• catloaf@lemm.ee
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      9 days ago

      Somewhere around 80k in North America. A bunch more in Africa, for some reason.

      There are exactly two Quakers left: Brother Arnold Hadd and Sister June Carpenter in Sabbathday Lake, Maine.

    • Gladaed@feddit.org
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      9 days ago

      Excuse me, they are called “the religious society of friends” which is awesome.

    • NABDad@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      Yep. I attended a Quaker wedding a while back. There is no officiant. For the wedding everyone just sits there staring at the bride and groom, and you’re supposed to just stand up and talk if the spirit moves you. It felt very odd for us non-quakers in attendance. I don’t remember how they decided it was over. I know there was a long period of total quiet that had me starting to think I should stand up and say something, but thankfully someone broke the silence.

      My grandfather was a Quaker. He wouldn’t beat my father, which is a shame because my father really needed some good beatings. My grandmother wasn’t a Quaker, and she would break yardsticks over his ass often enough that she bought boxes of them. However, it clearly didn’t have enough impact.

      I also live near a Friend’s Meeting House, and there are a bunch of well-established Quaker Schools in the area. If you can afford to pay for a private education for your children, they are supposed to be excellent.

      • nocturne@sopuli.xyz
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        9 days ago

        My grandfather was a Quaker too, and my grandmother was not as well. She was Amish but grew up kind of outside the Amish community, she spoke only Pennsylvania German into her teens when she learned English.

        Much like your dad, mine could use some beatings.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      You might be thinking of Shakers. I used to confuse them too. The Shakers all died out because they all took a vow of celibacy. Morons.

      • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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        9 days ago

        The more noise a religious group makes, the more dodgy it tends to be. The USA is full of loud, hateful Christian groups. Quakers are quiet.