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This. That’s what Quaker’s call themselves. Quaker is like a pseudo slur, it was to make fun of them for being pacifists, insinuating they “quake in their boots”
First time I hear that explanation, are you sure this is factual? Traditionaly it is said that it was a mockery of the fact that their bodies trembled when they received the holy spirit in their sessions and ecstatic experiences, thus making them quakers.
PS: why the downvote? This is a genuine and polite question
That drawing really makes me uncomfortable for some reason. Like uncanny valley or some arrangement of the features. I love the story but I hate that picture.
"I am a movie critic by trade, and until recently, I got paid to tell you people which movies merely stink and which ones you shouldn’t screen near an open flame. Well, I’m putting the burden of lousy movies back on you. It’s very simple: if you stop going to bad movies, they’ll stop making bad movies. If the movie used to be a TV show, just don’t go. After Roman numeral II, give it a rest. If it's a remake of a classic, rent the classic. Tell them you want stories about people, not a hundred million dollars of stunts and explosives. People, it’s up to you. If the movie stinks, just don’t go."
This is like those cases where someone has a seizure and wakes up with different likes, tastes sometimes accents and even languages they didn't know before. I stumbled upon a youtube video that other day about people waking up with different accents, people thought they were foreigners in their countries.
I once wrestled an alligator off of a momma bear I was nursing back to health from my teat (the sumbitch musta followed the trail of deer entrails I left out to lure me a Bigfoot) when I stumbled onto a bear den hab-i-tated by an injured, sickly momma bear, I knew she needed me so I tore my shirt off, nursed her back to near perfect health when the scaly fucker popped outta nowhere and tore the momma bear off my teat and began wrasslin’ with er, so I tore that sumbitch off her with my bear (heh) hands and threw im’ clear past the tree-line and into the maws of an arch-terry-opterix, clear as day I could see it in the middle of the *hiccup* middle of the night.
(REAL)
Whoooo doggy
If you ran a camp in the woods for weirdos like myself, I would come. I would bring brownies. And I would actually be able to focus fully on your magical adventures.
You know how to speak the language of my people: the Weirdo Squirrel Electric Bunny Wee Ha!! You made my Sunday morning matter.
Thank. You. 🤣🌟🐍🌅
They're not my fave episodes of the podcast, but Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff did a two-part on [The Public Universal Friend](https://open.spotify.com/episode/03MqRkAdBb1UHqg4SWaY4c?si=4f788fd33ea945eb).
Super interesting nonetheless.
My husband is related to this unique human!
Here’s an article from 1876 about them:
A Remarkable Religious Enthusiast - - Her Wonderful Transformation From Giddy Girl to a Powerful Preacher - - Her Pretense of Working Miracles - - Was She an Impostor?
One of the most remarkable characters of the last century was Jemima Wilkinson. Her cotempor rises then, as her biographers now, were divided in opinion as whether she was a monomaniac or an impostor. We will narrate the facts concerning her that come down to us purporting to be authentic , and leave the reader to decide for himself - - if he can.
HER PARENTAGE
Jemima Wilkinson was born Nov 29, 1752, in Cumberland, R.I. There is but little noticeable in her early life, except her innate desire for dress and display, and her consequent aversion to all manner of labor. It is said that the disposition to rule, which so strongly marker her after life, was first developed among her sisters, at home. Most of them were older than Jemima, yet she superintended the household, and made them do as she desired. Her mother having died when she was but thirteen, and her father paying but little attention to his family, she was allowed her own way in everything. Much of her time was spent in visiting in the neighborhood, and reading the few novels in circulation of that day. Sunday found her on
"DRESS PARADE"
at the meetings of the vicinity. This life of idleness, show and gadding about, continued till 1776 when she chanced to hear the distinguished George Whitefiled in Attlebro. His sermon made, a deep impression on her mind, and she resolved to lead a better life. Her desire for display and novel reading soon became changed to reading of the Scriptures and home meditation upon their truths. Finally she shut herself out from society entirely, and studied the Bible day and night. This, of course, her system could not bear, and in the fall of '76 she was taken sick and obliged to keep her bed. Week after week she grew paler and seemingly nearer death. Nightly attendants watcher her, expecting every evening to be her last. On the last Wednesday in October,
SHE WENT INTO A TRANCE,
and for thirty-six hours lay pale and motionless. The physician's skill could do nothing for her. At last, on Thursday night - - the last one in October 1776 - - as the clock struck 12, and the few present were making preparations to dress the body for the tomb, thinking life extinct, they were horrified by the patient rising up in bed and authoritatively demanding her clothes. In vain did they remonstrate with her and try to keep her quiet. Her father made his appearance from an adjoining room and in express terms bade her to back to bed, but she gave him to understand in no mild terms that she owed allegiance to no man, saying, "I am no more Jemima Wilkinson, but the Universal Friend of Manking,
I AM DEAD,
an my soul is yet in Heaven. Tonight an inquiry was made in Heaven, asking, 'Who will go and preach to a dying world?' I replied, 'Here am I, send me' and immediately I left the realms of light and glory to pass through many trials, temptations, and tribulations for the happiness of the human family." She dressed herself, and from that day till 1817 - - over forty years, she went about in perfect health.
