Talk (summary) “Quaker Taboos” given by Beth Allen to the QFAS Spring Conference, held St. Pancras Church Hall, May 6th, 2006

The main theme of the Spring Conference this year was Quaker Taboos. This choice of subject arose out of the resistance felt by many QFAS members from their Meetings to any serious discussion on the possibility of life after death.  Beth Allen, a life-long Quaker recently retired from Friends House, gave an encouraging talk on concerns which had been shunned by the mainstream Quaker movement in the past but which later gained respectability among Friends in general. 50 years ago, the subject of healing was not regarded as intellectually respectable and was often kept out of public discussion among Quakers. Friends Fellowship of Healing events were not announced in Meetings. Now the Fellowship is one of the largest special interest Quaker groups as a result of a great surge of interest in healing in the last few years alongside that of wider society in the holistic approach to health.

Beth also reminded us that the increased acceptance of beliefs and life-styles which had once been on the margins has sometimes led others to feel marginalised in their turn. Friends who find homosexuality hard to accept now find it hard to express their views. Members of the Christian Quaker Renewal Group have been hurt and bewildered at negative comments from others in Meeting after giving a Jesus-centred ministry.
 
While seeking more tolerance among Friends for our beliefs in immortality, we need to understand why some Quakers find the subject difficult. If we want to bring greater understanding and dispel fears among the doubters, we need to have confidence in ourselves as a group and be willing to spread our message in the wider Society.

Beth had not had many psychic experiences herself but had occasionally felt “presences”. She wondered whether healing and, in particular, the ministry of the psycho-pomp, accompanying people through death, might be something she would feel called to do as she moves on in retirement. Although believing in an After-life, Beth was unsure what form it takes. Is it, she wondered, like Valhalla or more like Hampstead Garden Suburb!