The Quakers
LGBTIQ+ Activism and Institutional Cohesion
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.20746Keywords:
Quakerism, Symbolism, Social Activism, Same-sex marriage, Religious Society of FriendsAbstract
Liberal Quakerism’s engagement with the public sphere acts as a mechanism for producing social solidarity within the movement. This argument is demonstrated through an examination of Quaker engagement with Queer social issues in the UK, US and Australia. The social activism of Quakers sustains their identity as a liberal religious organisation sympathetic to progressive causes and nurtures a sense of common purpose within the movement that subsumes internal differences. It is argued that, while Quaker orthopraxis within the Society binds internal diversity together, this can also include Friends’ activist engagement with the secular world. This focus on the dialectical relationship between Quakerism’s internal culture and external social processes suggest that a dynamic relationship exists between contemporary secularism and liberal religious groups.
References
Adams, Tony 2006 The Universal Dimension: William Loftus Hare’s Pivotal Contribution to the London Yearly Meeting. Quaker Studies 10(2): 256–80.
Ammerman, Nancy Tatom 1990 Baptist Battles: Social Change and Religious Conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick.
Congregation & Community. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick.
Bacon, Margaret Hope 1985 The Quiet Rebels: The Story of the Quakers in America. New Society Publishers, Philadelphia.
Barry, Jason, and Gerald Renner 2004 Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II. Hodder Headline Publishing, Sydney.
Bates, Stephen 2004 A Church at War: Anglicans and Homosexuality. I.B. Tauris, London.
Berger, Peter 1969a The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. Doubleday, New York.
b The Social Reality of Religion. Faber and Faber, London.
Berlin, Isaiah 1969 Four Essays on Liberty. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Blamires, David 1973 Homosexuality from the Inside. Edited by Social Responsibility Council of the Religious Society of Friends, 1–45. Social Responsibility Council of the Religious Society of Friends, London.
Booth, Michael 2018 A Testimony of Divine Grace: Quakers and Same-Sex Marriage. British Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Online: https://www.quaker.org.uk/blog/quakers-and-same-sex-marriage (accessed 18 April 2018).
Bull, Melissa, Susan Pinto and Paul Wilson 1991 Homosexual Law Reform in Australia. Trends & Issues in Crime & Criminal Justice 29: 1–10.
Burns, Gene 1990 The Politics of Ideology: The Papal Struggle with Liberalism. American Journal of Sociology 95(5): 1123–52. https://doi.org/10.1086/229424
Collins, Peter 1996 ‘Plaining’: The Social and Cognitive Practice of Symbolisation in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Journal of Contemporary Religion 11(3): 277–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537909608580775
The Problem of Quaker Identity. Quaker Studies 13(2): 205–219. https://doi.org/10.3828/quaker.13.2.205
Committee on Homosexual Offenses and Prostitution (Wolfenden Report) 1957 Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London.
Crowe, David 2016 Marriage Event Off: Threats to Hotel Staff. The Australian (17 September): 1.
Dandelion, Pink 1996 A Sociological Analysis of the Theology of Quakers: The Silent Revolution. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY.
Research Note: Implicit Conservatism in Liberal Religion: British Quakers as an ‘Uncertain Sect’. Journal of Contemporary Religion 19(2): 219–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/1353790042000207728
An Introduction to Quakerism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
The Creation of Coherence: The ‘Quaker Double Culture’ and the ‘Absolute Perhaps’. In The Quaker Condition: The Sociology of a Liberal Religion, edited by Pink Dandelion and Peter Collins, 22–37. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge.
Davie, Martin 1997 British Quaker Theology since 1895. Edwin Mellen Press, New York.
Doan, Petra L., and Elizabeth P. Kamphausen 2013 Quakers and Sexuality. In The Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies, edited by Pink Dandelion and Stephen W. Angell, 445–47. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
FLGBTQC: Collected Marriage Minutes n.d Collected Marriage Minutes. Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Concerns. Online: http://quaker.org/legacy/flgbtqc/minutes.html#australia (accessed 26 July 2018).
Friends Home Service Committee 1964 Towards a Quaker View of Sex. 2nd edn. Friends Home Service Committee, London.
Frost, J. William 2013 Modernist and Liberal Quakers. In Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies, edited by Pink Dandelion and Stephen W. Angell, 78–92. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Gadge, Wendy, Heather Day and Christopher Wildeman 2007 Bridging the Denomination-Congregation Divide: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Congregations Respond to Homosexuality. Review of Religious Research 48(3): 245–59.
Gadge, Wendy, Laura R. Olson and Christopher Wildeman 2008 How Denominational Resources Influence Debate about Homosexuality in Mainline Protestant Congregations. Sociology of Religion 69(2): 187–207. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/69.2.187
Gross, Martine 2008 To Be Homosexual and Christian: From Shame to Identity-Based Claims. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 11(4): 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2008.11.4.77
Hall, Dorota 2015 Individual Choices Revisted: Non-Heterosexual Christians in Poland. Social Compass 62(2): 212–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768615571691
Hamm, Thomas D. 1988 The Transformation of American Quakerism: Orthodox Friends. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Hartman, Keith 1996 Congregations in Conflict: The Battle over Homosexuality. Rutgers University Press, New York.
