Adventures in Church: Quaker PEACE

Quaker William Penn, 22, in 1666, Penn's Sylvania ("Wooded Land"), Penn State

No, I'm an Eastern Orthodox pilgrim at the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, Ukraine

Indigenous Peoples' History US

The Quakers really are something else. It's not for show, and there are no oats whatsoever (that was some non-Quaker's marketing gimmick), no big buckle hats or shoes, just progressive British-German thinking, which may sound like an oxymoron except that we're nothing in the West if not good at dreaming up lofty ideals.

It must be an extraterrestrial Scandinavian influence of Nordic ETs spreading their liberal views on how human life should be engaged in by Earthlings (in and around Northern Europe).

• World Happiness Report: Who says Scandinavian Finland is the happiest?
• Finland, Finland, Monty Python sings (Northern Finland is in Scandinavia)

Quaker woman preaching, London

How else might one explain their forward thinking in an Old World setting? These thoughts of Enlightenment, egalitarianism, peace, fraternity, and prosperity for all are not the natural inclinations of people who travel -- as Columbus and Crew did -- across the Atlantic to enslave and oppress others.

Quaker Mary Dyer led to execution, 1660

The Quakers did not come to conquer. Though they were about 25% of the "Pilgrims," the European settler-colonial invaders from England, Germany, Spain, and other imperialistic countries, their goal was to survive and thrive in the "New" World away from the constraints of the Old, not by oppression but cooperation.

• Mary Dyer (born Marie Barrett, circa 1611–1660) was an English and colonial American Puritan-turned-Quaker who was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony. She is one of the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs. More

Who were these mysterious "Friends," and what did they believe in that made them pacifists, independent thinkers, and leave-Europe-behinders? They weren't Puritans, which is a surprising because they are into clean living. And they aren't Amish or Mennonites speaking Pennsylvania Deutsch ("Dutch" that's actually German).

• Friends Committee on National Legislation
• Quakers speaking truth to power
• American Friends Service Committee
• Anyone attracted to Universalist Unitarianism has to love what the Quakers are all about, at least the nonevangelical kind
• Anglo-Saxon migration from Germany to UK
• My country (US) loves war, right Mr. Biden?
• Northern Europe or the Nordic countries?
• Two new wolf packs discovered in Northern California

Advice and Questions for 11th Month: Peace

Colonists (not Quakers), Russian settlers, possibly Molokans, in Mugan steppe of Azerbaijan

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Dissenter George Fox, Friend

Friends (Quakers) oppose all war as inconsistent with [the Protestant God's] will. As every person is a child of this god, we recognize Divine Light also in our adversaries. Violence and injustice deny this reality and violate the teaching of [the God's son] Jesus and other prophets.

Friends challenge their governments and take personal risks in the cause of peace. We urge one another to refuse to participate in war as soldiers or as arms manufacturers [which is completely inconsistent with principles and teachings of the historical Buddha as well].

Become an instrument of peace. At every opportunity, be peacemakers in your homes, workplaces, and communities. Steep yourself in the power of the universal Spirit [Brahman?]

Examine your actions [karma, intentional deeds] for the seeds of violence, degradation, and destructiveness.

Overcome the emotions that lie at the root of violence and nurture instead a spirit of reconciliation and love. Come to know the oneness [unity, yoga] of all creation and oppose the destruction of the natural world.

Questions

• Do I live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars?
• How do I nourish peace within myself as I work for peace in the world?
• Do I confront violence wherever it occurs, even when my personal relationships are involved?
• Where there is distrust, injustice, or hatred, how am I an instrument of reconciliation and love?
• What are we doing to remove the causes of war and destruction of the planet and to bring about lasting peace?
• Do we reach out to all parties in a conflict with courage and love?

NOTE: Some questions are intended for individuals. Italicized ones are intended for the Meeting collectively.

• Quackers, Orange Grove Friends Meeting House, Pasadena, CA; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly