Why I Stopped Saying the Pledge of Allegiance

Why I Stopped Saying the Pledge of Allegiance

“When I left a Quaker elementary school for a public middle school as a kid, I was surprised and confused by the mandatory morning pledge of allegiance to the American flag. I didn’t like it, but my Quaker education hadn’t been extensive enough for me to articulate why. I ended up going along with it because I was afraid to rock the boat in a new environment. By high school, I had the time and maturity to consider it more, and I chose not to stand or recite the pledge. I didn’t like the idea that I was swearing allegiance to a symbol, that this oath was supposed to take precedence over my conscience, and I didn’t believe that our country really provides “liberty and justice for all,” as the pledge states.”

The Relationship Between Your Inner and Outer Lives

The Relationship Between Your Inner and Outer Lives

“[The first generation of Friends] came upon a faith which cut to the root of the way they saw life, radically reorienting it. They saw that all they did must flow directly from what they experienced as true, and that if it did not, both the knowing and the doing became false. In order to keep the knowledge clear and the doing true, they stripped away anything which seemed to get in the way. They called those things superfluities, and it is this radical process of stripping for clear-seeing which we now term simplicity…”

Conscience Is Not the Infallible Voice of Truth

Conscience Is Not the Infallible Voice of Truth

“Conscience is not the infallible voice of truth, of the moral law, of God, or of anything else, but only man’s ability to hear this voice. This inner ear of man is, however, just as much subject to error as his physical ear.” 

Are the Seeds of War Nourished by Your Possessions?

Are the Seeds of War Nourished by Your Possessions?

“May we look upon our treasures, and the furniture of our houses, and the garments in which we array ourselves, and try whether the seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions, or not.” 

How Do We Love Ourselves?

How Do We Love Ourselves?

“I think that we must first, and always, adhere firmly to the view that the right way is there to be found. ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.’ Yet we shall not always find the right way. ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ How do we love ourselves?”

Why Quaker Oats Chose a Quaker for Its Mascot

Why Quaker Oats Chose a Quaker for Its Mascot

“In 1877, Quaker Oats registered as the first trademark for a breakfast cereal. The trademark was registered with the U.S. Patent Office as ‘a figure of a man in “Quaker garb.”‘ Both former owners, Henry Seymour and William Heston, claimed to have selected the Quaker name as a symbol of good quality and honest value.”

Would You Lie to Preserve Your Integrity?

Would You Lie to Preserve Your Integrity?

“Integrity is one of the virtues for which Quakers in the past have been praised. It is a quality worth having, but it is doubtful if it can be reached by self-conscious effort or by adherence to a principle… Integrity is a condition in which a person’s response to a total situation can be trusted: the opposite of a condition in which he would be moved by opportunist or self-seeking impulses breaking up his unity as a whole being.”

A Modern Quaker Follows George Fox’s Example in Court

A Modern Quaker Follows George Fox’s Example in Court

“Grant, in characteristic Christian fashion, offered the agent an apple, but he declined because he was “on duty.” The agent turned out to be a Baptist which led to much discussion on the duties of a Christian. When Grant was The judge, however, did not accept this viewpoint. He was quite willing to tolerate failure to rise and plain clothes, but not the failure to observe hat honor. turned over to the U.S. Marshal, the agent finally accepted an apple because he was no longer “on duty.” At the sentencing he spoke up to mention Grant’s letter of nonregistration to the draft board to show the judge that Grant did not evade detection for violating the Selective Service law, but publicly refused to register for reasons of conscience.” 

Truth, Authenticity, Faithfulness, and Wholeness

Truth, Authenticity, Faithfulness, and Wholeness

“Integrity calls for obedience, or if you prefer, faithfulness to conscience illuminated by the Light Within… It is truth which may well have objective validity, as I believe it does, but if it is not truth which is internalized in each of us, and for which we take ownership, then it is not truth which is valid and binding for us…” 

A Quaker Child Takes a Knee

A Quaker Child Takes a Knee

“Liam took a knee as his Cub Scout troupe led the Durham City Council in the pledge of allegiance.”

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