Quakerism!

[Guest Lioness]

What is Quakerism?

Let me start off by saying that I'm a Quaker and have been since I was about 9. I made the decision to join after attending for a few years on my own at a young age and haven't regretted it. People often have misconceptions about what a Quaker is, or simply have NO IDEA, so I hope that in this post I can explain it to you so when you meet us you'll know what we're all about!

Quakerism, also known as The Religious Society of Friends, started in the 1640s during the time when people were moving away from the established church (Catholicism). Unlike other Christian groups forming at the time, Quakerism was founded on the principal that a traditional clergy was not necessary to understand God and chose instead to sit in silence when at church, with anyone being able to speak from the silence if so compelled. The startlingly liberal Quakers spent years growing and changing. Some of these changes were very slow to take place since Quakerism has no leadership and thus all decisions must be made with the consensus of everyone. In spite of this long process Quakers were one of the first modern religious groups to treat women as equals, and were the first major religion to come out against slavery (after literally decades of debate).

The majority of modern day Quakers are some of the most liberal folks you can imagine. You no longer have to be a Christian to be a Quaker, for one thing. The most basic beliefs a Quaker has is the lack of need for leadership, seeing good in all people, and understanding that not every Friend will believe the same things you do. There are some smaller Quaker groups that are more conservative and even evangelical but they are the minority of Quakers.

The thing that I most deeply appreciate about being a Quaker is the deep acceptance of the LGBT community with in the ranks of Quakerism. FGC Gathering, the largest of all Quaker events each year which draws thousands of people from around the country and the world, even gives a third gender option on the registration form and features "gender neutral" housing. I feel blessed knowing that there are people within my religious group who understand my confusion and struggle and will help me find my way.

Hopefully after hearing all this you'll know what it means when someone around you says "I'm a Quaker." I also hope that in knowing this you'll know that, even if you are not a Quaker and don't plan to be one, that the Quakers can be a resource for those with LGBT issues.

[Guest JaniceW]

I am familiar with the Quakers although I am not a member of the church myself. One of the trans support groups that I attend regularly meets at the Quaker meeting house in their library and I have been able to read some of the literature. Truly an amazing group of people.

[JenniferB]

I that a Quaker meant that you were in to motor oil.

I remember some US history about the Quakers. William Penn is the most well known. The state of Pennsylvania is named after him. Each colony of the US had their own religious belief based on the residents of that colony. What makes the charter of Pennsylvania special is that it allowed religious freedom and only limited it to where you had to believe in God. That was very liberal at that time.

Jenny

[Guest Lioness]

I'm glad you guys and gals are able to meet there! One big moral qualm facing a lot of Quaker meetings are in buildings that sit empty the rest of the time, so I'm glad someone is making use of the space, as that is the goal of a lot of meetings right now

There's a lot of fascinating Quaker literature out there, I'm always interested to read more, but unfortunately the meet here has a pretty small library.