Quakers believe
- that there is that of God* in each one of us,
- that we can access that of God* in ourselves by listening to the still, small voice that is calling to us underneath all the shouting and busyness of our egos,
- that when we pay heed to that of God* within us, we can be guided towards understanding our purpose in life and towards making the right decisions about how we should act in the world,
- that there is no higher authority for any one person than that of God* within us,
- that it is not always easy to know, or to hear, what that of God* is saying to us, and therefore we do well to “triangulate” what we think we are hearing with what others around us are also hearing and with what wise and spiritually enlightened people across the continents and the centuries have also be hearing,
- that there is that of God* not only in me, and not only in Quakers, or in Christians, or in people of faith, but in all people, everywhere, always, without exception,
- and that means treating all people with equal dignity and respect, treating all human life as sacred, and seeking to harm no one by our words or deeds, since there is that of God* within all of us, from whence comes all our Quaker testimonies to peace, justice, and equality for all.
*or that of the Divine, or the Light Within, or that of Christ, or a Soul…
From our belief that there is that of God in everyone come all our Quaker testimonies:
- Testimony to integrity
- Testimony to equality
- Peace Testimony
- Testimony to simplicity
One can be a radical Quaker in at least three different senses:
- as a radical Christian
- as a radical Universalist
- as a radical Humanist