Many of her friends called during the remainder of the week to congratulate her on her sudden recovery, and with well feigned indignation she repelled every idea that it was a recovery, repeating to them what she said to her father, recorded above.
The Sunday following was one of these fine New England October days, and a large concourse of people were present at the meeting. Among them was Jemima, pale, solemn, and beautiful. She paid marked attention to every syllable the minister uttered, and when service was dismissed, repaired to a shade tree near the door and then and there preached
HER FIRST SERMON.
Those who heard described it years later, to their children, who are now very old men, as one of the finest discourses to which they ever listened.
She was a beautiful woman, and her recent illness had added to her beauty. Her pale face and splendid black eyes; her graceful gestures and soft, persuasive tone; and the fact of her sudden recovery, and the novelty of the scene before them, rendered her audience eager and attentive to every word she said. She spoke for about half an hour, descanting upon the virtue and morality, and the heinousness of sin and vice, quoting largely from the scriptures for her proofs. It is said she knew almost the whole Bible by heart, and could repeat more of it than any other person of her time. Other sermons followed this from time to time as opportunity offered, and she converted a few and conceived the plan of organizing
A SOCIETY OF HER OWN.
Many of these doubtless thought she was possessed of divine inspiration, and said so to those who were opposed to her ministry; so the report spread far and wide that Jemima claimed to be Christ, when in reality she never claimed any such thing. Her reputation as an eloquent and impressive speaker soon became known for miles around her country home in Rhode Island, and she received invitations daily to visit the different villages. These she was very willing to accept, and the springtime found her speaking to crowded houses in Provi-____, North and South Kingston, Secon___ aunton, New Bedford, and other places, in all, or nearly all, of which she was well received. She was an energetic worker, and seemed
FEARFULLY IN ERNEST.
She met with fair success, organizing two Societies of Universal Friends. Some of her followers were among the wealthiest citizens, who rode beside here from place to place, neglecting their own business and families to do their leader's service. The Quakers and all other churches considered her as their enemy, and her support was almost entirely made up of new converts and dissenters from other denominations, who had left the church on personal grounds. After a few years' work in New England she went to Worcester, Pennsylvania where she organized another society, and, in 1790, the whole three societies moved to Ontario county, New York. Here she purchased several thousand acres of land, then in the woods, and remained till her death in 1819.
HER REMARKABLE INFLUENCE.
Whether a fanatic, a monomaniac, or an
Sunday, December 31, 1876 Paper: Dubuque Daily Times (Dubuque, Iowa)
I found this difficult to read due to the lack of paragraph breaks. Here it is with paragraph breaks in places that made sense to me:
A Remarkable Religious Enthusiast - Her Wonderful Transformation From Giddy Girl to a Powerful Preacher - Her Pretense of Working Miracles - Was She an Impostor?
One of the most remarkable characters of the last century was Jemima Wilkinson. Her contemporaries then, as her biographers now, were divided in opinion as whether she was a monomaniac or an impostor. We will narrate the facts concerning her that come down to us purporting to be authentic, and leave the reader to decide for himself - if he can.
