In 1656, Thomas Winterton wrote an Anti-Quaker tract entitled "The chasing the young Quaking Harlot Out of the City: Or a turning the Quakers dark side into the light, wherein is plainly discovered a twofold design against the publick peace, one by their doctrine, the other by their sword..." He goes on for another twenty words or so, but I won't.
See, back in the 1650's when Quakerism was young, Quakers were a radical sort. They'd go into churches and disrupt services. They'd scream in the streets. They had visions. They refused to behave like sensible, law-abiding citizens and got themselves beat up and imprisioned on a regular basis. They were radical religious freaks and we love them for it.
Who are we? We're upstanding Quaker ladies with a tendency to piss people off. Maybe not so much as to get our tounges branded, but we're working on it.
Love,
Elizabeth Bathurst
1 comment:
Hey, Lizzie, I've been reading thy posts. It is really hard to transition from child in a religious community to adult. I left the catholic church after my marriage, over 30 years ago, but it was nearly 6 years later that I was ready to return to regular worship. Listen closely to the Spirit as to where and who you are to worship with. I suspect older Friends are also shy around younger folk, afraid to scare them away! Patience, patience!!
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