With the Quaker Peace Testimony, delivered by Margaret Fell to King Charles II in 1660, a new political possibility was introduced to Western political philosophy. In contrast to the prevailing idea of the divine-right of kings, Quakers asserted that governors could be disagreed with without risking a capital offense.While “theocracy” has been associated with autocratic rule, a democratic system of governance, where the people (the demos) determine their own rule, can also be seen as a distributed form of theocracy: God’s rule.The Quaker point is this: no single person has sole access to God’s will, and no one is devoid of such access. Rather, the Divine Will can be ascertained more faithfully by a plurality of discerning persons—if seeking the truth, goodness, and justice are of prime concern.
Read MoreWith the Quaker Peace Testimony, delivered by Margaret Fell to King Charles II in 1660, a new political possibility was introduced to Western political philosophy. In contrast to the prevailing idea of the divine-right of kings, Quakers asserted that governors could be disagreed with without risking a capital offense.
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When Kevin’s mother called me to tell me he had run away from home, she was crying. Anger, fear, and exhaustion poured out of her through the phone. She wept as she explained how her son told her he would rather live on the streets of Portland, Oregon, than stay one more day with her and his younger brother. He didn’t need them or want them—and at fifteen years old, he was perfectly able to fend for himself.
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My sense is that one of the major changes in Quaker worship over the past century-and-a-half, aside from the introduction of programmed worship (definitely a biggie!), has been the growing sense that young children should not be present for the whole period.
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Throughout our history, the people known as Friends (or Quakers) keep rediscovering an essential and enduring truth: There is one who speaks to our most basic needs and most significant hopes—Christ Jesus the Lord. Both individually and communally, we are learning to know and follow the Voice that guides us in the way we should go. Together, we seek to understand and obey that truth which sets us free. As a people, we share in the experience of that powerful life which makes all things new. Maybe you are searching for an authentic and transforming faith and community to call home—if so, come in and join us as we seek to know and follow Christ.
Friends United Meeting commits itself to energize and equip Friends through the power of the Holy Spirit to gather people into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved, and obeyed as Teacher and Lord.
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