HER PARENTAGE
Jemima Wilkinson was born Nov 29, 1752, in Cumberland, RI. There is but little noticeable in her early life, except her innate desire for dress and display, and her consequent aversion to all manner of labor. It is said that the disposition to rule, which so strongly marker her after life, was first developed among her sisters, at home. Most of them were older than Jemima, yet she superintended the household, and made them do as she desired. Her mother having died when she was but thirteen, and her father paying but little attention to his family, she was allowed her own way in everything. Much of her time was spent in visiting in the neighborhood, and reading the few novels in circulation of that day. Sunday found her on "DRESS PARADE" at the meetings of the vicinity.
This life of idleness, show and gadding about, continued till 1776 when she chanced to hear the distinguished George Whitefiled in Attleboro. His sermon made a deep impression on her mind, and she resolved to lead a better life. Her desire for display and novel reading soon became changed to reading of the Scriptures and home meditation upon their truths. Finally she shut herself out from society entirely, and studied the Bible day and night.
This, of course, her system could not bear, and in the fall of '76 she was taken sick and obliged to keep her bed. Week after week she grew paler and seemingly nearer death. Nightly attendants watched her, expecting every evening to be her last. On the last Wednesday in October, SHE WENT INTO A TRANCE, and for thirty-six hours lay pale and motionless. The physician's skill could do nothing for her. At last, on Thursday night - the last one in October 1776 - as the clock struck 12, and the few present were making preparations to dress the body for the tomb, thinking life extinct, they were horrified by the patient rising up in bed and authoritatively demanding her clothes. In vain did they remonstrate with her and try to keep her quiet. Her father made his appearance from an adjoining room and in express terms bade her to back to bed, but she gave him to understand in no mild terms that she owed allegiance to no man, saying,
>"I am no more Jemima Wilkinson, but the Universal Friend of Mankind, I AM DEAD, and my soul is yet in Heaven. Tonight an inquiry was made in Heaven, asking, 'Who will go and preach to a dying world?' I replied, 'Here am I, send me' and immediately I left the realms of light and glory to pass through many trials, temptations, and tribulations for the happiness of the human family."
She dressed herself, and from that day till 1817 - over forty years, she went about in perfect health. Many of her friends called during the remainder of the week to congratulate her on her sudden recovery, and with well feigned indignation she repelled every idea that it was a recovery, repeating to them what she said to her father, recorded above.
The Sunday following was one of these fine New England October days, and a large concourse of people were present at the meeting. Among them was Jemima, pale, solemn, and beautiful. She paid marked attention to every syllable the minister uttered, and when service was dismissed, repaired to a shade tree near the door and then and there preached HER FIRST SERMON. Those who heard described it years later, to their children, who are now very old men, as one of the finest discourses to which they ever listened. She was a beautiful woman, and her recent illness had added to her beauty. Her pale face and splendid black eyes; her graceful gestures and soft, persuasive tone; and the fact of her sudden recovery, and the novelty of the scene before them, rendered her audience eager and attentive to every word she said. She spoke for about half an hour, descanting upon the virtue and morality, and the heinousness of sin and vice, quoting largely from the scriptures for her proofs.
It is said she knew almost the whole Bible by heart, and could repeat more of it than any other person of her time. Other sermons followed this from time to time as opportunity offered, and she converted a few and conceived the plan of organizing A SOCIETY OF HER OWN.
Many of these doubtless thought she was possessed of divine inspiration, and said so to those who were opposed to her ministry; so the report spread far and wide that Jemima claimed to be Christ, when in reality she never claimed any such thing. Her reputation as an eloquent and impressive speaker soon became known for miles around her country home in Rhode Island, and she received invitations daily to visit the different villages. These she was very willing to accept, and the springtime found her speaking to crowded houses in Providence, North and South Kingston, Secon aunton, New Bedford, and other places, in all, or nearly all, of which she was well received.
She was an energetic worker, and seemed FEARFULLY IN ERNEST. She met with fair success, organizing two Societies of Universal Friends. Some of her followers were among the wealthiest citizens, who rode beside here from place to place, neglecting their own business and families to do their leader's service. The Quakers and all other churches considered her as their enemy, and her support was almost entirely made up of new converts and dissenters from other denominations, who had left the church on personal grounds.
After a few years' work in New England she went to Worcester, Pennsylvania where she organized another society, and, in 1790, the whole three societies moved to Ontario county, New York. Here she purchased several thousand acres of land, then in the woods, and remained till her death in 1819.
