Tuesday, March 06, 2018

A rare example of a religion making itself selected for driving, the Quakers (are there even any currently existing?)


the Section Sanitaire Anglaise, which was made up of British volunteers, typically ambulance drivers, attached to the French and or Belgian Armies.

This particular British volunteer unit SSA 14, photographed in 1916, was based in the Northern French costal town of Dunkerque just 6 miles from the Belgian border, and consisted mainly of Quakers from the Friends Ambulance Unit ( FAU ) who were usually also Conscientious Objectors.

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/topic/173218-ww1-military-motors-1916-set-x-50-cards/?do=findComment&comment=2459455

10 comments:

  1. Yep, the full name of organization is "Religious Society of Friends". Wit couple of subgroups they still work in many country's all over the world. Surprising the largest congregation in is Kenya with almost 150k members.

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  2. At least one of your readers ,myself, is a Quaker or Friend .Or at least I was raised as one. Currently a non believer in mythological thinking. However on the subject of the Friends, they believe in living simply and honorably in a peaceful way.They also believe that every man is equal before God and no religious hierarchy is needed. In other word no Priests,churches etc. They go to what they call Meetings as equals. They were the early opponents of slavery, etc. Pretty straightforward and without pretense as religions go. Persecuted thru the ages for these ideas and their pacifist beliefs.

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    1. It's a philosophy that is easy to agree with. No religious hat to wear, is there? Seems like a simple "be good to other people" style of living.

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    2. Yes, It is hard to believe they were so hated by the religious establishment for trying to follow the actual peaceful teachings and deeds of Jesus, instead of those of the Church of England. By the way, you have a great blog . I really like your many different interests approach.The bits on tanks of WWI are always interesting. I for one am glad it is not all cars all the time. Thank you for all your hard work.

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    3. Thanks! It's just a wide look at all the stuff I think is cool, from WW1 tanks, like the one that was featured in Indiana Jones movie #1, and Zeppelins, to WW2 bombers, tanks, and jeeps, and modern stuff like muscle cars, motorcycles, dry lakes racing with hot rods on El Mirage and Bonneville, COEs, trucking, motorwheels, etc etc. Plus art, sculpture, innovative re-use of parts, and photography. There's a lot to admire in just this small facet of life.

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    4. Simple, good and honest religious movement. No force convert, no business model organization, no weird hats. I can truly respect that.

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  3. I am always amazed that people will take the time,without pay, to create something like your blog.I have to say that this incredible exchange of ideas that your blog and other forums promote are by far the best part of the internet age.I am old enough to remember how much harder it was to get things done pre-internet. Finding parts and know how on antique cars and bikes was a long tedious process that was not always successful.Now my kids can watch a you tube for so many repairs. Who would have ever guessed 20 years ago!

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    1. Oh, it's a pleasure thing, and a self aggrandizing ego feedback... a little.
      I enjoy finding this stuff, learning this stuff, and sharing this stuff. All of it. Then there is the feeling of accomplishing a good thing. Satisfaction is a big part of it. Every day I sum up as a day that the content I added to my site was great, or blah, or a disappointment. Since I've enjoyed so many things, and have posted about them for years, I've made myself very happy with the way the blog has turned out, and every day I find more stuff to add that I think is worth the effort, and most days, I look at it all, to edit, correct spelling, clarify, or whatever, and get a feeling that the stuff I put out that day was good stuff.
      Something like a newspaper owner, or magazine maker would feel when looking at the recently finished issue. One that turned out well. So, it's then sort of like making yourself happy by doing more good work.... and you may not have read this where ever I posted it before, but I'm not doing this blog for other people. I'm doing it for myself, and one side effect is that it will be exactly what I want to look at when I've got Alzheimers and can't recall ever reading any of this stuff that I put here.
      Another side effect is just sharing all this stuff, and making friends with people that comment, and sometimes meeting them, and even getting press passes to car shows and stuff because this blog is about as deep and complex as an encyclopedia and often shows coverage of the news and car events

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  4. I can see why they were hated, they opposed management in religion which made management is all other religions nervous. That caused the managers whip up their followers to hate Quakers calling them heretics and heathens. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn in 1682, as a safe place for Quakers to live and practice their faith.

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    1. Astute observation. Religions and people have a need to feel superior to others. Religions also seem to exist to hate other religions as a cornerstone of their existence. Without hating others, or feeling superior, they might be nothing more than philosophy. Well, with weird hats

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