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Nontheist Quakers

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Logo of the nontheist Friends

Nontheist Quakers (also known as nontheist Friends) are those who engage in Quaker practices and processes, but who do not necessarily believe in a theistic God or Supreme Being, the divine, the soul or the supernatural. Like traditional Quakers, also known as Friends, nontheist Friends are interested in realizing peace, simplicity, integrity, community, equality, love, joy, and social justice in the Society of Friends and beyond.

Beliefs

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Quakers in the unprogrammed or "silent worship" tradition of Quaker practice began to examine the significance of nontheistic beliefs in the Society of Friends during the 20th century. Non-theism among Quakers probably dates to the 1930s, when some Quakers in California branched off to form the Humanist Society of Friends (today part of the American Humanist Association), and when Henry Cadbury professed agnosticism in a 1936 lecture to Harvard Divinity School students.[1] The term "non-theistic" first appeared in a Quaker publication in 1952 on conscientious objection.[2][non-primary source needed] In 1976, a Friends General Conference Gathering hosted a Workshop for Nontheistic Friends (Quakers).[3]

A nontheist Friends' website and nontheist Quaker study groups exist.[4] Os Cresson began a consideration of this issue from behaviorist, natural history, materialist and environmentalist perspectives. Roots and Flowers of Quaker Nontheism is one history. Nontheist Friends draw on Quaker humanist and universalist traditions.[5] The book Godless for God's Sake: Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism offers critical contributions by Quakers.[6] Some Friends engage the implications of human evolution, cognitive anthropology, evolutionary psychology, bodymind questions (especially the "relaxation response"[7][8]), primatology, evolutionary history, evolutionary biology, biology and consensus decision-making online, especially in terms of Quaker nontheism.

There are three main nontheist Quakers' web sites, including the Nontheist Friends' Official Website,[4] Nontheist Friends Network Website (a listed informal group of Britain Yearly Meeting),[9] and the Nontheist Friends' wiki subject/school at World University and School,[10] which was founded by Scott MacLeod.

Statistics

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The exact number of nontheist Quakers is currently unknown. According to a 1996 survey, 72% of British Quakers believed in God. However, a 2013 survey found that 15% of Quakers in Britain did not believe in God, up from 3% in 1990.[11] One study of Friends in the Britain Yearly Meeting, some 30% of British Quakers had views described as non-theistic, agnostic, or atheist.[12][13] These surveys should not be seen as representative of the global Quaker population which is majority Evangelistic (Gurneyite).

Books

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  • Boulton, David (Ed). 2006. Godless for God's Sake – Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism. Nontheist Friends.
  • Cresson, Os, and David Boulton (Foreword). 2014. Quaker and Naturalist Too. Morning Walk Press.

Notable nontheist Friends

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[14] [15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cadbury, Henry (1936). "My Personal Religion". Retrieved July 17, 2007. Unpublished manuscript in the Quaker Collection at Haverford College; lecture given to Harvard divinity students in 1936.
  2. ^ Tatum, Lyle (ed.). 1952. "Handbook for Conscientious Objectors." Philadelphia, PA: Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors.
  3. ^ Morgan, Robert (1976). Report from the Workshop for Non-Theistic Friends – Friends General Conference, Ithaca, NY, June, 1976. 'The author of this report is 'Workshop for Non-Theistic Friends'. The workshop was led by Robert Morgan (1916–1993), a Friend from Pittsburgh PA.' Morgan was therefore 'recording clerk' for this report).
  4. ^ a b "NontheistFriends.org". www.nontheistfriends.org.
  5. ^ Cresson, Os (September 16, 2010). "Roots and Flowers of Quaker Nontheism". NontheistFriends.org.
  6. ^ Boulton, David, ed. (2006). Godless for God's Sake: Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism. Dent, UK: Dales Historical Monographs. ISBN 0-9511578-6-8.
  7. ^ Benson MD, Herbert and Miriam Z. Klipper. 2000 [1972]. The Relaxation Response. Expanded updated edition. Harper. ISBN 0-380-81595-8
  8. ^ Benson MD, Herbert. 1976. Steps to Elicit the Relaxation Response. RelaxationResponse.org. From "The Relaxation Response." HarperTorch.
  9. ^ "Non-theist Friends Network". Non-theist Friends Network.
  10. ^ "Nontheist Friends' wiki school at World University and School".
  11. ^ Montemaggi, Francesca Eva Sara. 2018. "A Quiet Faith: Quakers in Post-Christian Britain" Religions 9, no. 10: 313. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9100313
  12. ^ Dandelion, Pink (1996). A Sociological Analysis of the Theology of Quakers: The Silent Revolution. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press.
  13. ^ Heron, Alistair (1992). Caring, Conviction, Commitment: Dilemmas of Quaker Membership Today. London: Quaker Home Service.
  14. ^ Anderson, Sam. 2011. "Nicholson Baker, The Art of Fiction No. 212." The Paris Review (198).
  15. ^ "The Quaker Community: The Benefits of Silence". 6 January 2020.

Further reading

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