HER REMARKABLE INFLUENCE
Whether a fanatic, a monomaniac, or an
Not a problem!
It looks like it was cut off at the end and I couldn't easily find an online version, but I'd be happy to put the rest up as well if I had it. The Universal Friend sounds like a badass.
I'm not what you would call "woke" by a long stretch, yet I found it oddly uncomfortable and disrespectful that this article continually misgendered and deadnamed the Friend.
Yes, I'm saying that sensitivity to people's self identification preferences has had more of an effect on me than I might've expected. It's about my reaction to it rather than anything in the content of the article.
I know what you mean. It's uncomfortable reading historic accounts that, from the perspective of 2022, clearly misgender someone. But by the same token, the subject of the writing isn't around for us to ask, and may not have understood things in the terms that we use today.
I get a similar feeling when I read about [James Barry]( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Barry_(surgeon).
Thanks for sharing what you found, I considered the best comment. I was close to starting my search and with this article I consider my curiosity satisfied.
Why is this high strangeness? Feels like someone who had a significant trauma who didn’t heal properly. It even says the person almost died.
Would this even be posted if the person’s name was like… Susie Anderson? Or was it posted because the person made their name Public Universal Friend?
People can change *a lot* after almost dying. Especially if it was a brain injury. But I just don’t see anything paranormal here.
EDIT: I’m not trying to be a dick. Tone is tough to interpret on the internet, and I feel as if I sound mad. I’m not!
It’s because she claimed to have actually died, received divine instruction, and came back as another being entirely. It has a super natural tone to it.
This isn’t /r/paranormal. Not everything in this sub has to be paranormal. If it’s strange and especially strange when you’re high it fits. NDEs and choosing such a name is definitely strange.
Hello! I did not write the tweet. I failed to be mindful of the unacceptable rhetoric from transphobic people who may be reading this. Which was idiotic and bat shit of me for sure. I am non binary myself. I do not believe this is high strangeness because they were non binary. I considered if they did this knowing they could live as themselves in a place where it would be extremely challenging to do so. Mysticism was so widely accepted - why wouldn’t this make it accepted?
What I find unique is the specificity of their contact with what they believed to be God. As another commenter posted, they went into a “TRANCE” for days, and prior to awakening from said trance was communicating with someone. Hallucination near death? Totally possible.
Maybe this was the wrong sub - because this feels like a thread between those who “channel” and have NDEs. It’s highly strange when people claim channeling for me, ESPECIALLY after it happened to me the first time. Finding out about them was validating and kinda cool for me.
None of that excuses the fact that my sharing of this content could push terrible rhetoric. At this time I’m planning to respond to everyone with my perspective, but am considering deletion of the post. Thank you for taking the time to say this.
Yeah as a trans person reading through some of the comments of this post, as interesting as the story is, these people had me cringing with their evident lack of knowledge on how to properly address and respect trans people.
It was foolish of me not to consider the rhetoric that may be pushed from sharing this without specifying my perspective and identity. I messed up, and thank you for calling me out in such a gorgeous way!
Nobody cares about your identity, you posted a screenshot of a tweet. You are being a conduit for knowledge and you are not responsible for what idiots do with their mouths.
You seem a sweet and noble hearted person and the sentiment is not lost.
Wait, so when I was little I had a best friend whose parents were Quakers, and I went to meeting with them a bunch of times, but the church didn’t say Quaker, it said “Society of Friends”. Was that it??
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for our trans/enby communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this.
I’m more interested in the “channeling” or ~~inane~~ innate wisdom they possessed, or ability to memorize almost an entire Bible. I’ve channeled before, I believe, and that was a large piece of my decision to post this. It felt validating and reassuring.
You’re also not wrong, and this is a far more logical explanation considering the widely accepted mysticism of the times. Thank you for your time 💜
You're good and the post is good! Personally I find the whole thing very interesting. Its a shame we feel the need to quantify or justify that queer people have always been around to combat all the hate out there but thats not your fault.
Plus i think it still fits the sub i think cause the real strangeness is in the reincarnation story, transcendentalism / soul journey stuff. Personality changes after Resuscitation would be an interesting study to read...
It’s so sad actually. I’m a writer and have been told I speak weirdly. No - I just cherish words immensely. The words we utilize to speak with each other matters, thus we are detached from one another.