Heelas, Paul, Linda Woodhead, Benjamin Seel, Bronislaw Szerszynski and Karin Tusting 2005 The Spiritual Revolution: Why Religion is Giving Way to Spirituality. Wiley, Malden, MA.
Heron, Alastair 1995 Quakers in Britain: A Century of Change 1895–1995. Curlew Graphics, Scotland.
Hill, Leslie 1995 Marriage: A Spiritual Leading for Lesbian, Gay, and Straight Couples. Edited by Religious Society of Friends (US). 2nd edn. Vol. 308. Pendle Hill Publications, Pennsylvania.
Howden, Saffron 2015 Church Fears Same-Sex Union Will Undermine Freedom of Faith. Sydney Morning Herald (30 September): 3.
Jordon, Mark D. 2000 The Silence of Sodom: Homosexuality in Modern Catholicism. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Kelley, Jonathan 2001 Attitudes towards Homosexuality in 29 Nations. Australian Social Monitor 4(1): 15.
Kelly, Paul 2017 Both Sides Happy to Trash Religious Freedoms. The Australian (13 September): 14.
Luckmann, Thomas 1967 The Invisible Religion: The Problem of Religion in Modern Society. 2nd edn. Macmillan, New York.
McAllister, Ian, and Feodor Snagovsky 2018 Explaining Voting in the 2017 Australian Same-Sex Marriage Plebiscite. Australian Journal of Political Science 53(4): 409–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2018.1504877
Mingins, Rosemary 2004 The Beacon Controversy and Challenges to British Quaker Tradition in the Nineteenth Century: Some Responses to the Evangelical Revival by Friends in Manchester and Kendal. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston; Lampeter.
Murr, Rachel 2013 ‘I Became Proud of Being Gay and Proud of Being Christian’: The Spiritual Journeys of Queer Christian Women. Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought 32(4): 349–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/15426432.2013.839241
O’Brien, Jodi 2004 Wrestling the Angel of Contradiction: Queer Christian Identities. Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal 5(2): 179–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/143830042000225420
O’Donovan, Oliver 2008 Church in Crisis: The Gay Controversy and the Anglican Communion. Cascade Books, Eugene, OR.
Pilgrim, Gay 2003 The Quakers: Towards an Alternative Ordering. In Predicting Religion: Christian Secular and Alternative Futures, edited by Grace Davie, Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead, 147–58. Ashgate, Aldershot.
Taming Anarchy: Quaker Alternate Ordering and ‘Otherness’. In The Creation of Quaker Theory: Insider Perspectives, edited by Pink Dandelion, 205–225. Ashgate, Aldershot.
Pitt, Richard N. 2010 ‘Killing the Messenger’: Religious Black Gay Men’s Naturalisation of Anti-Gay Religious Messages. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 49(1): 56–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01492.x
Pluss, Caroline 2007 Analysing Non-Doctrinal Socialisation: Re-Assessing the Role of Cognition to Account for Social Cohesion in the Religious Society of Friends. British Journal of Sociology 58(2): 253–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2007.00150.x
Porter, Muriel 2011 Sydney Anglicans and the Threat to World Anglicanism: The Sydney Experiment. Ashgate, Burlington, VT.
Punshon, John 1984 Portrait in Grey: A Short History of the Quakers. Quaker Home Service, London.
Quaker Committee for Christian and Interfaith Relations 2009 We Are But Witnesses: Marriage Equality and the Decision of British Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends to Recognise Same-Sex Marriages. Religious Society of Friends (Britain).
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia 2011 Handbook of Practice and Procedure in Australia. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia.
Letter. Re: Quaker Support for Marriage Equality. Australian Yearly Meeting. Online: https://www.quakersaustralia.info/sites/aym-members/files/pages/files/August%202015%20-%20In%20Support%20of%20Marriage%20Equality.pdf (accessed 24 June 2018).
a Letter to Committee Secretary – Draft of Same-Sex Marriage Bill. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. Online: https://www.quakersaustralia.info/sites/aym-members/files/pages/files/December%202016%20-%20On%20the%20Same%20Sex%20Marraige%20Bill.pdf (accessed 24 June 2018).
b Letter to Malcolm Turnbull on Same-Sex Marriage. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. Online: https://www.quakersaustralia.info/sites/aym-members/files/pages/files/July%202016%20-%20Calling%20For%20A%20Decision%20on%20Marriage%20Equality.pdf (accessed 24 June 2018).
