Quote
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 16:34:57 +0930
To: <YMsecretary@quakers.org.au>
Subject: Quaker whipping people
To whom it may concern, I was curious as to why one of your members recently engaged in a public flogging of other people in Los Angeles on the weekend seeing that your movement prides itself on its pacifism. Fox news covered the event, so I was curious about your thoughts on the matter.
For more information view this link: [
welikejesus.com]
Regards,
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Dear ###
If you have read a little about Quakers, you will know we are a non-credal church. Quakers have survived for 350 years and continue as they began, as ‘a spiritual fellowship based on shared religious ideals and experiences’ ( [
www.homewoodfriends.org]).
Our members seek God’s guidance, and follow the promptings of the Spirit and there have always been instances of individuals who have felt led to take an action which may not have been supported by their fellow Quakers.
When early Quaker, James Nayler, rode into Bristol on a donkey in imitation of Jesus, his action was not generally supported by the Quaker movement. This ‘false Messiah’ episode brought Friends (Quakers) into the spotlight in a very negative way.
Seeking the way of peace, our founder George Fox sent a series of letters to Quakers throughout Great Britain, asking for the reconciliation of Nayler’s followers with other Friends. He also asked that in future people test their leadings during a group Meeting for Worship, and advised that more experienced Friends should monitor the actions of others.
In 1666, a group of eleven prominent Friends (not including Fox, who was in jail) sent a letter to all the Monthly Meetings in which they declared that each Monthly Meeting has the authority to discern the validity of individuals’ leadings. This letter marked the start of the idea that individual leadings are subordinate to the sense of the Meeting as a whole, which became a key part of Friends’ practice. In other words, the voice of God as expressed in the gathered Meeting for Worship is believed to be more reliable then the voice of God as felt by any one person.
However, in at least one notable instance, an individual’s leading was ahead of his Meeting’s. For example, when John Woolman, a north Carolina Quaker, spoke out about slavery in the US, his Meeting did not support him. He continued in his course of action, and though he did not live to see the change, his view was justified when the US and the UK banned slavery.
Our belief that each person may seek the will of God means that no one is above another, there is no ‘hierarchy’. An elder (more experienced Quaker) may speak to someone whose actions seem to be at odds with Quaker principles and practice, but they can only seek to influence them; each person is free to follow their own Truth.
“… stemming from this belief of the ‘Light’ within and accepting that God can still speak through others is tolerance. Tolerance of another's ideas and beliefs, accepting that I may be wrong and another may be right, is not only the basis of true community but of true humanity also“ ( [
www.pendle.net]).
I hope this helps you to place our Friends’ actions within the context of Quaker principles and practice.
Your Friend
Judith Pembleton
Yearly Meeting Secretary
Australia Yearly Meeting
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia
PO Box 556
Kenmore
QUEENSLAND 4069
AUSTRALIA
Phone 617 3374 0135 [07 3374 0135 within Australia]
Fax 07 3374 0317
Email:
YMsecretary@quakers.org.auWebsite: www.quakers.org.au
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