Today’s “news” is dominated by civil strife, international war, the search for truth, husbanding technological complexity in service of human progress, and other challenges. But it’s not really news at all. Humanity has been grappling with these same issues since well before our ancestors were painting the walls of Altamira’s caves.
Yet there have been major inflection points. Many people feel today is one of them, and that the USA is at a crossroads of epic proportions, an existential Fork in the Road.
England sat at a crossroads in the early 1600s. William Shakespeare and King James are the two Englishmen most associated with England back then. Understandably. In 1611, the same year the latter’s 50 scholars published the first legal English-language Bible, the former’s The Tempest was wowing people at The Globe Theatre. King James’s opus and The Bard of Avon’s dismissal of Montaigne’s utopianism both addressed the supernatural realm—in entirely new and accessible ways.
As did George Fox, founder of The Society of Friends, aka the Quakers, who was born exactly 399 years ago. (An English judge said Friends “quaked” with fervor when in court, refusing to swear to tell the truth.) However, his thought leadership was much more far-reaching, and has been much more durable.
Huh? How so?
Like how the five principles that governed Fox’s life and teachings are even more relevant today.
1. Peace can’t be achieved by violence.
Fox adamantly opposed war, torture, slavery, the oppression of women, minorities and First Nation peoples. This put him and his fellow “Quakers” onto a lot of Watch Lists!
His logic is as true today as it was then. Just substitute China for France.
2. Honesty is the glue that holds society together.
Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see our leaders merely say “Yes” or “No,” as opposed to serving up a word salad tossed by their speechwriters? Quakers got into hot water for refusing to swear to tell the truth in civil and ecclesiastical courts. They insisted that swearing in the courts implied they lied in everyday life.
This insistence on honesty is why Quaker businesses were so successful in England and the USA. Consumers felt they could trust what Quaker manufacturers put on their labels, and what came out of the Quaker merchant’s mouth.
3. Simplicity is the key to a rewarding life.
Fox drew huge crowds because he said simplicity was the wellspring of happiness. He told the rapt common folk that the finest horse-hair wig was no match for the lilies of the field, escargot imported from Paris no match for Devonshire clotted cream and fresh blueberries.
The same holds true today. Even the best virtual reality headsets are no match for reality reality. It’s no wonder that in Singapore and New York, two of the world’s most “advanced cities,” the most popular developments of the past few years have been their back-to-nature Gardens by the Bay and Hi-Line.
4. Humility allows one’s soul to take flight.
George Fox didn’t have an arrogant bone in his body. Which is why he got along not only with the King but also the monarchy-toppling Oliver Cromwell. Though Fox’s renunciation of violence made the fierce soldier cry, Cromwell couldn’t abide by the Quakers’ “peace testimony;” however, he did agree with their emphasis on honesty and simplicity, which is why, instead of being portrayed in the conventional manner—ostentatiously, without blemish, Cromwell famously told his artist to “Paint me warts and all.”
We all have our warts. Isn’t it refreshing when our leaders admit to theirs?
5. Courage is the heart of leadership.
Fox, his wife, Mary Fell, and countless other Quakers in the Society’s 375-year history haven't just been humble. They’ve also been fearless. The Church persecuted them because they refused to pay tithes to support fat-cat clerics. The Crown persecuted them because they wouldn’t pay taxes to support colonial wars. Fox was imprisoned dozens of times, nearly executed several times. Many Quakers were banished, had their tongues bored with a hot iron, or were killed. In the early 1800s, it wasn’t just Sarah Grimke’s fellow South Carolinians who denounced her support of Abolition and women’s rights…many in Massachusetts also despised her and ran her out of town.
Quakers continue to speak truth to power, and go where others wouldn’t dare: into prisons, war zones, dark, needle-strewn homeless encampments…you name it.
Though at one time a mighty “dissident group” in England, and perhaps the most potent plurality in the early days of the USA, today, the Quakers are nearly forgotten. They probably number in the neighborhood of 500,000, worldwide; which is equal to the number of Catholics in Helena, Montana. There are more Quakers in Kenya than in the USA, and far more in the USA than in the UK, their home turf.
Though its main focus has been on the hereafter, this tiny sect has done so much to improve life on earth, especially for the marginalized. For instance, though the USA refused to accept any of the Jewish children whose parents were so desperate to get them out of Nazi Germany, English Quakers took in thousands. They played a pivotal role in ending slavery and emancipating women, and they’ve been at the forefront of defending LGBTQ+ rights for 50 years. Quakers are the only religious organization to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
So, whether or not you’re a fan of Fox & Friends, I hope you’ll not let the show get in the way of what really matters…the sort of virtues George Fox & his Friends are all about.
References:
First Name Basis: When People Connect, the World Changes
Welcome to the Brink of Everything
Great five principles!!