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Where Are You From?
| Article
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23245 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
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8 / 2003 |
701 Words |
| Author
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Cynthia Gillespie-Smith is a freelance photojournalist. |
Anyone reading of Quakerism's Hicksite "orthodox" split in a history book, or here, may easily misinterpret the situation because in this context orthodox does not carry its customary meaning. Hence, today's Quakers hardly ever use the word. What any two American Quakers, meeting each other for the first time, will first ask is "Where are you from?"
While not an unusual question, it is, among Friends, a loaded one. An answer of "Philadelphia" or "Indiana" will bring quick recognition. Any other answer will lead to the next question: "Friends General Conference or Friends United Meeting?" In the unlikely event that this draws a blank look, the final question will get to the heart of the matter: "Unprogrammed [silent] or programmed [led by a pastor]?" If a person practices silent worship, he is of the Hicksite tradition; if his worship is led by a pastor, he is part of what used to be known as the orthodox branch.
Slavery played a part in this division, as it did in other Protestant denominations. However, the divide was not between those who owned slaves and those who didn't, as no Quaker was permitted to own slaves.
Perhaps because George Fox himself missionized North Carolina, it was a Quaker stronghold at the end of the Revolutionary War. True to their faith, many Friends there were abolitionists and became increasingly uncomfortable as sectional tensions rose. They saw as an answer to their prayers the 1787 opening of the Northwest Territory (currently Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota) as free territory. Unwilling to live in a slave state, thousands migrated westward; most settled in Ohio and Indiana, but some
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