Quakers agree to same-sex marriages

Quiffaa

Love me outside Mzlicious
"The Quakers today agreed to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples and said they would ask the government to change the law to allow Quaker registering officers to register same-sex partnerships in the same way as marriages."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/31/quakers-gay-marriage


"It is not the first time that the Religious Society of Friends has gone out in front. The Quakers not only began the British campaign against the slave trade but they could also lay claim to have invented modern campaigning, with the publication of a diagram showing the cross section of a ship in which slaves lay shoulder to shoulder. So too did they pick up the cudgels of prison reform and the treatment of the mentally ill. Banned by law from politics and the universities, many Quakers went into commerce and industry, where philanthropists such as Joseph Rowntree provided his workers with modern benefits such as free education, medical care and a pension fund. If Quakers make woolly believers (a majority believe in God but all refuse a creed to which they must subscribe), they are crystal clear on behaviour. They value the experience of inspiration and share it in largely silent worship. The Quaker church will now ask the government to change the law to allow its officers to register same-sex partnerships as marriages. But legal recognition is secondary. The exploration of radical concepts is more important, as is the belief that there is good in everyone. As George Fox, the founder of the Quaker movement wrote, from prison of course: "Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone."http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/01/in-praise-of-the-quakers



Even though I am against marriage

Yay! :guitar:
 
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There will be some (so called) christians ''quaking'' in their boots at this news:lbf:
Good news indeed.

Jukebox Jury
 
Great news :thumb:.
 
You might like to read the actual minute written at Britain Yearly Meeting:

Minute 25, Britain Yearly Meeting 31 July 2009

Further to minute 17, a session was held on Tuesday afternoon at which speakers shared personal experiences of the celebration and recognition of their committed relationships. These Friends had felt upheld by their meetings in these relationships but regretted that whereas there was a clear, visible path to celebration and recognition for opposite sex couples, the options available for couples of the same sex were not clear and could vary widely between meetings. Friends who feel theirs to be an ordinary and private rather than an exotic and public relationship have had to be visible pioneers to get their relationship acknowledged and recorded.

This open sharing of personal experience has moved us and added to our clear sense that, 22 years after the prospect was first raised at Meeting for Sufferings we are being led to treat same sex committed relationships in the same way as opposite sex marriages, reaffirming our central insight that marriage is the Lord’s work and we are but witnesses. The question of legal recognition by the state is secondary.

We therefore ask Meeting for Sufferings to take steps to put this leading into practice and to arrange for a draft revision of the relevant sections of Quaker faith and practice, so that same sex marriages can be prepared, celebrated, witnessed, recorded and reported to the state, as opposite sex marriages are. We also ask Meeting for Sufferings to engage with our governments to seek a change in the relevant laws so that same sex marriages notified in this way can be recognised as legally valid, without further process, in the same way as opposite sex marriages celebrated in our meetings. We will not at this time require our registering officers to act contrary to the law, but understand that the law does not preclude them from playing a central role in the celebration and recording of same sex marriages.

We have heard dissenting voices during the threshing process which has led to us this decision, and we have been reminded of the need for tenderness to those who are not with us who will find this change difficult. We also need to remember, including in our revision of Quaker faith and practice, those Friends who live singly, whether or not by choice.

We will need to explain our decision to other Christian bodies, other faith communities, and, indeed to other Yearly Meetings, and pray for a continuing loving dialogue, even with those who might disagree strongly with what we affirm as our discernment of God’s will for us at this time.
 
other reports and comments
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6734687.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084

"Quakers have acknowledged same sex partnerships since the 1960s


At their annual gathering in York this week more than 1,600 Quakers agreed “to treat same-sex, committed relationships in the same way as opposite-sex marriages, reaffirming our central insight that marriage is the Lord’s work and we are but witnesses”.
[...]
•There are about 19,000 Quakers in Britain and 340,000 worldwide

•The Quakers were founded in opposition to the traditional Churches, whose ritualistic, hierarchical structure, they felt, got in the way of a direct relationship with God

•The central concept is “that of God in everyone”. Quakers are generally in agreement that they should have a direct, individual relationship with God and should follow Christian principles such as peace and forgiveness

•Worship is in weekly meetings where Friends sit in meditation for an hour, during which anyone can speak at any point

•The Quakers were socially and politically radical in the 17th and early 18th centuries and campaigned against slavery, for pacifism and religious tolerance and argued against discrimination by social class, wealth, gender or race

•Famous Quakers have included the chocolate manufacturers Joseph Rowntree and George Cadbury
and the actor James Dean "
 
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I think its verý nice that a religious body also has a
warmhearted view on solo-ists
and does not put them into the
'you have to be asexual' corner like other denominations do.

and I like the word 'opposite-sex marriages' for the more conventional ones
 
The only knowledge I have of Quakerism is from the last season of 'Six Feet Under', of which I actually finished last night.

One of ( if not ) the best TV series I've ever seen. But what else do you expect from Michael Ball, a class act if ever there was one.

No coincidences that he also produced/directed American Beauty, which also rates in my top 10 list of films watched.

I'll have to check Quakerism out in Wiki. to gain some real life enlightenment of this 'Society Of Friends'.

Has there been any high profile 'same sex' divorces dragged through the courts yet? :(
 
I sense a blood bath brewing within the church coming soon. Theres gonna be so much fighting. :p

Good for them although I dont agree.
 
Nah the Quakers. Since theyre so into fighting and all.

Erm they're hardcore pacifists and the decision mentioned above was made by all Quakers present 1200/1600 (can't remember the number).

The only way they decide is by consensus.
nay unanimously, is more precise,
because the Spirit of the G'dhead/Holy Ghost will lead them
into that decision that is deeply ok for all quakers present.
 
I like their oats.:thumb:

Quaker Oats is just a trademark. Nothing to do with Quakers,
just a bit of shrewd marketing by an American company exploiting the Quakers' reputation for honesty. They stick a picture of a bloke in 18th century costume on the front of the box, and everybody stops thinking they might put nasty stuff in the box to pad out their oats.

Whenever biting a bar of chocolate, banking in the High Street, traveling by railway, using lawn mowers,
all of this has sth to dowith Quakers

This provides a short introduction:
http://rps.gn.apc.org/leveson/resources/cadbury0503.htm
 
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Erm they're hardcore pacifists and the decision mentioned above was made by all Quakers present 1200/1600 (can't remember the number).

The only way they decide is by consensus.
nay unanimously, is more precise,
because the Spirit of the G'dhead/Holy Ghost will lead them
into that decision that is deeply ok for all quakers present.

Hahaha it was just a bad joke.:o
 
Quaker Oats is just a trademark. Nothing to do with Quakers,
just a bit of shrewd marketing by an American company exploiting the Quakers' reputation for honesty. They stick a picture of a bloke in 18th century costume on the front of the box, and everybody stops thinking they might put nasty stuff in the box to pad out their oats.

Whenever biting a bar of chocolate, banking in the High Street, traveling by railway, using lawn mowers,
all of this has sth to dowith Quakers

This provides a short introduction:
http://rps.gn.apc.org/leveson/resources/cadbury0503.htm

Oh.:(

I was under the impression that all those 18th Century costumed blokes and birds ground those oats daily for my consumptory pleasure.

One learns something new every day.:thumb:
 
Oh.:(

I was under the impression that all those 18th Century costumed blokes and birds ground those oats daily for my consumptory pleasure.

One learns something new every day.:thumb:

haha stop it off, we know you like your oats lad.
 
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