All Sentient Life is Sacred
To kill any sentient being is murder, for us. To take what other beings produce for themselves and their offspring is theft.
Peace Must Include Veganism
Peace that does not include ALL is not peace for any of us, but is exclusionary, discriminatory and speciesist.
Influence of Meditative Traditions
While Quakerism is the child of Christianity, Society of Peace is a multi-ethnic child, whose parents include Western and Eastern progenitors. While Quakers promote “prayer”, our silence can be prayer, meditation or fellowship. We promote meditative practice, including metta meditation, as central to our spiritual and emotional awakening.
Psychological Activism Versus Social Activism
While Quakers have a long and respected role as social activists, we believe that the greatest changes occur within the individual and spread to others. So, our focus is more on individual mental and spiritual health, rather than social reforms at a higher level.
Role of Ministers
Our ministers are less interested in converting the world than, say, evangelical sects of Quakerism, and more interested in promoting peace by promoting empathy, compassion and kindness. We believe that, ultimately, individual hearts are the problem and solution.
To put it more directly, our ministers are more therapists and less activists. While our meetings are non-programmed (largely silent), our ministers are active in providing therapeutic relief, rather than the sermons to which some are accustomed from religion.
This summary is a bit simplistic, as the relief offered is more of a spiritual nature than that offered by most therapists. For us, body and spirit are one, so the dualism of therapist and minister are illusory. Eating well is a spiritual activity, for example, so our ministry seeks to help the unitary person. They might offer a therapeutic ear in one instance and then prepare a plant-based meal for others at another time. Both all valid ministry.
Creeds
Quakers claim to have no creeds, although things like the Richmond Declaration seem very close to such. We do not shun creeds completely, with our ethical stance of “do no harm” perhaps approaching a creed. It is the centre of who we are as a people.
Differing Paths
This list is not exhaustive and, as we evolve as a society, no doubt this list of differences will increase.
May all beings know peace!
Gerald Tūruapō Jordan, MBA, MEd, MCouns
22 October 2025