Quaker Testimonies

I've been thinking about Quakerism a lot lately. It's the religion of my childhood -- my parents weren't exactly active practitioners, but I went to a Quaker school, and sometimes went to Meeting with my dad growing up.

I always felt connected to it on a spiritual level, but not on a social level. The people there were important for making the ritual happen, not much else.

The school I went to also brainwashed me pretty effectively with Quaker values, which, looking back on, I no longer entirely share. I'm genuinely sad about that separation, even though I feel no desire to actually change my mind.

But I wonder, sometimes, if actually, my disagreement is with the particular implementation of Quaker values, rather than the underlying drivers of them. After all, there is actually quite a lot of latitude in Quaker beliefs; as I once told someone, "the only really REQUIRED belief is that Meeting for Worship is a good use of your time." So I went looking for the six Quaker Testimonies I'd heard about, growing up, to try and form my own conclusions about them.

To be clear, Quakerism isn't supposed to have any kind of written creed -- you're supposed to listen to the light inside and come to your own conclusions, that's kind of the whole point of all of it! -- but I guess the Testimonies are things that, you know, a lot of Quakers hear when they listen to the light inside. Or something.

The American Friends Service Committee has an introductory pamphlet on the Six Testimonies, which I used for reference. As it says:

"The testimonies bear witness to the truth, as Friends in community perceive it— truth known through relationship with God. They do not exist in any rigid, written form; nor are they imposed in any way. Each Quaker searches for how the testimonies can best be expressed in his or her own life."

Here are some scattered personal thoughts on the testimonies.

Integrity

"For Friends, having integrity means being authentic and having consistency between one's values and one's actions."

Telling the truth is only one part of integrity. The more important part is following through on your values by, for example, donating significant amounts of your money to charity, or spending significant amounts of time to help others. I think this is closely related to the rationalist notion of "taking ideas seriously" -- something like "If you think helping others is so important, why aren't you doing more about it?"

When I was a kid and comparing Quakerism to the other religions I learned about, this always seemed like the most striking difference to me.

Simplicity

"Friends believe in simple living. This has historically meant simple dress, plain speech, and unadorned meeting houses for worship. Through the simplicity testimony, Friends encourage one another to look beyond the outward and to the inward.

"In contemporary terms, Friends try to live lives in which activities and possessions do not get in the way of open and unencumbered communication with others and with one's own spirituality. Clearing away the clutter makes it easier to hear the 'still small voice' within."

Simplicity feels really obvious to me, and it's also clearly not obvious to lots of other people I know. It's closer to being an aesthetic preference than a moral stance, but it still feels deeply important and close to who I am.

Quakerism values form over function, and difficult truths over platitudes. Simplicity is partly about that -- avoiding unnecessary frills helps you focus on what's really important and true in your life. I think, although most Quakers wouldn't put it in these terms, that it's also a strategy to avoid wasteful signalling games.

Peace

"Friends oppose and refuse to engage in war and violence. In pursuit of lasting, sustainable peace, they seek to eliminate causes of violent conflict, such as poverty, exploitation, and intolerance."

 Peace is complicated.

Most outspoken Quakers I've known have believed that it's not that complicated: violence is bad, full stop. Which in turns means that your personal duty is to always refuse to engage in it, and try to convince others to stop, using all nonviolent means available to you.

As I've gotten older, I've adopted a more utilitarian perspective, which I think unifies these concerns somewhat. It's easy to say "violence is justified in some circumstances; therefore in those circumstances, it's the right thing to do." It's much harder, and more nuanced, to instead say "violence is justified in some circumstances, but it's always bad, and we should always strive to find third options that avoid it whenever we possibly can; and even when you can't avoid it, it's a tragedy."

Community

"When Friends gather in silence to worship, they are collectively seeking the will of God, rather than meditating individually. Shared worship signifies unity and trust."

I've often had trouble with this, though it feels important.

I alternate between thinking "other people are the most important thing in my life" and "other people are the source of all problems in my life." It might be both.

Meeting has always felt very personal to me, almost too personal to talk about, but I also enjoy hearing others' testimonies and relating them to what is going on with me. And although I've thought about it many times, I've pretty much never wanted to sit down and do the Meeting for Worship ritual by myself, without other people around to share the experience with.

More than the other testimonies, this one feels to me like something that I care about for my own happiness, rather than out of an abstract sense of value.

Equality

"Friends hold that all people are equal in the eyes of God and have equal access to the 'inner Light.' This profound sense of equality leads Friends to treat each person with respect, looking for 'that of God' in everyone."

There's an old quote from George Fox that I like a lot: "Walk gladly over the earth, seeking that of God in every one you meet."

This one feels obvious, and yet less important, perhaps because most people I meet will at least claim to believe this.

I think, perhaps, that it's underrated; although everyone claims to believe it, its implications are complex and require constant self-searching to make sure you're acting in accordance with it. I know I often fall short here.

As I get older and crankier, I'd like to focus more on finding that of God in those I meet, even when they're not exactly compatible with me. It's a lot easier for me to see the incompatibility, now, which sometimes makes it hard to see the inner light.

Stewardship

"Friends strive to use God’s gifts wisely, with gifts conceived in the broadest of terms. These gifts include our talents and our possessions, as well as our natural environment. Friends believe that such gifts are not ours alone.

"To Friends, good stewardship means taking care of what has been given, not just for ourselves, but for the people around us and for future generations as well. Friends strive to use their gifts in accordance with their beliefs."