This shows that Quakerism in the USA is very, very, different from Quakerism in the UK (TriPolar’s post suggests that eastern USA Quakers may have more in common with UK Quakers).
In Britain there is no pastor of any description, everyone is equal, though someone takes responsibility for timing the worship. You don’t have to be a Christian to be accepted at a Quaker meeting, you don’t even really have to believe in god. To stereotype, a typical Quaker in Britain would be much more likely to be a university lecturer than a farmer.
Only 11% of Friends churches have unprogrammed worship. You may have been in ones within the Friends General Conferance. It’s the smallest branch, but seems to be concentrated in the east. Their headquarters is in Philadelphia. It’s a common misperception of the church that it began as strictly unprogrammed worship. George Fox was a preacher, and he trained others to preach.
Yep, my mum and her husband are both UK Quakers, he more than her. I was brought up a good Atheist by her, and I think she and he found a compromise between Atheism and Church of England with the Quakers.
By their descriptions, it sounds like a group of very ‘right-on’ lefties doing a lot of charity work, including towards the neediest members of the congregation…
“Marriages don’t need ministers”. Yes that’s kind of odd, but whenever marriage laws pop up on the Dope someone mentions that Quaker weddings involve the participants doing the vows themselves–no minister needed.
As far as “are they Christian”, the answer is definately yes. The broadest but still clear definition of Christian is “following Jesus is the path to salvation”. Every single word in that phrase can be discussed ad infinitum, but since AFAIK it applies to Quakers they’re Christians.
The lefty branches are a minority. 89% of Quakers fall under the evangelical category. Some people might consider their stands on pacifism, death penalty, and charity to be liberal, but they really aren’t.
You didn’t read Stagerlee’s post properly. We were speaking specifically about Quakers in the UK. I say, with absolute approval, that Quakers in the UK are very lefty.
IANA Christian, nor much of a religious scholar, so I couldn’t tell you much about the nature and definition of Christianity in or across religions, but I as far as I can tell any lack of understanding that Quakers are Christians is simply due to the lack of understanding of who and what Quakers are at all, not based on anything unique in their beliefs. I would say the differences in Christianity as viewed by Roman Catholics, Baptists, and Mormons would be much greater than Quakers as compared to other Protestant religions.
As mentioned above, there are some Quakers who identify as atheists. I don’t think that’s well accepted within the SoF, but it is a not a religion based on judgement of others, it is open and accepting of all people, and I think most of the traditional Quaker Meetings would accept members who profess to be atheists, or just about any other belief. I have met Friends who claim to be atheists, and I’ll just repeat my comment about one of them, unrelated to her belief but reflecting on her actions in silent worship, “If she doesn’t believe in God then who is moving her to speak?”
To try to provide a simple summary of Quaker religious belief, it is a Golden Rule religion, with a history of practicing what they preach. There is no rigid dogma that provides loopholes from basic moral precepts, there is an over-riding acceptance and respect for people of all faiths. It is the most unoffensive religion I have ever encountered, and for that reason I introduced my wife and children to the SoF and they chose to become Quakers for their own reasons.
I have found it is quite eye opening for people to take a look at the Society of Friends and to learn about it’s history and practices.
First thing that comes to mind: Penn football player (my alma mater).
More seriously, I distinguish eastern and western Quakers. Western ones are just another protestant denomination. I knew a few of the eastern ones and they didn’t seem Christian at all. They really had meetings where anyone who wanted to say something did. I suppose someone had to manage the meeting house, but I had the impression there was no religious leader. And they were gentle. No one would use that word to describe Nixon, would they?
My niece had her bat mitzvah in a Quaker meeting house at Haverford College because her reconstructionist synagogue had no building yet and rented it on Saturdays for their services. I remember noting that there was no Christian symbolism in the meeting house.
My four words that “Quaker” means: hats, beards, barns, thou.
As for whether they’re christian, I honestly know nothing about what they believe, but since they’re still using archaic english that has died everywhere outside the bible I suspect they think they’re Christian. Which is probably good enough for me, since I lump all forms and variants of Christianity under the catchall category of “demon worshipper” anyway.
No, it’s worldwide. The Britain Yearly Meeting is part of that 11%. So are the conservative branches like Friends in Christ in the U.K.
I don’t know why so many people have skewed ideas about the Friends. They aren’t some kind secret society hiding in the shadows. Most of the branches have a pretty good web presence. The Wikipedia article seems to be reasonably accurate. All you have to do is look somewhere other than old Gary Cooper movies.
A lot of people think Alvin York was a Quaker. He wasn’t, he belonged to a pacifistic church and originally tried to claim conscientious status when initially drafted but his church was not recognized by the military for that purpose. Traditionally, Quakers, Amish-Mennonites, and some religions with pacifistic philosophies were automatically excluded from military service requirements.
