Quakerism

Origins of the Society of Friends

Quakerism, also called The Religious Society of Friends, was founded in Aloria in the year 1900 AD by Feorge Gox. Feorge Gox died in 1950 at the age of 76. [edit] Platforms of the Friends General Conference [edit] First Platform of the Friends General Conference of Terra (June, 2147)

- Abortion: The FGCT takes no official position on abortion.

- Same-sex marriage: It is the sense of the FGCT that, due to our view that all persons have within them a piece of God, our view that marriage is the ultimate expression of love in a committed relationship, all persons ought to be able to marry.

- Homosexual adoption: We believe that homosexuals are just as human as heterosexuals, and, as such, should have the same rights as them. That is, provided that all prospective candidates, be they hetero-, bi-, or homosexual, must pass tests to ensure that they will not abuse their child.

- Euthanasia: It is the sense of the FGCT, that, because all persons are endowed with a piece of their creator, they, therefore, have no right to harm themselves, or encourage others to harm them, for this will lead to harming God.

- Human Cloning: The FGCT takes no official position on human cloning.

- Religious schools: It is the sense of the FGCT that religious schools must be allowed to operate. [edit] Second Platform of the Friends General Conference of Terra (January, 2148)

The Second Platform was issued in response to the platforms issued by the Delarian Popes. Nearly every Friend saw it as hateful and generally disgusting and they resolved to issue their own platform to state, for all of the world to see, their positions on various issues that had not been addressed in the First Platform.

- The Religious Society of Friends has no belief in an AntiChrist.

- The Religious Society of Friends has no clergy. Men and women are treated as and considered equals.

- The vast majority of the Religious Society of Friends believes that "sodomy" is not a sin.

- It is the sense of the FGCT that contraception is a legitimate form of disease and population control.

- The FGCT takes no position on the cloning of human beings, stem cell research or genetically modified produce.

- The FGCT strongly opposes the death penalty. Man does not have the right to take life, especially that of others.

- It is the sense of the FGCT that the Church and State ought to be seperated: no one should force their beliefs unto others.

- Abortions are an abomination.

- Alcohol and drugs take us further away from God and should be banned.

- The FGCT believes that gambling is something that is fundamentally based in greed and unfair acquisition of money. As such, the FGCT opposes it.

- The FGCT believes that space exploration is beneficial for humanity.

- The FGCT oppposes the very concept of papacy and denounces it as hierarchical and contradictory to the message of Christ. [edit] History

The Quaker movement grew very slowly at first, reaching a population of only 10,000 adherents by 1975. By 2000, however, the Alorian Quaker population had grown to 20,000 and proslytising became the word-of-the-day, as it were. As a result of the proslytising and the service projects which the Religious Society of Friends sent out all over the world, Quakerism grew even more rapidly and by 2050 it claimed over 500,000 adherents in Aloria alone (approx. 1.25% of the population). [edit] Invitation to Join Christian League

The invitation from the Christian League in March 2147 to join it came as a bit of a shock to many Quakers, due largely to the vast theological, social and political differences between the Religious Society of Friends and most of the rest of the Christian world. The issue was hotly debated, and ultimately ended with the Religious Society of Friends joining. [edit] Article from EarthQuake (Quaker Newsletter): March, 2147

FGCT Invited to Join Christian League

Earlier today, the FGCT was invited by the Democratic Unionist Party (a Protestant organisation) to join the Christian League.

Friend Kam Shille, a prominent Quaker and member of the FGCT, responded, after doing some brief research, that the FGCT would indeed be interested in joining the Christian League.

After the FGCT did some further research, however, it was horrified to find that the Christian League and the Quaker religion differed greatly on some key issues, amongst them same-sex marriage.

With this in mind, the FGCT has called an emergency conference, to be held in Libertia, Gavonshire, Confederated Regions of Aloria, to determine whether or not the Religious Society of Friends ought to join said organisation. Already the debate has flared up.

Friend Kam Shille, who has been reported as saying, "If we join the Christian League, we can affect change. We might be able to convince others to be more tolerant of our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters."

Friend Bonnie Von Ludenhopper said, "Joining the Christian League should not be about politics, it should be about our brotherhood with our fellow Christians and our common acceptance as Christ as our Saviour."

Meanwhile, Friend Oghut Johnson is furious: "What are they thinking? This so-called 'Christian League' is merely an organisation for conservatives to gather. They have no love for us, and I have no love for them."

It is unlikely that one side will get exactly what it wants. What is most probable is a compromise, which is the most common result of these conventions. [edit] Article from EarthQuake (Quaker Newsletter): September, 2147

Emergency Conference Concludes, Results in Compromise, Resolution

The result of the emergency conference was twofold: first, it passed a resolution, second, it decided that it would, indeed, join the Christian League, under one condition.

The resolution came as a suprise to many, because it had not originally been planned. The resolution was an official condemnation of the fighting in Lodamun. It cited the various human rights abuses on both sides. Around half of the representatives also wanted to also condemn the intervention on the part of the Confederated Regions of Aloria, though this was struck down.

