religion to find ways of coming together, and spoke much of a core ethic that could unite all people. He felt that Unitarianism could express this best, if it was going in the right direction. I used to discuss with him a pluralist perspective, and so we had a continuing conversation. Whereas I became so critical I left, his foundations were in the Unitarian movement around the world never mind just in this country.
He almost organised his death. He decided to give away his library, and the NUF was a very satisfactory choice. It was not easy for him to do, as he was attached to his books. He fell ill even as they were being collected (not connected events!) and began periods in hospital and a residential home. He was always learning, including with the University of the Third Age, and used the Internet to pass on his ideas. I am wondering about incorporating some of his website into mine now unless this is going to have another existence.
On a personal level David was always a great support to me. Although we met through the Hull Unitarian Church there was a friendship that developed of itself. This evening my wife and I had a glass of sherry each to his memory.
Adrian Worsfold
the new txtament
The Bible Society in Australia has translated the Bible into text message language. 'In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth. Da earth waz barren, wit no 4m of life; it waz unda a roaring ocean cuvred wit dRkness.' Michael Chant of the Bible Society said, "We want to open it up for people of all ages, backgrounds and interests and the SMS version is a logical extension of that."
(Daily Telegraph Friday 7th October 2005)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Congratulations on the 'new look' Newsletter. Its comprehensiveness, depth and variety are welcome. The pre-occupation of the Newsletter in the past with compassion, love and beauty has, in my view, not been balanced by a rigorous consideration of the cruelty, ugliness, selfishness and waste that is also a characteristic of nature, God and life. One does not need to be hit in the face by the Tsunamis and Hurricane Katrina's of this world to realize this. A week spent in the tropics and the Rain Forest is enough!
The present essential task is how to live a moral life in the face of Neo Darwinian Natural Selection and the accepted explanation of the origin and progress of the planets and the universe. Anything less is irresponsible tinkering. A true consideration of these matters induces an almost mystical eastern acceptance of life in one and puts life's vicissitudes in perspective.
Michael Chisaka
Thank you for including some thoughtful comments on Multi verse Theory in Issue 360. In reply to the engaging letter from Gordon Dennington, I believe it is true to say that existents cannot be predicted, if we accept only the original meaning of prediction. But language evolves. For example, under the heading 'Eightfold Way' in the New Encyclopaedia Britannica we are told: 'One of the early triumphs of the Eightfold Way was the prediction of the existence of a heavy subatomic particle (the omega-minus).'
On the question of whether there was a supernatural act of creation (Alan MacDonald), the fact that a process (such as the one at the origin of the Big Bang) has no known natural explanation seems not to imply that such a process must be supernatural, because it could have a natural explanation of which we are ignorant.
For example, a future theory of quantum gravity may or may not support the idea that the origin of the Big Bang was a natural random process perhaps something like a quantum vacuum fluctuation. However, if that idea turns out to be right, it would give some credibility to the proposition that, beyond our observable universe, there have been other spontaneous big bangs so that there is an ensemble of independent universes. For multi verse theory to work, that ensemble would have to be large enough to contain the sequence of different universes mentioned at the end of the article by John Best.
Charles Argall
I would like to congratulate Colin Carvel on his evocation of 'Uniqueness', the individual consciousness which, paradoxically, unites us more than anything else. A prose poem more than an article, Colin's piece reaches beyond dogmas and bureaucratic classifications to find the essence of our humanity. Thank you, Colin, for your insight and your wisdom.
Aidan Rankin
TREES FOR LIFE
Trees for Life is a charity dedicated to the restoration of the Caledonian Pine Forest which by 1989, the year of its foundation, had shrunk to less than 1% of its original size of 1.5 million hectares due to felling and overgrazing. The work centres on Glen Affric in the north-central Highlands, where the largest relatively undisturbed remnant of the old forest is situated, and aims to restore the entire forest ecosystem, including the larger mammals, to an area of some 1,500 sq. km. Each year hundreds of volunteers take part in 'work weeks' and so far over half a million native trees have been planted and over 150,000 naturally regenerating trees protected from grazing. Members receive a beautifully produced thrice- yearly newsletter and the satisfaction of supporting an inspiring and pioneering project for the long-term healing of a devastated environment.
Trees for Life, The Park, Findhorn Bay, Fones 1V36 3TZ, Scotland.
Tel: 0845 458 3505.
Email: trees@findhorn.org
Web: www.treesforlife.org.uk
If you have a good cause that you would like to draw to the attention of other
members of the Fellowship
please send details to the Editor.
'Trees for Life' is an excellent project. Healing the wounds we've inflicted on Planet Earth will not happen by magic, and regeneration projects of this kind have a crucial role to play in that process. It's both practical and visionary - and it needs your support!'
