And I had to read all the main religious books of the world to understand it.
I accidentally found a sect of Shakers on fb, its a branch of Quakers. I read about them and realized that I really like their principles:
“The Christian Society of Friends of the Inner Light,” better known as the Quakers, was founded by George Fox in the mid-17th century in England and Wales. At that time, religious disagreements, disputes, and violent conflicts on religious grounds were escalating: between Catholics and Protestants, and among different branches of Protestantism. Debates about Biblical interpretations did not lead to agreement and reconciliation, but only multiplied religious splits within Christianity. In the Quaker doctrine, the way out of this situation was found in the belief that every person can receive direct revelation from God, who is within every man as “Inner Light.” Such direct and often unspoken revelation is more important to Quakers than Holy Books.
Quakers promote moral values such as the equality of all people before God regardless of external differences, the rejection of any discrimination and oppression, pacifism and non-violence, honesty, the unacceptance of oaths or sworn pledges, simplicity of life, and voluntary renunciation of excess and luxury. Completely unusual for Christian religious communities of the 18th century was granting women the opportunity to preach and lead. Many Christians still do not accept this, citing the words of the Apostle Paul that women should remain silent in church (1 Cor. 14:34). But the Quakers became an exception: as early as 1670, the founder of the Society of Friends, George Fox, appointed women to leadership positions within the community, as he believed that the Spirit of God dwells in every person.
The Shakers, having separated from the Quakers, still share these values, adding to them mandatory celibacy and religious communism (shared belongings). As convinced pacifists, the Shakers considered it unacceptable to kill people or inflict bodily harm, even during wartime.
From my own perspective, even among Vaishnavas (Hare Krishna ppl), gender equality at the head of that community is not observed, although celibacy is present, which Vaishnavas may break for procreation… Throughout the time I’ve followed them, I’ve only seen 2 female preachers; it’s mostly the same male lobby.
More about the Shakers and Quakers: they are based on the Bible and the Second Coming of Christ… It’s hard to say if I even believe in the virgin birth and the resurrection from the dead. I also don’t understand celibacy, as I am asexual because my desire for sex has just finished at 30 y.o. so I never practiced celibacy myself and dont think i have any right to push someone towards it. Also, the Bible claims the world is 6,000 years old, while Earth is 4.5 billion years old, so this concept’s bias towards Christianity is questionable. I suppose they developed in period when there was no access to the religious books of other religions. Now, when one can learn and study not only the Abrahamic religions, but Bhagavad Gita and Dhammapada, we can attach multi-religious approach to the Quakers approach, not only Christian one.
But the main ideas of Quakers seem very interesting.
