作为美国最早的废奴主义团体之一，贵格会在美国迎来建国250周年的特殊节点，再次发起社会抗争。7月4日，贵格会将联合全美多家公益倡导组织，于费城举行抗议活动，公开反对特朗普政府推行的多项不公政策。
贵格会正式名称为公谊会。据该教派介绍，其通过线上线下双渠道征集民众签名，制作《抗争宣言》主题横幅，将在美国建国250周年纪念日的“民众游行”活动中公开展示。
这份宣言由贵格会旗下核心公益机构——美国公谊服务委员会(AFSC)起草，直指并谴责多项争议政策，包括：大规模抓捕和驱逐移民、对主权国家发动军事行动、拆除美国国家公园内的奴隶制历史展区，其中便包括费城总统宅邸的历史展陈——这里曾是美国开国总统乔治·华盛顿的官邸旧址。
费城不仅是1776年《独立宣言》的起草与签署地、美国的诞生之城，其所在的宾夕法尼亚州，本身就由贵格会创立，承载着该教派的发展根基。
1681年，英国国王查理二世将北美一片土地赐予贵格会核心人物威廉·佩恩，佩恩据此建立宾夕法尼亚殖民地，立志打造一个崇尚宗教自由、包容多元信仰的“神圣试验之地”。
美国公谊服务委员会贵格会项目负责人布莱恩·布莱克莫博士在接受美国广播公司采访时表示：“昔日在欧洲遭受宗教迫害的美洲原住民、贵格会、浸信会、路德宗等各类群体，都能来到这片土地，遵从本心、自由践行自己的信仰。”
美国公谊服务委员会全美项目副秘书长劳拉·博伊斯常年奔走美国各地开展调研。她坦言，在本届政府上任之前，民众始终坚信，部分基本人权是政府无权干预的底线，其中就包括投票权与和平抗议的自由。
此前，特朗普政府曾试图禁止各州统计逾期送达的邮寄选票，这一举措最终被最高法院否决。目前，特朗普仍在推动国会审议《守护美国法案》，该法案一旦落地，将强制各州推行更严格的选民身份证制度。
2025年，政府还强力镇压了为加沙巴勒斯坦民众发声的学生抗议活动，将相关示威活动定性为反犹行为，指责示威者支持哈马斯等恐怖组织。
贵格会：一脉相承的反体制、争正义传统
布莱克莫介绍，贵格会于17世纪中叶发源于英国，由乔治·福克斯创立，定名“公谊会”，是区别于英国国教与天主教的全新基督教派系。
福克斯提出核心教义：世人无需依附神职人员，可直接与上帝建立精神联结。自诞生之初，贵格会便颠覆当时的社会主流认知：倡导男女拥有平等的精神权威，打破彼时严苛的性别桎梏;坚守非暴力原则、拒绝服兵役;摒弃等级观念，不对上层阶级行脱帽礼以示臣服。
据悉，“贵格会”最初是带有嘲讽色彩的称谓，源于该教派信徒抗议社会不公时态度坚定、情绪激昂、身形震颤的模样。而后信徒主动接纳这一称呼，将其化为自身专属名称。
当时英国议会出台多项针对贵格会的打压法令：禁止其自由集会礼拜，对拒绝宣誓、拒行脱帽礼的信徒处以严惩，数千名信徒因此入狱。为躲避残酷的宗教迫害，大批贵格会信徒最终远渡重洋，迁居北美。
1776年，恰逢《独立宣言》签署、美国诞生之年，贵格会正式公开表态反对奴隶制，明令禁止信徒参与任何蓄奴、贩奴行为，成为美国历史上首个全面抵制奴隶制的基督教教派。
该教派创办了美国最早的废奴社团，积极发起抵制运动，拒绝使用、售卖由奴隶劳作生产的衣物、粮食等各类商品。不仅如此，在美国废奴史上至关重要的“地下铁路”逃亡黑奴救助网络中，贵格会也扮演了不可或缺的核心角色。
布莱克莫同时坦言，并非所有信徒都坚守废奴初心。部分信徒贪恋奴隶制带来的经济红利，秉持固有种族偏见，为自己参与奴隶贸易的行为寻找借口、自我开脱。
2026年的贵格会：坚守初心，持续社会抗争
如今，贵格会在美国的信徒规模与社会政治影响力已远不及鼎盛时期，全美现有信徒约7万人。
现阶段，贵格会的公益维权核心聚焦于保护面临抓捕、遣返风险的移民群体。其旗下的全国立法公谊会在国会山设立办公机构，长期开展议会游说工作，推动美国移民政策改革。
与此同时，贵格会遍布全美的礼拜堂均化身移民庇护所，收留即将被驱逐出境的移民家庭。这一举措延续了先辈的抗争传统——当年贵格会正是依托地下铁路，藏匿、救助逃亡黑奴，助力废奴运动。
布莱克莫介绍了当下的维权模式：“一旦获悉美国移民与海关执法局即将在社区开展抓捕行动，贵格会信徒会通过加密通讯软件组建群组，实时互通消息、统一行动，集体赶赴现场阻拦执法，全力保护移民个体与家庭免遭遣返。”
博伊斯表示，7月4日的全美联动行动并非终点，而是全新起点。未来，贵格会将联合各大宗教社群发起长期行动，共同抵制日益加剧的威权化倾向，守护社会公平正义。
“历史不会原样复刻，却始终脉络相通。”布莱克莫说道，“我们教派深耕社会平权与正义运动数百年，沉淀了诸多成熟有效的抗争策略。如今，我们只是将这些传承已久的经验，灵活运用到当下的社会语境之中。”
Quakers, one of the 1st abolitionists, renew their call for resistance as America turns 250
Quakers are joining with national advocacy groups on July 4 in Philadelphia to protest what they say are unjust policies by President Donald Trump’s administration.