Jonathan Porritt
RETURN OF EDEN
The news from Iraq is generally bad but, of course, there is some light in the darkness. The marshlands between the Tigris and Euphrates in southern Iraq are thought to have been the inspiration for the Biblical description of the Garden of Eden. For more than five thousand years fishermen and reed gatherers have lived in this fragile and beautiful region. However, in 1991, following the Shia uprising, the marshes became a refuge for opponents of Saddam's regime and he set about draining these ancient wetlands. By 2002 the original 9,000 sq km had shrunk to only 760 sq km. According to Klaus Toepfer, the UNEP executive director, this was 'a major ecological and human disaster, robbing the Marsh Arabs of a centuries-old culture and way of life as well as food in the form of fish and the most crucial natural resource, drinking water.' Since the invasion two years ago this policy has gone into reverse and today the marshes cover almost 3,500 sq km. Three quarters of the reclamation is due to ordinary people who, freed from fear, simply set about destroying the dykes and earth barriers. Life is returning abundantly to Saddam's desert.
(Based on a report by Richard Beeston in Baghdad - 'Eden blossoms again on
land Saddam tried to kill'. The Times 25 August 2005)
BOOK REVIEWS
HEART AND SOUL
This is a gem of a book, a collage of twelve pieces from NUF publications of the past sixty years with a Foreword by the President. There is something here for everyone. Jeremy Goring writes on what theologian Paul Tillich called 'the courage to be', Peter Roberts gives us his reflections on religious language and its limitations, and there is an intriguing study of reincarnation by Frank Hytch. Margaret Barr contributes a short but fine piece, An Unrepentant if Puzzled Theist.
In The Grammar of the Universe Henry Compton maintains that the truths of the natural sciences and the truths of religion are complementary and not competitive. Science deepens our awareness of the mysteries of existence and these insights can be used creatively to enrich our spirituality.
Two essays which cover much the same ground from different angles are Frank Walker's The Underlying Theology of Unitarians and Jack Robbins' The Mystical Approach to Religion and Life. Walker sees Unitarians as pilgrims seeking the City of God or equivalent who draw their strength and inspiration from the spirit of Greek humanism and tragedy, supplemented by the insights to be derived from the literature of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Robbins, on the other hand, sees Unitarianism as grounded in mysticism and rationalism. It has to be admitted that both Unitarians and mystics are individualists who are seeking direct experience of the Divine or Ultimate Reality. Robbins' thesis is an arguable one and it might be a good topic for discussion in the Books of Fellowship.
David Doel begins his A Unitarian 's View of Jesus as Saviour by asking what Jesus saves us from. After rejecting several possibilities he suggests it is alienation and its consequences. The traditional Christian teaching is that one can be saved from the power of sin and death by believing in Christ's sacrificial offering of himself upon the cross for our redemption. Doel not only questions the efficacy of this course but asserts that the great spiritual teachers like Jesus and the Buddha can save us by their example. In their lives they have shown how we, like them, may surrender ourselves and all that we are to the power of love at the heart of the universe. If we do this we can be saved from ourselves and the baggage we carry from the past, freed for a life of love that passes all understanding.
This anthology represents a unique opportunity to enjoy some of the treasures of our past and no reader should pass it by.
Alan Oates
Heart and Soul costs £4 (incl. p&p) and is available from the NUF Secretary. nuf@nufonline.co.uk
Please make cheques payable to the National Unitarian Fellowship.
MUHAMMAD
(Muhammad Phoenix pp.260; notes pp.24; pb £7.90)
Karen Armstrong is a theologian and an ex-nun. She wrote Muhammad in 1991 in the wake of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie following the publication of his Satanic Verses. At the time we were all shocked by the violent reactions and Armstrong's response was to try to explain this by giving a balanced rational account of Islam, something that few of us know much about though we have large Islamic communities in our midst. In 2001 after the Twin Towers attack she added to it. Today her work seems even more relevant.
She starts by chronicling the historic European response to Islam from the Pope using the Normans in 1061 to drive the Muslims out of Italy and Sicily, to the re-capture of Toledo in 1085, and to the Crusades. William of Malmesbury gets a mention in 1120 with his The Saracens and the Turks both worship God the Creator and venerate Mohammed ... as their Prophet, as does the Englishman Robert Kellan who produced the first Islamic texts in Latin on the 1140s.
