Shakers

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The Shakers were a sect of Protestant Christians, an offshoot of the Quakers, who lived in communal villages mainly in New England.

Contents

[edit] History

The group started in England, UK in the 17th Century when Ann Standerin became noisy in church to the disapproval of others. The group were criticised and sometimes prosecuted for tumultuous behaviour in religious services but eventually emigrated to the United States after Standerin had a hallucination vision telling her a place was prepared for the Shakers there. [1]

[edit] Lively outlet

Shakers were noted for very lively behavior during church services, shaking violently, speaking in tongues, etc. Shakers also believed in total abstinence (even husbands and wives were not allowed to roll in the hay), and it thus proved a fatal blow to them when adoption laws were changed so that religious organizations could no longer adopt children. To their credit, they brought the rest of us Simple Gifts before dying out.

[edit] Communal living

Shakers practised communal living and common ownership as the Acts of the Apostles suggests early Christians did. [2]

[edit] Number remaining

As of 2010, there are only three Shakers left in the world.[3][4]

One good point about the Shakers was that they believed in and practiced racial and sexual equality.

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. The Shaking Quakers
  2. Shaker
  3. The Shakers, PBS Religion and Ethics News Weekly, 17 September 2010
  4. Jeannine Lauber: Exploring the modern-day Shakers, The Independent
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