Known best for their longstanding commitment to social activism pacifismfair treatment for Native Americans and equality for women the Quakers haveinfluenced Am... » 

Known best for their longstanding commitment to social activism pacifismfair treatment for Native Americans and equality for women the Quakers haveinfluenced American thought and society far out of proportion to theirrelatively small numbers. Whether in the foreign policy arena the AmericanFriends Service Committee in education the Friends schools or in the artsprominent Quakers profiled in this book include James Turrell Bonnie Raittand James Michener Quakers have left a lasting imprint on American life. Thismultifaceted book is a concise history of the Religious Society of Friends anintroduction to its beliefs and practices and a vivid picture of the cultureand controversies of the Friends today.The book opens with lively vignettes of Conservative Evangelical FriendsGeneral Conference and Friends United meetings that illuminate basic Quakerconcepts and theology and reflect the groups diversity in the wake of thesectarian splintering of the nineteenth century. Yet the book also examinescommonalities among American Friends that demonstrate a fundamental unitywithin the religion their commitments to worship the ministry of allbelievers decision making based on seeking spiritual consensus rather thanvoting a simple lifestyle and education. Thomas Hamm shows that Quakerculture encompasses a rich tradition of practice even as believers continue todebate a number of central questions Is Quakerism necessarily Christian? Whereshould religious authority reside? Is the self sacred? How does one transmitfaith to children? How do gender and sexuality shape religious belief andbehavior? Hamms analysis of these debates reveals a vital religion that prizesboth unity and diversity. «