quakers

i just got back from gettysburg, pa. and while i won't bore you about all the details of my trip, this post right here is inspired by a tour me and the girlfriend took of the underground railroad system.

the underground railroad, in brief, was a way that slaves from the south would travel north for freedom (or as much freedom as they could get up north. the real freedom, we learned, was in canada. there was definitely a free life for them up north, but it came with a lot of bullshit that lead to a lot of fucked up shenanigans that would rob people of their new found freedom almost as soon as they thought they received it).

slaves from the south would escape and travel north staying at safe houses along the way. there were many people, at great risk to federal laws that could penalize them severely, that would open their doors and allow slaves shelter as they traveled along the way.

many of these safe houses were the homes of quakers. turns out quakers, at their core, have some pretty rad beliefs. they believed that god created all men equal. and when they said all men, they meant all men and didn't see african americans as inferior to themselves.

in fact much of the abolitionist movement in the north was fueled by quakers. they believed it wasn't right for anyone to "own" anyone else or look down upon anyone else or consider anyone else less than human.

and the quakers weren't negotiable on their beliefs. they didn't wanna hear and wouldn't accept any counter arguments. what they knew to be right was more important that any concept of the southern economy or way of life. and they wouldn't be swayed to just simply look the other way either. that's not how quakers roll.

so they did what they could and they helped many slaves find freedom up north, while preaching that slavery was wrong. quakers had fucking integrity. they didn't just talk the talk, they walked the walk.

and they walked it when it wasn't the easy decision to make. despite the northern states pretty much in agreement that slavery was wrong and should be abolished, it was still against federal law to assist slaves in any sorta way. if caught, laws were strict... lives and financial well being could be ruined.

for that, quakers were awesome (i should say, 'are awesome.' i didn't know they were still around but our tour guide apparently is a modern day quaker and she informed us that they've eased up on a lot of their strictness over the years).

so yea, quakers are awesome.

which reinforced an ideal i try to believe but sometimes find myself falling short of.... that belief being that just cuz someone's a christian and believes in a religion i can't believe in doesn't make them a bad person. in fact, christians can be great people. most of them probably should be great people... their role model is jesus christ after all. whether you believe he's real or not, holy or not, the stories of jesus are the stories of a man of compassion, love, and faith.

even the most nonreligious of atheists should be able to take away some sorta positive lesson from the stories of jesus. just because someone's a christian and i'm not doesn't mean we can't coexist. i think a lot of non-christians and nonreligious people would benefit from dealing with christians with a more open mind and a more open approach.

the quakers planted seeds that lead to movements and shifts in our culture that lead to the passing of laws that lead to the freedom of all slaves. slavery is a bad thing. i won't negotiate that statement or put it up for debate with anyone. the quakers were right on this one. and they were some of the first people who had the courage to get up on a soapbox and say it.

when it comes to matters like this, i don't see people as christian or non-christian. i see good guys and i see bad guys. in this story, the quakers played the role of the good guys. their beliefs transcended religious classification. their actions were a lesson and an example for all on a universal level.