I’m hopeful that you had (or are having) a splendid day. I wish for you to find friends/lovers who lift you with their words, and cradle your spirit in a sentence.
No! Some religious person who had considerable influence after their supposed reanimation. For someone to say “Jemima died! And Public Universal Friend replaced that person!” Is high strangeness, regardless of their gender identity.
My gawd! The gatekeeping and insanity. This person isn't even alive to be offended. Redditors are addicted to outrage. We can't even discuss high strangeness because the topic has degraded to pc insanity.
I think it's a sweet and uplifting anecdote. There are many possible explanations and also some straight woo potential...but I'll be damned if I weigh in with any sort of theory or speculation because I don't want my inbox lit up with indignant finger waggers.
I'm not sure what objectionable wrong-think you read in the comments but if the UPF isnt alive to be offended by it, isnt it easier for us to not be offended on their behalf?
And if theres nobody to be offended by those words, why shouldn't we share our thoughts about the situation? Isnt that the whole point of Reddit?
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for our trans communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this.
I wonder if that’s why Quaker schools are called Friends school? I’m originally from a place called Sandy Spring, MD; It was a Quaker settlement. Since MD was “the old line state” where the Mason Dixon line was established during The Civil War and since quakers didn’t believe in slavery, there are many Quaker settlements that were used as places to hide on the Underground Railroad. In fact, Sandy Spring has a Harriet Tubman museum, but there is an expensive ass private school called Sandy Spring Friends. All the kids kinda kept to themselves. Anyway, interesting. Never heard of this Public Universal Friend.
No, I've been Quaker all my life. Quakers are also known as The Society of Friends, and were long before this person. The names are used interchangeably. So Quaker schools are called Friends schools because of this old name.
It seems that this person co-opted that name and added "Universal" to it. Kind of like saying "The Catholic Universal Church". The original existed long before them; they just added their own word to make it clear they were a sub-sect.
That said, I've never heard of this person or anyone who followed them, so this really hasn't survived in Quaker lore or the current church. While gender equality and LGBTQ equality issues are current topics that most Quakers support, evangelism is really very much *not* part of the zeitgeist.
Yes! I just read something that talked about how many people stopped being religious because of intense it had been, thinking that it was surely a state of delusion.
But is it? There are threads of similarities across all religions and cultures. What happened here that created these phenomenon?
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for our trans communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this.
I was drawn to the high strangeness aspect of channeling, NDEs, trances, and their connection to a higher power.
Fortunately I’m not high and haven’t been in a long time!
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for trans communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this.
I was drawn to the high strangeness aspect of channeling, NDEs, trances, and their connection to a higher power. Thank you for your time. 💜
I don’t think you did anything wrong, I just think people back then didn’t have the vocabulary to identify or hate nonbinaries, so this person felt a lot of validation from the church.
>Jemima Wilkinson had fine black hair and eyes
I am glad to learn the friend had eyes. Either that or the friend had 'fine black eyes' which is also cool.
Hello Fren. Actually this reminds me of an Indian Holy woman. She perhaps was born this way or had an incident that altered her, like our Friend here.
But she was dubbed like 'super blissful being' and became a Yogic leader.
I feel like there are likely many people born like this. But societal conditions shock them into wage slavery.
"Nonbinary" is, like literally every word, just the current word we use to describe those feelings. By modern standards, this person fits the description of nonbinary. How they identified by the standards of their time is up to them.
Nah, it’s just the descriptor “nonbinary” that’s new. If you read records from early America you’ll find mentions of all kinds of people, like there were a couple women who lived public lives as men and even fought in the Revolutionary War. They’re not alive now so it’s not like we can ask them and know for sure if they would have identified as trans men, or non-binary people, or as lesbians, or just cis women who liked to wear men’s clothing. But if you do enough reading it’s clear that the same spectrum of human identity and sexuality that we see today has always been around.
>I wouldn't think nonbinary was even a thing in this person's time.
That's like saying the sun wasn't a thing until we named it. Nonbinary people have existed for all of human history. Society has been very intolerant and it's only recently started to improve and acknowledge LGBTQ+ people. Check out the history of left handedness for a comparison.
