Diversity myth guarantees Quaker extinction
John Myhill questions our ‘diversity’ within the Religious Society of Friends
Quakers in Britain are almost wholly white, middle class, educated and over fifty. We pretend to have a wide range of faith positions and spiritual practices, but in fact these are just ‘notions’: distractions, entertainments, games to fill the void left by comfort and the need to hide from guilt. The ‘rational’ approach, of which we are so proud, is in fact rationalising (in the sense of justifying) our behaviours and way of life. ‘It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ In the middle classes we manipulate the justifications people make for the way they live.
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