Quakers in the
unprogrammed or "silent worship" tradition of Quaker practice began to examine the significance of nontheistic beliefs in the Society of Friends during the 20th century. Non-theism among Quakers probably dates to the 1930s, when some Quakers in California branched off to form the Humanist Society of Friends (today part of the
American Humanist Association), and when
Henry Cadbury professed
agnosticism in a 1936 lecture to
Harvard Divinity School students. In 1976, a
Friends General Conference Gathering hosted a Workshop for Nontheistic Friends (Quakers). A nontheist Friends' website and nontheist Quaker study groups exist. Os Cresson began a consideration of this issue from
behaviorist,
natural history,
materialist and
environmentalist perspectives.
Roots and Flowers of Quaker Nontheism is one history. Nontheist Friends draw on Quaker
humanist and
universalist traditions. The book ''Godless for God's Sake: Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism'' offers critical contributions by Quakers. Some Friends engage the implications of
human evolution,
cognitive anthropology,
evolutionary psychology,
bodymind questions (especially the "
relaxation response"),
primatology, evolutionary
history,
evolutionary biology,
biology and
consensus decision-making online, especially in terms of Quaker
nontheism. There are three main nontheist Quakers' websites, including the Nontheist Friends' Official Website, and the Nontheist Friends' wiki subject/school at World University and School, which was founded by Scott MacLeod. == Statistics ==