Quaker 350th

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1191411

THINGS are tranquil inside the Quaker meeting house on London's hectic 
Euston Road. About 30 people have shown up for a talk; this week's theme is 
the society's work in prisons. A speaker gently explains that Quakers think 
there is goodness and violence in everyone; that prison is harmful; that 
even convicted paedophiles need support to rejoin the community and not 
re-offend. Someone nods off in the back row. No one mentions that the 
society's 350th anniversary is a few days away.

Quakers prefer it like that. Quiet work and quiet worship have been their 
hallmarks since George Fox's hill-top vision started things off in 1652. 
Everyone, he thought, could directly experience the divine: pomp and ritual, 
creeds and clergy just got in the way. Better to meet for silent 
contemplation—punctuated by the occasional, sometimes quivery interjection 
(hence the name, which was originally a derisive joke). And better to 
practise your beliefs than preach.




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