# Can you tell me about Quakers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818 "2009-02-21T04:51:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/21 "2009-02-22T00:12:23Z")
One of my Quaker ancestors founded Friendswood, TX. My grandmother’s people were Quakers. Later, she crossed into the United Methodist Church with something like a “conversion of (blank)” which meant that they were cool with the Quaker thing and she didn’t have to jump through any hoops- anybody know the phrase I’m searching for? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/22 "2009-02-22T00:24:42Z")
> [@Lyanthya](#): > > Am I the only actual Quaker in this thread? No. > [@twickster](#): > > I am a Quaker… ---
**Author:** ![Lyanthya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@Lyanthya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyanthya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/23 "2009-02-22T01:53:39Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > No. Thanks. Missed that. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/24 "2009-02-22T03:45:40Z")
Very interesting and informative as usual. Thank you all for sharing that. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/25 "2009-02-22T15:33:57Z")
> [@Lyanthya](#): > > Quakers in general do accept the existence of God, though you are correct, there are atheist and agnostic Quakers. However, the Holy Spirit is a pretty alien concept to most Quakers, unless you’re referring to the “inner light”, which, IMQO (in my Quaker opinion) is something entirely different. Crap, mea culpa. I haven’t been to a Quaker meeting since I was 11—most of my formative years were spent with the Unitarians—so I’ve forgotten a lot of the terminology. “Inner light” was in fact the concept I was half-remembering. ---
**Author:** ![Lyanthya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@Lyanthya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyanthya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/26 "2009-02-22T18:00:12Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > Crap, mea culpa. I haven’t been to a Quaker meeting since I was 11—most of my formative years were spent with the Unitarians—so I’ve forgotten a lot of the terminology. “Inner light” was in fact the concept I was half-remembering. I’ll forgive you this time. If it happens again, you’ll be sent to bed without oatmeal. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/27 "2009-02-22T19:56:48Z")
As for how “mainstream” Quakers might seem, you can look at which famous people are Quakers, or were raised in Quaker households. Nixon springs to mind, but there are many others, covering a fairly wide spectrum: > **[Adherents - technology and environmental policy to education](https://adherents.com)** > > Latest news HBO Max Who’s who in ‘The Last of Us’: the best casting for the adaptation of the Naughty Dog video game By aliintizar71January 31, 20230 Movies Animated film "Light and the Rock" awarded at IndieJúnior Porto By aliintizar71January 31,... (The Quakers here probably don’t LIKE me bringing up Nixon, but, well, he continued to profess Quaker as his religion throughout his political career. You might be tempted to point to him as a counterexample to the “liberal” streak among Quakers, but it’s worth noting that Nixon was actually a moderate, particularly in today’s terms. This has been overshadowed by the paranoia which eventually brought his dwonfall. Goldwater represented the hard right wing of the GOP in his day. you can probably find better examples of conservative or reactionary Quakers.) ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/28 "2009-02-22T20:52:23Z")
OK, now tell us about [Quispers.](http://www.wastedspace.com/blog/quisp/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/29 "2009-02-22T21:02:24Z")
Question. Do the Quakers still thou and thee it, as they do in the Gary Cooper movie _Friendly Persuasion_? BTW when I first saw that movie I scoffed at Hollywood screwing up again, as the Quakers were using thee where grammatically one would expect thou, eg thee know’st how long we have been friends. To my surprise I later found out (from an article in a 19th century Notes & Queries) this was quite accurate, that’s exactly what they did, often using thee as subject rather than thou. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/30 "2009-02-22T21:53:15Z")
> [@Hedda\_Rosa](#): > > What school Kimstu? I went to Westtown. Moose hogs! :mad::mad::mad::mad: ---
**Author:** ![Lyanthya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@Lyanthya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyanthya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/31 "2009-02-22T22:45:04Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Question. Do the Quakers still thou and thee it, as they do in the Gary Cooper movie _Friendly Persuasion_? I believe there is one very small sect that does so, but on the whole, no. My father does it occasionally, but he does it kind of tongue-in-cheek. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/32 "2009-02-22T23:04:11Z")
I have one claim to fame. George Fox (the founder of the Quaker movement) is my first cousin, eleven times removed. Because of the current banking crisis, there is talk in the UK of reverting back to “Quaker Banking”, that is a very prudent system where hardly any risks are taken, money is only lent to those who can pay it back and run by people who you can trust. This harks back to the middle of the 19th century when many British banks (such as Barclay’s) were founded by Quakers. Because of their strong religious convictions, people knew they could trust the people who owned these banks and knew that their money was safe with them. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/33 "2009-02-22T23:40:33Z")
