"I was always a Friend and just didn't know it yet."

Over at Quaker Quaker, Hystery commented that the Quaker testimonies were a major reason for Hystery's becoming a Quaker. Hystery also noted that reading the testimonies and seeing how important they were to Quakers (aka "Friends"), Hystery got the sense that Hystery "was always a Friend and just didn't know it yet."

This got me thinking about my own pre-Quaker life. It is amazing when you read about Quakerism and realize that so many of the beliefs are things you've always believed and didn't know there was a group like you out there. It sounds crazy, but it's true. It feels, to borrow Hystery's words, "like a homecoming," and indeed, like you were "always a Friend and just didn't know it yet."

Some of my pre-Quaker Quaker beliefs include:

• Belief against gambling.
• Belief against alcohol/smoking/drugs as part of one's regular life (may be okay in moderation, but was never for me).
• Belief against taking oaths. Years before I was a Quaker I would refuse to take oaths for the very same reasons. Let your "Yes" mean "Yes" and your "No" mean "No," I would always say, even though this wasn't emphasized in my church growing up.
• Belief in pure equality. For example, belief that no legitimate reason existed to justify forbidding women to hold certain religious offices (i.e., priesthood).
• Belief in fair treatment of animals (i.e., I'm a vegetarian).

Interestingly, none of these are related to the number one reason most people "come to Quakerism," which is the Quaker stance on Peace, or least it seems to be.