The Quakers are no strangers to disruptive Left-wing activism

Yahoo

31-03-2025

If you think about Quakers at all, it is probably for wholesome breakfast cereals like Quaker Oats. So it might be a bit of a surprise to see that the police recently raided the Westminster Quaker Meeting House.
Why would the authorities be interested in the Religious Society of Friends, a Protestant denomination founded in the 17th century, which is best known for their pacifism, teetotalism, and opposition to slavery?
The answer is they were hosting a meeting of Youth Demand, a protest group which is part of a wider umbrella of groups (alongside the now-disbanded Just Stop Oil), which has said they will be launching demonstrations every day this April. The group's two aims are to implement a trade embargo on Israel and to tax the rich £1 trillion by 2030 to pay damages to those impacted by climate change, and they've previously targeted Labour's HQ, the Ministry of Defence, and even the Cenotaph in their protests.
In context, the decision to arrest the six members of Youth Demand at the Quaker Meeting House on suspion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance seems eminently reasonable. Some Quakers, however, were very upset. Paul Parker, the recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, criticised the police for their 'aggressive violation of our place of worship', while Quakers in Britain put out a statement saying they 'support the right to non-violent public protest'.
The Quakers have often been criticised for allowing hard-Left or pro-Palestine groups to use their meeting houses. As of 2016 there were 354 such houses in Britain, serving around 23,000 Quakers. Often built in prior centuries, they occupy strategic locations and, especially with the decline in religious Quakerism, sometimes also host community or political events.
This network is in part testament to the wealth created by Quaker industrialists. At a time when poor business practice was common, the Quakers built up a trustworthy reputation. Confectioners like Cadbury ensured that their chocolate wasn't cut with cheaper substances. Banks like Barclays were respected for the moral way in which they handled their business. The shoe company Vivobarefoot, which has a strong environmentalist ethic, was co-founded by Galahad Clark, whose Quaker ancestors founded Clarks shoes.
In the early 20th century, Quakerism became associated with the political Left, as members promoted social reform in imitation of Christ's good works. Quaker charities like the Joseph Rowntree Social Services Trust went from promoting sobriety to creating a 'counter-civil service' in the 1960s, which provided a base for groups like Friends of the Earth, to funding Marxist guerillas like FRELIMO in Mozambique.
Today many of the charities whose angry press releases can be found in the Left-wing media receive much of their income from Quaker groups, even when said groups have long since repudiated their own founders for failing to live up to modern woke ideals.
If the allies of modern Quakerism get their own way and functionally abolish our borders and police services, we will only see the resurrection of the sort of low-trust society where the Quakers' integrity once set them apart. Until then, be wary of those who seek to conflate progressive ideology with religious worship.
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