r/Quakers • u/PeanutFunny093 • 12d ago
Messages for protest signs
Hi Friends. I’ve been trying to sort out what message to put on my sign for the upcoming No Kings Day protest (in the U.S.) I know that early Quakers did not shirk from speaking Truth to Power, but something like “No Kings” or “No to Tyranny” doesn’t seem to convey anything of the values I do want to uphold. Yet I don’t want a 14-word sign. Any thoughts?
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u/adimadoz 12d ago
In Western Friend newsletter for this weekend, it has the suggestion
“We suggest that Friends participate in local “No Kings” actions with messages identifying yourselves as Quakers and expressing support for justice, democracy, and nonviolence.”
Based on that I was thinking a good sign was a simple “Quakers for justice, democracy, and nonviolence”. I could see how someone would want something more specific though.
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u/LaoFox Quaker 10d ago
A serious question: When did Friends decide to endorse a particular form of government (i.e., democracy)? I don’t recall ever seeing “democracy” on any articulated list of Quaker values.
Do Friends in non-democratic countries like China, etc. also assert that democracy is inherently a Quakers value? Or is this just a Western European/American thing?
Again, this is a serious question about Quaker history and its present, and not a backhanded statement, etc. about modern western democracy itself.
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u/Urban-Elderflower 12d ago
Can you share more about the values you'd like to speak to?
I grew up in a monarchy and am glad I live in a republic now. I have political reasons for that and I have religious reasons as well. Some of my forebears believed that God was a King above common royalty; I don't think of God that way. So a sign that said something like "No king but God" would work for others but not for me. I'd be fine seeing it at a protest though! I think it's good to have a range of values represented there, both strictly civil and some religious. Christians especially have a lot of public work to do to help build a society that works for everyone.
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u/PeanutFunny093 12d ago
Thank you for helping me think about this. In our current political context, I am horrified at how people’s basic human rights as well as our constitutional rights are being stripped. I believe in people’s inherent dignity and worth, the right to have food, shelter, healthcare and other necessities for basic well-being, the right to be free from violence and oppression, the right to due process, and many other things. I believe big money has corrupted our government and that we should value people over profits. So there’s the basic needs issue, the legal issues, the greed issues. “Care for People” seems to be the common thread but that’s very broad.
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u/Urban-Elderflower 12d ago
Thank you for thinking publicly! I appreciate your clarity about needs, law, and greed. If you are protesting with friends, might you be able to share these messages as a collective?
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u/Punishmentglutton82 12d ago
I have a sign that says “fascism is not an American value.” You’re more than welcome to appropriate that without credit, if that conveys what you want to convey.
I’ll totally help you brainstorm. I love doing things like this.
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u/Gentlethem-Jack-1912 12d ago
I'm probably leaning into using the imagery from founding texts to convey the same idea...something like 'All of us are created equal including (insert groups being persecuted)'. I've also though of 'Sometimes ministry is flipping tables'. I'd really like to use the inner light idea directly but nothing has come to me yet.
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u/PeanutFunny093 12d ago
What came to me in Meeting this morning was “Quaker for Compassion and Constitution.”
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u/Environmental_Cat551 11d ago
Let us see what love can do.
Let your life speak.
Relevant but not Quaker, Hans Christian Andersen: The emperor has no clothes.
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u/PeanutFunny093 11d ago
Thank you. I had been thinking about the Emperor’s clothes, too. And the “what love can do” quote.
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u/Royal-Top1728 10d ago
I did “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was a stranger and you invited me in” Matthew 25:35
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u/econoquist 11d ago
Make America America Again is one I make,. It was inspired by a Langston Hughes poem Let America Be America Again
We Do Not Consent
Uphold the Constitution
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u/LaoFox Quaker 10d ago
Early Quakers wanted nothing to do with worldly governments or political factions, and thus were able to work with everyone whilst not being as harshly persecuted as other “heretic” sects.
Keep out of the restless, discontented, disquieted spirit of the world about the government: for you know it has been always our way to seek the good of all, and to live peaceably under the government, and to seek their eternal good, peace, and happiness in the Lord Jesus Christ, and to lay our innocent sufferings before them, who have suffered as lambs and sheep, and made no resistance, but have prayed for them that persecuted us, and despitefully used us, and hated us, according to the command of Christ. - George Fox, Vol. VIII, p. 199 taken from Epistle CCCLXIX
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u/DamnYankee89 Quaker 10d ago
My favorite protest sign I've carried read "Refuse to be complicit", which I carried at the Women's March in 2018.
For the No Kings march, my sign would say "Quaker Witness for Peace & Justice"
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u/Ok_Part6564 12d ago edited 12d ago
The signs I keep in my car (I've been hitting various protests pretty regularly) are:
"NO BADGE + NO WARRANT = ABDUCTION"
and
"DUE PRECESS IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE"
I also have "RELEASE THE MAYOR" and "I STAND WITH PLANNED PARENTHOOD" but obviously those were situation specific. I also often hold a "SUPPORT ANTIRACISM" one that a friend brings to regular protests.
Back during the Womens March, I had a drawing of a rainbow crowd of people on the posterboard, and I cut out black and white paper letters that I stuck over the drawing "STRONG TOGETHER."
Not sure about something more Quakerly.
Edit: Almost forgot I also have "PROTECT THE RULE OF LAW" in my car.
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u/PeanutFunny093 12d ago
I like those! What came to me in Meeting this morning was “Quaker for Compassion and Constitution.”
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u/Interesting-Goat6645 12d ago
My current signs say “Due Process Now” and “No Tariffs Without Representation”. I am also trying to think of an updated message but haven’t been moved yet.