Imagine the Lives of the Quakers in These Times of Brutality and Ignorance
I had the good fortune to spend my K – 12 years at the world’s oldest Quaker school, Penn Charter, founded in Philadelphia in 1689. As the name suggests, the school was put in place by William Penn, the man who will always be most closely associated with this religion of tolerance, peace, contemplation and mutual respect.
Since its inception, the institution has been managed by a group of “overseers,” a stalwart but largely unseen group, who work behind the scenes to ensure that the school operates according to its core beliefs, and does its level best to turn out well educated, well rounded graduates of solid moral character. Although the emphasis is on academic excellence, it was apparent to me and everyone else—even in our kindergarten class (1960)–that the school expected a great deal from each of us in terms of kindness to one another and thoughtfulness about life itself.
Penn himself will forever be remembered as one of the great peacemakers in the history of the Western World. Using the fundamental Quaker belief that all people are equal under God, he befriended and protected the local indigenous people (the Delaware Indians), never tolerating the Europeans’ tendency to oppress and enslave people who looked and spoke differently than they, and whom they could easily subjugate. This approach of pacifism and compassion lasted well after Penn’s death in 1718, until it was eventually extinguished by the settlers’ insatiable demand for land and other resources that culminated in the mass slaughter of the American Indians in the 19th Century and other more recent atrocities.
Here comes the reason for this post: I feel profoundly sympathetic for these aforementioned overseers. Think about this: their charter prohibits their taking a uniform political stand for or against any U.S. president or political party, but they manage a peace-loving organization in a world in which the Trump administration, day after day, is aggressively dismantling everything they stand for: quality education for all, diplomacy, compassion, peaceful relationships in general and nuclear nonproliferation in particular, human equality, respect for science, and environmental stewardship.
Yes, nonviolence and silence are two entirely distinct things, and Quakers, over the centuries, have been quite bold in their assertions about the immorality of war. But when it comes down to specifics of politics, the school leaders must remain mute, and though I live 2,500 miles away now, I can almost feel the waves of frustration pulsing across the continent, and striking a resonant chord within me as a Penn Charter graduate. These are some incredibly stoic, cool-headed and resilient people–in fact, they aspire to live up to the concept of “loving one’s enemies,” but I just can’t imagine they’re too happy with the position in which they presently find themselves: caught, as it were, between a rock and a hard place.
Since I’m not constrained by the bylaws of Penn Charter or any other institution, I have the luxury of speaking my mind, and so I’ll do that: Let us all pray for a quick and smooth end to this national nightmare (international, actually), and a swift return to the principles that, at one time, really did make this nation great—those that include so many of the Quaker tenets: decency, equality, and compassion.
A year or so ago I read the biography of William Penn. His father was very unhappy that he became a Quaker. He also had legal problems in that he was imprisoned several times for being a Quaker. During that period of history, several countries and colonies had state religions and discriminated against people who were not members of the state religion. Another well-known person, i.e., Edward Gibbon, who wrote “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, considered leaving the Church of England and joining the Roman Church. His father dissuaded him out of fear of the problems he would face for leaving the established church.
It’s interesting that some “Christians” insist that the U.S. was founded as a Christian country considering that it endorsed slavery, established Jim Crow laws and customs following the Civil War, failed to take effective action to prevent lynchings, slaughtered many Native Americans, stole land from the Native Americans, and did many others things which were clearly in opposition to the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ admonition to love our neighbors as ourselves. Those who insist that the U.S. was founded as a Christian country should be hit over the head, over and over again, with irrefutable examples that it frequently acted in complete opposition to Christian principals and therefore it could never have been legitimately been claimed to be a Christian nation.
Frank I think perhaps there is a gulf between the teachings of the Nazarene and the institution of Christianity. It is ever so easy to pull at one to refute the other. Sure it is hypocrisy but it is a sort of democratic hypocrisy.
I am not sure you could make an argument that America sans Christianity would be a better place for humanity.
Breath,
Even during the worst of slavery, Jim Crow, attacks on Native Americans, etc., there were Christians who objected, the Quakers being among the objectors. Christianity is by no means monolithic; attitudes and beliefs do change, actually to a much greater degree than most Christians realize. Even within one denomination of Christianity, there are different attitudes and beliefs. The Underground Railroad was operated by people of various denominations although the Quakers were the best known for it.