In addition to the resolution, the conference decided that the Religious Society of Friends ought to join the Christian League. Even after recieving news that the representatives that they had sent had been ejected, the determination to join the Christian League remained strong. "We are determined to be taken seriously," said one representative. The measure, however, could not have passed without compromise, as all measures and resolutions must be passed with a two-thirds majority and must pass by more than one vote. The compromise was that though the Religious Society of Friends would indeed join the Christian League, it would not change its platform to conform to that of the Christian League, nor would it vote for any measure, resolution, or party (for elections of organisation leadership) that opposed its key values. The compromise also listed its key values as follows: nonviolence, equality, integrity, simplicity, and community. [edit] The Friends' Role on the Ecumenical Council

Soon after joining the Christian League, the FGCT representatives were promoted to the status of membership on the Ecumenical Council. During the brainstorming sessions, other representatives put forth ideas that the Friends' representatives found completely unacceptable, including such things as the condemnation of homosexuality. The FGCT representatives objected accordingly and offered the first Quaker proposal for the Christian League statement of beliefs:

We, the Christians of Terra, do hereby attest to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We believe that He was the son of God and that He spoke the will of God. We accept his gospel of justice, equality and loving one's fellow man. We shall each of us do our part in our respective nations to promote love where there is hate, healing where there is pain, and justice where there is tyranny. We believe in the sanctity of a human life and assert that no human has the right to take the life of his fellow man. We have seen the destruction that alcohol and drugs have brought to our communities and we see the distance that they put between us and God. As such, we oppose the use of such substances.

Representatives of the Coburan Catholic Church objected to the clause concerning alcohol and drugs, and that section was eliminated in the second Quaker proposal:

We, the Christians of Terra, do hereby attest to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We believe that He was the son of God and that He spoke the will of God. We accept his gospel of justice, equality and loving one's fellow man. We shall each of us do our part in our respective nations to promote love where there is hate, healing where there is pain, and justice where there is tyranny. We believe in the sanctity of a human life and assert that no human has the right to take the life of his fellow man.

The Quakers were the only group that proposed a statement. [edit] Persecution of Quakers

Ever since the foundation of the Religious Society of Friends, Quakers have been persecuted for their beliefs. Indeed, in some countries they have been jailed for refusing to join the military and they have been barred from testifying in court due to their refusal to swear oaths. [edit] Dynastic Oligarchy of Deltaria

The Holy Inquisition of Deltaria by Pope Jana of the Deltarian Catholic Church was announced during late in 2148. It was conducted by Grand Inquisitor Vasili Stăpân. Soon after the commencement of the Inquisition, the Prva Strana (First Party of Deltaria) were declared heretics, hunted down, and brutally executed en masse.

Deltarian Quakers had seen persecution and violence before, but, because they were statistically insignificant, they were never directly targeted by officials. Originally numbering around 10,000, Deltarian Quakers had been slowly trickling out of their homeland and settling elsewhere, mostly in Aloria, ever since the Nazi/Totalitarian Party takeover of the nation. These latest, developments, however, had led the remaining 100 Quakers to wisely flee to Aloria, for they were chased out of the country by angry mobs led by Deltarian troops. Round-ups would have no doubt followed had they not left.

There are now no more Quakers in Deltaria. [edit] Dundorf Democratic Republic

In April of 2157, essentially all religious practices were barred in Dundorf (DDR). This has meant that the Quakers in Dundorf, though small in number they may be, have been prohibited from practicing their faith. Some have taken to conducting Meeting for Worship secretly in their home with friends, though many have been arrested for doing this. Most estimate the number of Quakers in Dundorf to be between 4,000 and 5,000. [edit] Article From Dundorf Federated News: April, 2157

Dundorf Expands Religion Ban

Dunburg - Dundorf's lawmakers have continued the elimination of all religious activity throughout recent months, submitting bills to tax all church income and ban public display of faith.

This follows a controversial bill to ban all religion, submitted by the Green Nationalists a few years ago. Though the government has vowed to preserve antique churches and cathedrals and defend religious history, all public practice or group prayer has been illegalized. Churches may no longer practice and services, and Dundorf's many synagogues have closed their doors.

All leftist parties, with the exception of the Anti-Nationalist Communists and the Workers' Party, supported the move to eliminate religion. Though the police turn a blind eye to certain private practice, there has been a massive crackdown against large-scale, organized worship of all kinds.

As it stands, the Dundorfian state is extremely stringent regarding faith. Foreign missionaries are effectively banned by the Fremdministerei, religions may not make profit or promote themselves in any way, and schools regularly participate in anti-religious teaching. The DDR is, as the Foreign Ministry put it, "A completely atheistic state. No religious brainwashing is tolerated."

In a recent opinion poll, a third of Dundorfians expressed an interest in banning all religious income. Fourteen percent of voters consider themselves 'fanatically secular', and a further fifteen percent are 'extremely secular'. [edit] Alorian Quaker Fundamentalism

The Movement for Large Amounts of Sillyness, due to increasing internal pressure, breifly adopted a Quaker fundamentalist platform. It wishes to make Quakerism the national religion of Aloria as well as incorporate Quaker beliefs into Alorian law. [edit] General Information

Quakerism is run by The Friends General Conference of Terra. It is estimated that Quakerism has 1,300,000 followers in Aloria (2.5% of the total population), and the Quaker population is growing at a rate of nearly 100%.

The number of believers worldwide is currently unknown. Retrieved from "http://80.237.164.51/particracy/wiki/index.php/Quakerism"

Categories: Religion