Being a Quaker, Being an Activist

This resource examines what it means to be not just an activist, but a Quaker activist. How is Friends’ activism balanced by, and grounded in, silence, contemplation, and Friendly approaches? Friends often feel called to serve as patterns and examples in the world, to offer living witness and engage in transformative action. Friends have developed testimonies, which are not meant as mere beliefs or creeds but actions in the world, arising from spiritual insight. The testimonies are seen by many as indispensible guides: “Testimony is a key defence against all the tendencies in contemporary life which split faith and action—precisely because it is faith-in-action.” However the testimonies can easily become just an over-simplification of what it means to live faithfully as a Quaker. And Friends are frequently reluctant to accept limiting definitions of what it is to be a Friend or how Friends should behave.