Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, ... Star symbol used by many service organisations of the Religious Society of Friends.
English: This red and black star has been used as a symbol of Quaker service since the late 19th century unofficially, and was officially adopted (with some changes) by the American Friends Service Committee in 1917. Another variation on it is used by the British organization Quaker Peace and Social Witness.
In 1656, a popular Quaker minister, James Nayler, went beyond the standard beliefs of Quakers when he rode into Bristol on a horse in the pouring rain, accompanied by a handful of men and women saying "Holy, holy, holy" and strewing their garments on the ground, imitating Jesus's entry into Jerusalem. [8]
Quakers were at the center of the movement to abolish slavery in the early United States; it is no coincidence that Pennsylvania, center of American Quakerism, was the first state to abolish slavery. In the antebellum period, "Quaker meeting houses [in Philadelphia] ...had sheltered abolitionists for generations."
They were initially known as "Shaking Quakers" because of their ecstatic behavior during worship services. Espousing egalitarian ideals, the Shakers practice a celibate and communal utopian lifestyle, pacifism, uniform charismatic worship, and their model of equality of the sexes, which they institutionalized in their society in the 1780s.
Quakers traditionally oppose violence in all of its forms and therefore many refuse to serve in the military, even when drafted.AFSC's original mission arose from the need to provide conscientious objectors (COs) with a constructive alternative to military service.
Quakers believe that nonviolent confrontation of evil and peaceful reconciliation are always superior to violent measures. The testimony of peace does not mean that Quakers engage only in passive resignation; in fact, they often practice passionate activism. The testimony of peace is probably the best known testimony of Friends.
Quakers who refused to support the war often suffered for their religious beliefs at the hands of non-Quaker Loyalists and Patriots alike. Some Friends were arrested for refusing to pay taxes or follow conscription requirements, particularly in Massachusetts near the end of the war when demand for new recruits increased. [ 21 ]