a Letter to Malcom Turnbull in Support of Marriage Equality Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. Online: https://www.quakersaustralia.info/sites/aym-members/files/pages/files/August%202017%20-%20Letter%20Supporting%20Marriage%20Equality.pdf (accessed 24 June 2018).
b Submission to Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, on Religious Freedom. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. Online: https://www.quakersaustralia.info/sites/aym-members/files/pages/files/January%202017%20-%20Submission%20to%20Joint%20Standing%20Committee%20on%20Foreign%20Affairs%2C%20Defence%20and%20Trade%2C%20on%20Religious%20Freedom.pdf (accessed 16 April 2018).
c Open Letter on Marriage Equality. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. Online: https://www.quakersaustralia.info/sites/aym-members/files/pages/files/September%202017%20-%20Open%20Letter%20Marriage%20Equality.pdf (accessed 16 April 2018).
Quaker Marriage and Committed Relationships. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. Online: https://www.quakersaustralia.info/sites/aym-members/files/pages/files/On%20Quaker%20Marriage%20and%20Committed%20Relationships%202018.pdf (accessed 4 June 2018).
Religious Society of Friends (United Kingdom) n.d. Quakers and Same-Sex Marriage. Religious Society of Friends (Britain). Online: https://www.quaker.org.uk/about-quakers/our-history/marriage-equality (accessed 16 April 2018).
Robson, Susan 2005 An Exploration of Conflict Handling among Quakers. PhD diss., University of Huddersfield, UK.
Roof, Wade Clark 1993 A Generation of Seekers: The Spiritual Journeys of the Baby Boom Generation. HarperCollins, San Francisco.
Scott, Jane 2007 Good and Evil in an Ecumenical Perspective. In Good and Evil: Quaker Perspectives, edited by Jackie Leach Scully and Pink Dandelion, 163–72. Ashgate, Hampshire.
Scully, Jackie Leach 2007 The Secular Ethics of Liberal Quakerism. In Good and Evil: Quaker Perspectives, edited by Jackie Leach Scully and Pink Dandelion, 219–32. Ashgate, Hampshire.
Virtuous Friends: Morality and Quaker Identity. Quaker Studies 14(1): 108–122. https://doi.org/10.3828/quaker.14.1.108
Sumerau, J. Edward, Ryan Cragun and Emily Williams 2015 From Sodomy to Sympathy: LDS Elites’ Discursive Construction of Homosexuality over Time. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 54(2): 291–310. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12180
Thomas, Jeremy N., and Daniel V. A. Olson 2012a Beyond the Culture War: Managing Sexual Relationships Inside a Congregation of Gay Evangelicals. Review of Religious Research 54(3): 349–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-012-0051-8
b Evangelical Responses to Homosexuality 1960–2009. Journal of Sociology 73(3): 239–72. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srs031
Thumma, Scott 1991 Negotiating a Religious Identity: The Case of the Gay Evangelical. Social Analysis 52(4): 333–47. https://doi.org/10.2307/3710850
Tonsing, Betty K. 2002 The Quakers in South Africa: A Social Witness. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston; Lampeter.
Trammell, Jim Y. 2015 ‘Homosexuality is Bad for Me’: An Analysis of Homosexual Christian Testimonies in Christian Today Magazine. Journal of Media and Religion 14(1): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2014.971560
Weber, Max 1965 The Sociology of Religion. 4th edn. Translated by Ephraim Fischoff. Methuen, London.
Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. Edited by Guenther Roth and Claus Wittich. Translated by Hans Gerth Ephraim Fishoff, A. M. Henderson, Ferdinand Kolegar, C. Wright Mills, Talcott Parsons, Max Rheinstein, Guenther Roth, Edward Shils and Claus Wittich. Bedminster Press, New York.
Whitehead, Andrew L. 2013 Religious Organisations and Homosexuality: The Acceptance of Gays and Lesbians in American Congregations. Review of Religious Research 55: 297–317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-012-0066-1
Institutional Norms, Practical Organisational Activity, and Loose Coupling: Inclusive Congregations’ Responses to Homosexuality. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 56(4): 820–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12484
Wilcox, Melissa M. 2009 Queer Women and Religious Individualism. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Wilde, Melissa J. 2007 Vatican II: A Sociological Analysis of Religious Change. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Williams, Peter, and Jennifer Hampton 2016 Results from the First National Survey on Quaker Belief and Practice in Australia and Comparison with the 2013 British Survey. Quaker Studies 21(1): 95–119. https://doi.org/10.3828/quaker.2016.21.1.7
Yip, Andrew K. T. 1997 Attacking the Attacker: Gay Christians Talk Back. British Journal of Sociology 48(1): 113–27. https://doi.org/10.2307/591913
The Politics of Counter-Rejection. Journal of Homosexuality 37(2): 47–63. https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v37n02_03
The Persistence of Faith among Nonheterosexual Christians: Evidence for the Neosecularisation Thesis of Religious Transformation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41(2): 199–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5906.00111
Published
Issue
Section
License
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
