A Brief History of Western Quaker History

For one thing, a strongly entrenched, and tradition-minded “Hicksite Quaker Establishment” held most of the formal reins of power, and wanted to maintain a top-down Quietist religious culture almost identical to the Orthodox, except with a Hicksite elite at the controls.
Yet at the same time, there were a growing number of thoughtful, articulate Hicksites who were thinking “outside this box.”
Most of the leadership was appalled to learn that a “wide variety of theological oppinion” [sic] was developing among the rank and file.
They foresaw (correctly) multiple hazards to their status quo in this development: looking outward, these “oppinions” produced calls for new social activism in forms (like abolitionism & women’s rights) that alarmed and offended the Quietist leadership. (Yes, they really did.)​
And even more disturbing, these reformers also began calling for a “reformation” within the Society of Friends, away from its sternly top-down history, toward centering authority in local meetings and giving prime respect for individual seeking and action.​
Some liberal Friends today think these equalitarian ideas were promulgated by George Fox and Margaret Fell as Quakerism originally took form.​
Alas, not so. The Progressive agenda added up to a radical new model for the Society of Friends, which was not only controversial, but often subject to sanction.

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Richard Spencer, U. of Florida & Free Speech: All Winners. But It Was Ugly.

Of course, Spencer wanted a huge media circus, and he got one; but he didn’t draw a meaningful audience from his targeted institution. They handed out 800 tickets for the event, but only about 400 showed up, including numerous press.

He also, with difficulty, got to make his speech, in the face of nonstop jeers & boos, advocating that a “white nationalist ethnostate” be carved out of the U.S. by “peaceful ethnic cleansing” (whatever that would mean).

On the way out, he was crowing:

Orlando Sentinel: “As . . . the throng of protesters who disrupted the event headed for the exits. Spencer insisted they hadn’t defeated him.

“You think that you shut me down? Well you didn’t,” he said. “You actually failed at your own game … because the world is going to look at this event and the world is going to have a very different impression of the University of Florida because you acted this way.”

Outside there was a crowd of a couple thousand protesters: rowdy, often profane, but essentially nonviolent; two persons were “detained”; a few pro-Spencer fans were roughed up, but were then escorted away by police.

Of course, the protesters had lots of help in keeping their overall cool: 500 or so police, state troopers, many heavily armed, including SWAT team snipers perched on the roofs and balconies.

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Another Look: My Campus Crusade for Free Speech, 1963

While we worked on finding another suitably notorious Communist, we also set out to get a right-wing spokesman. This one was easier.
            What was the most right-wing organization in the country? The Nazi Party, of course. And George Lincoln Rockwell, its flamboyant leader, was only too happy to talk to anyone who would listen. One telegram and he was set to go.
          When Rockwell came, we moved to a smaller theater space in the student center, where it was still standing room only. Rockwell’s speech was a bombastic stream of bizarre sociological and anthropological “facts” that added up to, “they’re bad and we’re good.”  I remember him saying that there were “breeds of people, just like breeds of dogs.” Dennis and I did not sit on a platform with him, as we had the others; the front row was close enough.
Several people walked out during his presentation advocating racism, anti-semitism & national socialism.
         Rockwell caused lots of talk. A few days after his speech, some sociology professors held an open discussion they titled, “Is George Lincoln Rockwell a Closet Homosexual?”
           While many dismissed Rockwell as a kind of evil clown, and he was murdered by own of his own in 1967, he remains a cult figure for sectors of the rightwing which are still around.

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The Nashville Declaration Is a Hoot

And not least, there’s the Bibs’ theology, chronically misspelled as Complementarianism. Misled by the typos, they say it means women are to “complement” men by deferring & submitting (& by pretending LGBTs don’t exist).

But of course, what their theologians really meant was Complimentarianism, which shows what a difference the right “i” can make. 

This much more nuanced and profound doctrine is built on repeating two Great Commandments —

First: “Darling, you look fabulous!” And, 

Second: “That outfit does NOT make your ass look fat!” 

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