The following overview of the Society of Friends was written by Religion Transcends writer Jackie Walker for the Spring 2009 issue of Relate magazine. Relate’s mission is to inspire teen girls to pursue their dreams with confidence and to teach them to be an example for others in their speech, life, love, faith and purity. Religion overviews may have Christian overtones to make the content relatable for the Christian teen audience.

What would it be like to be the president’s daughter? What would you wear? Who would you meet? What would your school look like?

If you’re President Barack Obama’s daughters, you enter the classroom with secret servicemen at your side. Your family pays $30,000 a year for your school tuition. Your classmates have been warned not to talk to the newspapers. And even though you’re not a “Quaker,” your school is founded on the Quaker religion.

Here’s what you would need to know about Quakers and Quaker education if you were the president’s daughter.

Fact file

Name: “Quakers” is a nickname for the Religious Society of Friends. The group gained the nickname when its founder told a government official to quake upon hearing the name of God.

Numbers: 210,000 worldwide

Founder: George Fox (1624-1691)

History: Fox wasn’t satisfied with the churches around him in England.  Feeling God spoke to his heart when his heart was ready to listen, he decided people needed to listen to Jesus on their own.  After challenging churches and the government with his ideals, he was imprisoned eight times; over 6,000 of his followers were also jailed. Things were not any easier when the Quakers came to America in 1656. They were persecuted and some were killed until William Penn (founder of Pennsylvania) became a follower and showed people that Quakers wanted peace.

Main beliefs: Quakers don’t follow a set of beliefs. Instead, each person is supposed to follow her “Inner Light” or her own understanding of what God wants. This means many Quakers believe different ideas – but they all agree that Jesus is the most important belief. Therefore, many Quakers identify themselves as Christians.

Worship: Each week, Quakers gather for a worship meeting. It’s simple: Anytime two or three people meet in the name of Jesus, that’s considered worship (see Matthew 18: 20). There are no rules, no schedule, and no priests or pastors. Instead, Quakers believe each person can be moved by God to figure out what’s true and good. During a service, they sit in silence for an hour, waiting to be moved by God to speak (ready to listen, like Fox). If moved, a Quaker may speak to the whole group, either reading Scripture, praying, or talking about an experience or idea. As you can imagine, sitting in silence for an hour became a problem for some people over the years. In 1827-1828, a major separation of the Quakers took place. Some groups of Quakers began meeting in giant buildings with pastors, singing, and schedules. Others continued to hold meetings in small buildings with no leader and simple silence. The divide remains today.

Dress: In the past, Quakers wore “plain dress” or simple clothing that would not take attention away from God. Most people stopped wearing plain dress in the 20th century and today most Quakers dress like everyone else.

Peace: Quakers stand against war, injustice, racism, and all forms of violence. Instead they seek harmony, peace, justice, diversity, and equality for all people. After all, if all people have the “Inner Light” of God within them, it would be wrong to hurt people. This idea has led many Quakers to become “conscientious objectors,” refusing to join the armed forces and even refusing to make war goods and weaponry. Such refusal has led to imprisonment for some Quakers and death for others. But Quakers continue to actively work against violence and for peace. As a result, they have been successful in promoting women’s rights and human rights – and they were among the first to lead the anti-slavery movement in both England and the United States.

Inside the school

Quakers began founding schools around the time our founding fathers were forming our nation. They were among the first to teach pioneer children on the western frontier. After the Civil War, Quakers raised funds to educate thousands of former slaves.

Obama’s daughters (Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7) attend the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, the same school that former first daughter Chelsea Clinton attended while her father was president. The first daughters aren’t Quakers – but only five percent of students at Sidwell are. Still, the school promotes many Quaker ideals mentioned in the above fact file – peace, unity, independence, and equality. The girls attend a weekly service, sitting in silence for an hour. In class, they will be taught to listen to God, to learn about the world, and to go out into the world to do good things. Based on these practices, it’s not so surprising that Obama chose a Quaker school for his daughters.

Want to know more about Quaker life or Quaker schools? Check out Quakers in America by Thomas D. Hamm (2003), available in part at www.books.google.com.

Copyright 2009, Religion Transcends.