The Renaissance brought a more objective view of Islam and in 1697 the Encyclopaedia of Islam was the first of many similar books. By the 19th Century there were no Muslims left in Europe but Britain and France invaded their lands adding Algeria, Aden, Tunisia, Egypt, and Sudan to their empires. Armstrong then looks further back to the period before Muhammad's birth in 570 when Arabia was populated by half-starved nomadic tribes which survived only because of the intense co-operation and loyalty within the tribe, though most were embroiled in tribal blood-feuds. The scene was set for the birth of Islam.
The largest section is about Muhammad and great detail is given about his character, family background, spiritual genius, political leadership, revelations by beautiful poetic recitations which became the basis of the Qu'ran, wars and skilful alliances which finally welded the tribes together, followed by a pragmatic search for peace.
Reading of Muhammad's sense of social justice and fairness one is almost bound to compare Islam with Christianity and Judaism but when Armstrong writes 'In every religion the idea of God as the Ultimate Reality is culturally conditioned' we get nearer to the heart of the problem. There seem to be similar strands in all three religions with the dividing line being along the cultural one. With 15 million Muslims living in Europe at present efforts will have to be made to bridge this divide. Salman Rushdie is now calling for a modernisation of Islam whilst Sir Iqubal Sacranie of the Muslim Council of Great Britain thinks that the upcoming law against religious hatred will see Rushdie' s book withdrawn.* Armstrong is a strong and positive writer with a touch of Bill Bryson in her style. This would appear to be her contribution to the bridge building.
Dorothy Archer
(* Daily Telegraph 23rd August 2005 in an article by Mihir Bose.)
THE GOOD LISTENER
A Life Against Cruelty
I cannot speak too highly of this biography of Helen B amber by Neil Belton. The varied circumstances of Helen's active life have all been very thoroughly researched. The story is presented simply, never losing sight of the woman herself in the depiction of the horrors of her own family background, and of those with whom she came to have some involvement, victims and fellow workers. Her idea of human rights seems inseparable from the simple belief in the sharing of experience.
There are numerous insights into her engagement with many different people. The book opens with Helen's visit to see a group of elderly ex-fusiliers in Berwick, accompanied by her biographer who comments that 'there is a serenity about this encounter in old age that is notable'. The lives of Jewish people in different parts of the world, which were brought to wider knowledge by the Holocaust, are simply set down and illustrated by the depiction of the wanderings and backgrounds of Helen's parents when young, and their coming together. Helen was born in England in 1925. At the end of the war, her formal position was assistant to the Field Director of the Jewish Relief Unit for Germany and, as such, she visited Belsen. It was while acting as secretary to other dedicated workers that she learnt that help for the traumatised victims of cruelty can begin with the act of listening; for nothing else leads to an understanding of the speaker's true situation. She says, 'I did it because the truth is that the only way I can survive is to find a way of not being overwhelmed ... to do something while I can, instead of despairing about them all.'
Three strands came together in her life: the urge to campaign for human rights, and to publicise violations of human dignity; the realisation that medical ethics were poorly understood and patients vulnerable to abuse; and, inexorable in its pull on her, the need to pay attention to the victims. She worked for Amnesty International and later, with support from the BMA, started a new charity, The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. She was able to recruit helpers 'who shared her own strangeness, and her naïve refusal of the world as it is.' There is also something of Helen's personal life, of her marriage to Rudi Bamber and her two sons. The situation of Israel, made inescapable by the Holocaust, had a tragic quality for her in the sense of cruelty and injustice unleashing further injustice.
This review can only finish as it began: with boundless admiration and respect for the work of Neil Belton.
Barbara Bickerstaff
(The Good Listener Phoenix pb £7.99)
Barbara very kindly responded to the request for a reviewer in Issue 361.
NEWS
MARGARET EDWARDS
We regret to record the death of Margaret Edwards, NUF member for many years.
We offer our deepest sympathy to her family.
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NUF LONDON GROUP
I am interested in starting an informal group of NUF members in London and surrounds, to meet for meals and good conversation, and perhaps organise occasional speaker meetings. If you are interested and live in London, or within reach of the capital, please send me an email: (aidan.rankin@ukonline.co.uk).
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MEXICAN LINK
The Secretary has received a message from the Public relations Co-ordinator for Unitarios Universalistas de Mexico expressing a wish to participate in the e-forum and informal e-fellowships. This group has just applied for ICUU membership and in October met in a joint bilingual service with the San Miguel de Allende Fellowship, an English speaking fellowship 276 km from Mexico City, and a regular member of the UUA. The group is committed to building a real liberal Unitarian free church in Mexico.
Francisco Javier Lagunes Gaitán PR Co-ordinator Unitarios Universalistas de Mexico
Tel:(52 55) 5378.7808
e-mail: Unitarius@gmail.com
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The deadline for contributions to the next issue is Thursday 15th December.
Your contributions on any theme are always welcome.
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