In the Episcopal Church, and generally in other branches of the Anglican Communion too, doctrine is established by scripture (the Bible), tradition, and reason, with reason including experience. I think that that is actually true of all churches, even those which claim that their doctrine is established only by the Bible in its entirety. So, when reason and experience indicate that some doctrines seem to be contrary to the admonition to love others as ourselves, then doctrines have to be re-evaluated which can be a painful process, but it must be done.
Christianity, like other religions and beliefs, has a checkered history. As a Christian, I believe in making my voice heard both within the church and outside of the church. Sometimes leaders in churches have to be dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing.
Perhaps there is no wrong attitude here, but if tolerance is a cornerstone of Quaker philosophy as you offer it begs the question if that generous attitude is only in outward manifestation or is it also manifest in an inner tranquility in the face of a world that does not mirror the same approach.
If it is only an outward manifestation then we might expect the overseers to be as frustrated as you describe. If however the philosophy is deeper than appearances perhaps these overseers have discovered a view of the world that allows for faults, missteps, deception and duplicity. For something to last so long we might expect the roots to be deep.
Breath,
Thank you for an insightful observation.
Frank,
I found your comments interesting, especially the reference to Edward Gibbon.
There is no doubt the USA was, and still is, a great nation.
However, like you I question Craig’s assessment as to whether adherence to decency, equality, and compassion, played any role in the ascent to greatness.
The US from it’s birth has always been a nation based on restless, and aggressive expansion. ” Decency, equality, and compassion” have always taken second place in the US to growth, expansion, wealth and ambition.
That’s not to say that the US hasn’t had moments of nobility in its history where “decency, equality, and compassion’ were not displayed, but these are few and not representative of US history.
Like you I always find the claims of a “Christian America” as illusory as Craig’s “decency, equality, and compassion”.
However, it’s important to recognize that US is probably the most diverse society on earth.
Frank thanks for illustrating some Lights of Truth on the worn out myth that we were formed as a Christian nation. Very respectful recollection of some stains on our culture and journey.
Our inconsistent type of behavior did not end with the destruction of the Native Americans and the Brutal Jim Crow Era that only ended formally in the early 1970’s.
Our subordination of our so called high minded ideals of Liberty and Justice for all ; to the Military Industrial Imperialistic Foreign adventures and endless conflicts since the end of W W 2 . This is a s Litany of Lies, Broken Promises and Dreams and ravaged peoples all over the Globe. It is another stark inconsistency to the proclaimed nature of our nation.
It seems to be based on the monetary needs and desires as well as our growing Fears and control of the other who ever they may be at the time ….perhaps in some belated attempt to justify our Imperialistic and Economic Empire.
Much of this is well documented in the late Chalmer s Johnson books The Sorrows of Empire and his prophetic Blowback that predicted a 9 / 11 type event before it happened.
We are not what we present our selves to be and never have been. Like the Christian Club Myth that lives on like Breath said we persist in clinging to the Myth of our nations founding and the heroic beginnings that gave us a chance to be different. But then Life of a Nation happened and we discovered the World too. The rest is History and complex and very inconsistent and not in line with good Christianity for sure.
But some claim that we are Exceptional perhaps that is the cultural excuse or selective cognitive dissonance for all of this ??? Perhaps it is just hubris! or Arrogance at work!
What ever it is ,it is not sustainable and decline is in the Horizon. some say has already begun ….
Silent, I am not objecting to anything in you post. However, I really do think that some actions are taken with good motives but with inadequate understanding. Sometimes there are problems which we don’t know how to address and our ham-handed attempts to solve them exacerbate the problems instead. It is impossible to be right all the time and sometimes mistakes are very expensive in terms of both monetary cost and human suffering. Having to make such decisions is a responsibility that I would not like to have.
Craig,
It sounds a wonderful and enriching education. Your essay also provides an insight into your thinking and foundations for your philosophy.
Thanks for sharing.
