Research note: implicit conservatism in liberal religion: British Quakers as an ‘uncertain sect’

This research note takes Steve Bruce's analysis of secularisation within liberal religious groups and applies it to British Quakerism, noted for its permissiveness towards theology. It contends that Bruce has failed to allow for a conservative ‘behavioural creed’ operating to maintain conformity and elements of certainty within liberal groups. It also argues that the emphasis on a shared concept of ‘towards’ or ‘perhaps’ theology within the group, while appearing liberal, makes demands on its members which are more conformist and sectarian than may have at first appeared and which may help safeguard the future of the group. It is not that Bruce's analysis of liberal groups is necessarily wrong, but that ‘liberal’ groups may be less liberal than they first appear.