And the idealized quakers you're pointing to are essentially a dead religion. There are like 300k quakers globally and 80% of those practice a christianity indistinguishable from the evangelical mainstream of wherever they live (half are in africa). I would be surprised if silent meetings survive another generation, there are already very very few of them.
Quakers succeeded enough in certain ways that their values became mainstream, and they didn't differentiate enough from the surrounding culture to remain separate from it or powerful within it. Our liberal culture owes a lot to the quakers, I have incredible respect for their foundational beliefs, I used to be one, but they don't have much to offer us now.
Quakers succeeded enough in certain ways that their values became mainstream, and they didn't differentiate enough from the surrounding culture to remain separate from it or powerful within it. Our liberal culture owes a lot to the quakers, I have incredible respect for their foundational beliefs, I used to be one, but they don't have much to offer us now.