The faith group, formally known as the Religious Society of Friends, gathered signatures online and in person for a “Declaration of Resistance Banner” that they will display during their “People’s Parade” on the 250th birthday of the United States, according to Quaker officials.
The proclamation -- created by the Quakers’ advocacy arm, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) -- includes condemnations of mass arrests and deportations of immigrants, acts of war on sovereign nations and the dismantling of slavery exhibits in national parks, including Philadelphia’s President’s House -- the site of George Washington’s executive mansion.
Philadelphia isn’t only the “birthplace” of the U.S., where the Founding Fathers met to write and sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776, but is also in a state founded by Quakers.
William Penn, a powerful Quaker, established the state of Pennsylvania after King Charles II granted him the land in 1681. It was founded as a holy experiment for religious tolerance.
“Native American peoples, Quakers, Baptists, Lutherans and other religious groups that had been persecuted in Europe could come and express their own conscience freely,” Dr. Brian Blackmore, director of Quaker engagement with AFSC, told ABC News.
Laura Boyce, the associate general secretary of U.S. programs for AFSC, told ABC News that she meets people all over the country while travelling for work. She said that people she spoke with believed before the current administration that there were certain fundamental rights that were off-limits to government intervention, like the freedom to vote and the freedom to peacefully dissent.
The Supreme Court recently voted down an attempt by the administration to disallow states from counting late-arriving mail-in ballots. Trump is currently pushing Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require new voter ID laws.
The administration also cracked down on student protesters in 2025 for advocating on behalf of Palestinians during the war in Gaza. The administration labeled the protests as antisemitic and supportive of terrorist organizations like Hamas.
Quakers: A history of bucking the establishment
Quakersim started in England in the middle of the 17th century when George Fox founded the Religious Society of Friends as an alternative Christian religion to the Church of England and Catholicism, according to Blackmore.
Fox believed that every person on Earth could establish their own direct relationship with God, rather than through a spiritual leader. Quakers were countercultural from the start, seeing women as having spiritual authority equal to men, challenging gender norms of the time, refusing to bear arms and committing to non-violence. They also refused to remove their hats to acknowledge others from a higher class.
The term Quaker originally emerged as a derogatory term to describe the vociferousness with which Quakers protested injustices, as if they quaked, according to Blackmore. Quakers appropriated the term into a euphemism.
The parliament in England created laws against Quakers, forbidding them to worship freely, charging them with punishments for refusing to take oaths or refusing to remove their hats. Thousands were sent to prison. Many Quakers eventually left England for America to escape religious persecution.
In 1776, the year the Declaration of Independence was signed, Quakers made a formal stance against slavery, prohibiting followers of the faith from engaging in the institution. Quakers became the first Christian denomination in America to prohibit slavery, according to Blackmore.
The faith group founded the first abolitionist societies in the country and moved to boycott goods, clothing, and food created through the labor of enslaved people. Quakers were also instrumental in the execution of the Underground Railroad.
There were, however, some who followed the faith who were reluctant to let go of the economic advantages of slavery. They justified their involvement in the slave trade through their own “racialized lenses”, according to Blackmore.
Quakersin 2026
Quakers do not have the large proportional numbers and political influence in the U.S. today that they once had. Currently, there are roughly 70,000 Quakers in the country.
The faith group’s advocacy efforts have recently focused on helping immigrants who are in danger of arrest and deportation. One of their organizations, the Friends Council on National Legislation, has offices on Capitol Hill and lobbies for changes in immigration policies.
Quakers also have “meeting houses” around the country that act as sanctuaries, housing immigrant families who are in danger of deportation -- following in the footsteps of their predecessors who hid runaway enslaved people as part of the Underground Railroad.
“When we know that ICE enforcement is about to appear in a community, Quakers will have, kind of like, a Signal (app) chat where they can let everybody know where to be and at what time, and kind of descend on mass in order to help be in defense of ICE enforcement and protect individuals and families,” Blackmore said.
Boyce said AFSC’s national day of action on July 4 is a jumping-off point to launch an initiative with Quakers and other faith communities to stem “this alarming tide of authoritarianism that we and many other people see.”
“History doesn't repeat itself, but it certainly does rhyme,” Blackmore said. “So, if you're part of a religious tradition that's been part of these movements for some time, you learn some tactics and you learn some strategies that are effective, and you're just applying them in different contexts.”