It was. I remember one Quaker Meeting during the Vietnam War when a Quaker son of a Quaker teacher rose and spoke of how some of the wealth of some large companies (like Dupont) had begun when Quaker chemists had begun manufacturing gun powder which led to their enrichment supplying the rebel army during the revolutionary war and all subsequent wars. Though they were non violent they supplied the violent rebellion which created debate among their peers which was recorded. The student was decrying the profiting on violence.
Yes sir Brother Frank you explain the challenges of Christianity quite well and put things into perpsective….the good churches or religions evolve with the people and bring people along and also shed their past mistakes and try not to practice them any more. Good over view.
My sister joined the Episcopalian \ Faith 5 years ago and now serves in a leadership position . In the process she now is immersed with other good folks that want to help their community and then theere are others in the leader ship that it is more about their own agenda and not th eChucrh community.
so human flaws also make churches more challenged. But the committed good people must preserver 1
Those quakers sold some gunpowder I never knew that is where their money came from ..
Yes there ar emany decisions the Goveeeeeeeeeeeent leadrs make that dont work out. some times they do casue the yare inept or sometimes becasue they are trapped by their predcessors policies and are locked into bad situations.
They know there is a better course of action or a correction needed. etc. But doing it is hard when ever one is re running for office every 2 years ….Makes leadership hard. hard to make tough decisions with longer pay off times.
obama was elected into such quagmires he did ok and well in some. he fumbled some and also blindly followed up too long on failed policies but was trapped by the election mood of country he had to act tough So he droned bombed more than necessary from my view. But that was to spare blood shed and loss. most common folks just dont get it.
sadly, Its not entertaining enough to keep up with Reality1
The quakers and the Amish always seemed to be contented folks and had a genuine sense of purpose about them. Enjoyed working with them in Iowa some.
Very interesting wake-up call Craig, but Scripture summons us to pray for our leaders (keeping mute), trusting that only Jesus’ return (The Savior of the world) will wake up the world from it’s international subdued nightmare.
🙂 You think you’re going to goad me into addressing that. Nice try. 🙂
Hi Richard. Interesting. But what you essentially raise sits on the question of whether scripture should be taken literally even without thinking or personal review.
I have always found this a remarkable position as it invariably relies upon words that did not mysteriously appear out of thin air. Rather the words upon which so many so heavily rely were written by people. Some like those in the Aquarian Gospel were delivered by “revelation” but nevertheless were reduced to words by human mechanism.
And so we then have human beings refusing to interpret words already interpreted by other humans. It is a classic case of the argument of authority. A fallacy which tells us the the information within is not necessarily accurate.
I could go on with the observation that language changes along with meanings and so exact words written some time ago may not impart the same literal or connotative meaning they once did.
Finally, we could point to internal conflicts within various texts.
This is not to detract from “belief,” but only to point out that belief may in this come into conflict with logic. For someone who does not share your beliefs you can expect differing perspectives.
The founders of this country attempted to separate personal beliefs from state governance. Perhaps we could say that this was an entirely practical matter. In a country that strives to be a “melting pot” of humanity it can be expected that beliefs will be widely divergent yet we must continue with the business of government.
Following the principal of separation of “church and state” it would then seem entirely consistent to “pray for our leadership.” while we advocate their removal from leadership. Perhaps we might compare this to our friend who we like a great deal, who is great with kids and family, who is generous with others, but we would never lend or entrust with money. Their personal circumstances can in this way be separated from their power over us.
Richard,
Carefully selecting quotations from scripture can be used as an excuse for not doing the right thing. However, the most important command for Christians, which addresses our relationships to other people, is to love our neighbors as ourself. That overrides everything else. There can be valid differences in opinion on how to apply that, but nevertheless it is binding; there is no getting around it. Keeping mute is not an option! We must speak up for what is right while considering that there are grey areas where it is not always clear what is right.
We don’t all have the same rôle or same abilities. There are different ways to speak up for what is right. People in prominent positions may speak up through the media. Other people may speak up when they hear statements which are contrary to social justice. Others may send letters to newspapers. All are valid approaches, but in any case, injustices must not be ignored. And, praying for our leaders to do the right thing is good to do, but we should not be limited to that.