**Chronos** and **OldGuy** , thanks for the catch! The site that I accidentally misquoted about Quaker population was [this](http://www.quakerinfo.com/quak_us.shtml): > [@](#): > > Pennsylvania ranks only tenth in percentage of Friends in the population, and only fourth in absolute numbers. […] > > There are more Quakers in Indiana than in any other state. However, proportionately, it ranks second. […] > > [Alaska] has far and away the largest percentage of Friends in its population, despite relatively low absolute numbers in this most sparsely populated state. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/34 "2009-02-23T05:29:15Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Moose hogs! :mad::mad::mad::mad: Guess you just have to want it bad enough. You must be from George. Sorry 'bout that. 😃 \*\* Kimstu\*\*, I had completely forgotten that chant, but we used it too. Thanks for the laugh! ---
**Author:** ![Kegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/35 "2009-02-23T11:39:36Z")
The only time we used thee and thou were at the quartly meetings! * * * Spelling and grammer subject to change without notice! ---
**Author:** ![Kegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/36 "2009-02-23T11:43:27Z")
That should have been quarterly meetings Pls ref tag line * * * Spelling and grammer subject to change without notice! ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/37 "2009-02-23T14:52:11Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > As for how “mainstream” Quakers might seem, you can look at which famous people are Quakers, or were raised in Quaker households. Nixon springs to mind, but there are many others, covering a fairly wide spectrum: > > [UFABET เว็บตรง เว็บยูฟ่าเบท อันดับ 1 รับวอเลท ไม่มีขั้นต่ำ](http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_quaker.html) > > (The Quakers here probably don’t LIKE me bringing up Nixon, but, well, he continued to profess Quaker as his religion throughout his political career. You might be tempted to point to him as a counterexample to the “liberal” streak among Quakers, but it’s worth noting that Nixon was actually a moderate, particularly in today’s terms. This has been overshadowed by the paranoia which eventually brought his dwonfall. Goldwater represented the hard right wing of the GOP in his day. you can probably find better examples of conservative or reactionary Quakers.) Nixon went to a evangelical Friends **Church** , which is completely different from the Quakers described in this thread. Many meetings got caught up in the evangelical movement and are now pretty much indistinguishable from any other evangelical church. Even those these aren’t “real Quakers” by many folk’s standards, they’re actually the greatest in number (especially in Africa) because they proselytize, something other Quakers generally don’t do. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/38 "2009-02-23T15:05:46Z")
My wife and kids are Quaker (I’m a heathen) and attend meeting regularly. My wife and I were married In The Care of the Meeting, I believe they called it. We have a huge calligraphy document on our wall with our wedding “vows” and signatures of everyone in attendance. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/39 "2009-02-23T20:40:32Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > that’s exactly what they did, often using thee as subject rather than thou. Which is grammatically the same thing as saying “Me am a Quaker” or “Them are Quakers.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Surb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Surb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Surb)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818/40 "2009-02-23T20:55:50Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > My wife and kids are Quaker (I’m a heathen) and attend meeting regularly. My wife and I were married In The Care of the Meeting, I believe they called it. We have a huge calligraphy document on our wall with our wedding “vows” and signatures of everyone in attendance. I went to a Quaker wedding once. It sure was different. We all sat in rows of chairs in a big circle communing with nature until someone felt compelled to speak. Then he/she spoke. We sat in this grove for an hour listening to the silence in the trees or to people talking. And children were allowed to talk and wander and cry and be kids as they were being directed to do so by God. At the end, the bride and groom greated and thanked everyone. We all signed the document and went to the reception. Very simple, very cool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-me-about-quakers/486818.md?page=3)