A couple of years ago, I went to a music camp at the Quaker Center outside Santa Cruz (California). A majority of the participants were Quakers. As a progressive Catholic, I fit in with them quite well. They seemed like Unitarians who were a little closer to Christian beliefs.

Many of them joked about their experiences with the snootiness of "Philadelphia Quakers." Apparently, the stereotype is that the Philadelphia Quakers think they're the only "correct" Quakers. We have some Catholics who think they're the only true Catholics, so I understood.

Just before it closed for earthquake reconstruction several years ago, the De Young Museum in San Francisco had an exhibit of the Peaceable Kingdom paintings of Quaker painter Edward Hicks (1780-1849). Hicks painted many, many versions of this picture, each one a little different from the others. The exhibit tied the paintings to the strife among the Quakers - when the factions among the Quakers were getting along with each other, Hicks painted the beasts in the Kingdom closer together and in harmony. When there was discord among Quakers, Hicks painted the animals far apart from each other.

Eventually, there was a permanent split in the Society of Friends, although the various branches are still connected to each other in many ways. One branch, Evangelical Friends International branch Richard Nixon belonged to, is more-or-less like most evangelical Christian denominations, meeting in churches, singing hymns, and listening to sermons. Nixon attended Quaker Whittier College. The college is located in the City of Whittier, California, which at one time was a largely Quaker community.

The better-known Quakers are the ones who gather in "meetings," sitting in silence until somebody is inspired to speak. They sing a lot - but not during services [the Rise Up Singing songbook has Quaker roots - for better or for worse]. These Quakers are generally pacifists - don't know about the Nixon Quakers and pacifism. I know a lot of folkies who are Quakers. I hope some will drop in and give an inside perspective (and correct some of my limited outside perspective). I've had a fair amount of contact with Quakers and have sung in Quaker facilities quite often, but I'm never attended Quaker religious services. I've been very impressed by what I've seen of the Quakers, especially by their concern for social justice.

-Joe-