Читать книгу American Quaker Romances. Building the Myth of the White Christian Nation онлайн

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When Americans in this century think of Quakers, many will recall the image of a Quaker man wearing a broad-brimmed hat on a box of oatmeal. For over a century, images of Quakers have been used to sell many different products, often with absolutely no connection with anyone in the Society of Friends, but simply because Quakers acquired a reputation as honest people. Quakers have not only been preyed upon by a consumerist society for their peculiar image or the waves of positive associations that emanate from their bonnets and broad-brimmed hats. Their spiritual values and their social commitments have set them apart as special people. As is often noted, “Quakers had an influence beyond their numbers” (Dandelion 2008: 1). Certainly, their influence on many historical processes and social movements has been profound, and so has been their presence in American popular culture, where they are frequently presented as pioneers of the most noble causes and beacons of moral integrity at times when the nation has discussed issues of paramount importance like the abolition of slavery, gender equality, pacifism and even ecology.