Quakers

I've discovered that there are several Quaker Friends Meetings in my area (none within convenient driving distance, of course...and I hear NC just increased the state tax on gas...) and I've been reading about Quakerism.  Not all Quakers are Christian, but many (possibly most) are, and most are at least deist (obviously, I'm generalizing here).  They (generally) believe there is a divine force that is at work in our world, probably the single God of Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), but, as you can see in the blog post I link to below, this God may not require the belief in Christ Jesus as the Savior. 

This post, "Quakers and the New Covenant", questions how Quakers (a discussion from one Quaker to other Quakers) build their theology around the idea of God's New Covenant, that which Christians believe took effect with the coming of Jesus (as Christ or not).  

When you check out this post, I hope you notice one of the wonderful things that I've found almost ubiquitous in anything related to Quakers and Quakerism.  That is: a respect for discussion, thoughtful questioning, and utmost mutual respect for the input and opinions of others.  And a lack of knee-jerk anger, defensiveness, or judgment.  This quality is what has attracted me to Quakerism over and over again.  (Again, I understand I am generalizing and do not have much experience in Friends Meetings, but, well, I've found in my reading that I'm not the only one to see and be attracted to these qualities, even if they aren't present in all Meetings.)

"Quakers and the New Covenant", from Susanne's Quaker Musings.

http://quakersusanne.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/quakers-and-the-new-covenant/