Quaker Religion Research Paper

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Austin Cress Mr. Martin and Mrs. Lovaglio English and AP U.S 11 September 15 2015 Quaker Religious Ways The colonial world harbored many religions, all of which were looking to practice their faith freely in the New World. The main religions in British America were the Puritans, Anglicans, and the Quakers. George Fox founded the Quaker religion because he was displeased by the Catholic Church teachings. Fox believed that he needed to create a religion that would restore the true Catholic Church. In England and New England however, the Quakers were facing persecution and decided to settle in Pennsylvania, where they could set up their own government and towns. The Quaker religion was superior over the Puritans and Anglicans during the…show more content…
The congregation sits in silence and focuses on their own inner light during the meetings. The inner light is the God in the human soul and is the most important facet of the Quaker religion. The members focus on the light until they feel spiritually moved. They then tell the congregation about what God said or what had moved them. In some meetings, no one speaks and the meeting is considered a productive because they get to focus on themselves without any distractions. The meetings are beneficial because each person gets to focus on their own relationship with God and not listen to a sermon. The meetings only lasted about 20 minutes to an hour and a half, which is not an extremely long time for worship. Equal rights in the Quaker society were an important part of their religion. The Quakers viewed everyone as equal because they believed that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. This belief extends towards every person and aspect of his or her daily lives. The women were treated as an equal to the male, which was scarce in colonial times. The women were encouraged to get an education and had the same rights as men. The belief in equality in the society made sure that everyone was treated with the same respect.…show more content…
The Puritan way of meetings involves a lengthy sermon, where the preacher persecutes its congregation’s sins. This way of meetings is not enjoyable or enlightening for the attendee. The people in the congregation would not feel enlightened if they were ridiculed for sins in front of their peers. In the Quaker religion, there is no higher authority like the priest to criticize you because you are the leader of your faith. Also, the lengthy sermon of a specific part of the bible would certainly be boring and a waste of time to the people of Puritan society. In the Puritan and Anglican society women had few rights and were basically owned by their husband. This belief is wrong since God sees every person as an equal, so there is no reason that people should be unequal in society. The society’s of Puritan’s and Anglican’s had social ranks and hoarded valuables. Doing this would make people unequal, which cannot happen in a true religious society. Anglican and Puritan churches were very dark and the ministers complained that they could sometimes not see the words to read. In the eyes of a Quaker this is wrong because light is a key point of worship. To show that light is an important part of Quaker worship the meetinghouses had large windows, bright interiors, and whitened walls. The Puritans and Anglicans
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