@quakers im deutschsprachigem wir manchmal von "nontheistisch" gesprochen, wenn liberale Quäker keinen Bezug mehr zur Bibel haben. Ich frage mich gerade, ob es vielleicht auch ein "säkulares Quäkertum" unter den Liberalen gibt? #Quaker#quakerism#theologie
@quakers In German-speaking countries we sometimes speak of "nontheistic" when liberal Quakers no longer have any reference to the Bible. I'm just wondering whether there is perhaps also a "secular Quakerism" among liberals? But wouldn't that just be a "Quaker historical society"? #Quaker#quakerism#theology
@olaf_radicke@quakers — “Nontheist” refers, not to people who no longer have reference to the Bible, but to people who do not believe in a God, even if they do have reference to the Bible, as some of them do. The word is formally defined, and you can look it up in a dictionary or on the Web. Many liberal Quakers identify as nontheists; I have frequent dealings with them, particularly on the r/Quakers subreddit.
Certainly there is a secular Quakerism, and not just on the liberal end of the spectrum. And no, it’s not just a Quaker historical society. These are people who have no spiritual life sufficiently active and dynamic to lead them to talk about it. It’s composed partly of Quakers obsessed with the daily news and with partisan struggles in the world, and partly of Quakers who attend to little beyond their own daily activities and hobbies and those of their families and friends.
This category overlaps that of the nontheists: there are many Quakers who are both.
They do not dialogue with God in daily prayer; they do not struggle to fulfill Christ’s challenges in Matthew 5. Such have been with us since the dawn of the scriptural records. The prophets wrung their hands about them, Jesus wept over them, and the apostle Paul challenged them to do better in Romans 12:2.
@SeumanOtwal@olaf_radicke@quakers We had an Atheist Quaker - I think she was essentially non-theist. I think we see (in the UK - not wanting to speak for others) meeting as being there for anyone who finds it useful for their spiritual path, whatever that is.
The members of our meeting have a range of beliefs. But because we are not focussing on beliefs but progress, that doesn;t really matter.
@SeumanOtwal@quakers the Wikipedia article https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nontheism has no German translation. It's amazing that German Wikipedia is one of the most extensive languages. But even so, there is apparently no fixed definition in German.
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