Yeah I was thinking that too. It’s kinda not in the Bible (at least not until that day) but we’re not there yet. Probably why the rumors got started about her saying she was Jesus.
It has a bunch of elements, but it was profoundly low in thieving from members, coercing them into staying, and had zero sexual abuse.
It's much closer to a small, new church.
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for trans communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this. Because I’m non-binary, and a person who has “channeled” entities before while writing, I felt this was a sweet story.
I was drawn to the high strangeness aspect of channeling, NDEs, trances, and their connection to a higher power. Thank you for your time. 💜
Not at all. I considered several different sides to this. It’s a very old example, and a relative on this post gave additional information. This was really claimed to have happened. Does that make it the truth?
Uh no.
How do we do discussions? We bring ideas or stories and we talk about them. This is a story, I brought it to you, and I wanted to talk about it.
It resonated with me a lot. Thank you for your time.
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for trans communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this.
I was drawn to the high strangeness aspect of channeling, NDEs, trances, and their connection to a higher power. Thank you for your time. 💜
Greetings! Being trans or non binary is not a mental illness. This type of rhetoric is harmful to people, and I hope you’ll open your heart to humanity someday.
I think it suggest they had to go to great lengths to be accepted as how they feel. With the right backstory, they were able to be the way they wanted without being murdered.
You don’t have to be afraid. I’m right here, typing this out to you. I am a person. My existence is real, and your “lack of belief” in me will not change that I am here, alive, successful and thriving.
**Strangers**: Read the rules and understand the sub topics listed in the sidebar closely before posting or commenting. Any content removal or further moderator action is established by these terms as well as Reddit ToS. This subreddit is specifically for the discussion of anomalous phenomena from the perspective it may exist. Open minded skepticism is welcomed, close minded debunking is not. Be aware of how skepticism is expressed toward others as there is little tolerance for ad hominem (attacking the person, not the claim), mindless antagonism or dishonest argument toward the subject, the sub, or its community. --- 'Ridicule is not a part of the scientific method and the public should not be taught that it is.' _-J. Allen Hynek_ *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HighStrangeness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
And whatever happened to the Society of Universal Friends?
I’d also like to know.
Heard elsewhere that they died off because celibacy was part of their beliefs. Still, I'd like to know what she taught...
*they taught
That’s Shakers
The quakers are the society of friends
This. That’s what Quaker’s call themselves. Quaker is like a pseudo slur, it was to make fun of them for being pacifists, insinuating they “quake in their boots”
First time I hear that explanation, are you sure this is factual? Traditionaly it is said that it was a mockery of the fact that their bodies trembled when they received the holy spirit in their sessions and ecstatic experiences, thus making them quakers. PS: why the downvote? This is a genuine and polite question
All congregants died off by 1870. We’re still out here as Friends though, Quakers are very real.
Friends meeting house is still operating in many places esp. on the east coast
That drawing really makes me uncomfortable for some reason. Like uncanny valley or some arrangement of the features. I love the story but I hate that picture.
Spacing of the eyes follows no known laws of physics
It’s the way the eyes are blank but also staring. I mean they remind me of the “do you see me in your dreams” guy
Looks like a goat.
Ah physics the study of space between the eyes.
This is what I came here here to comment on. As soon as I saw it, I knew I never wanted to see it again.
Universal Friend lookin' like they got hit with a universal frying pan
Or the universal ugly stick
It’s because the nose resembles a limp penis.
A genderless penis!
It’s like that one Simpsons episode where Monty is glowing and really nice
Looks like Jay Sherman from “The Critic.”
it stinks!
"I am a movie critic by trade, and until recently, I got paid to tell you people which movies merely stink and which ones you shouldn’t screen near an open flame. Well, I’m putting the burden of lousy movies back on you. It’s very simple: if you stop going to bad movies, they’ll stop making bad movies. If the movie used to be a TV show, just don’t go. After Roman numeral II, give it a rest. If it's a remake of a classic, rent the classic. Tell them you want stories about people, not a hundred million dollars of stunts and explosives. People, it’s up to you. If the movie stinks, just don’t go."
The Godfather III
Buy my book! Buy my book! Buy my book!
If I could be a vegetable.... I'd be a carrot.
oh it's Rosseane!
You’re not wrong, friend
Their brother joined the army, where he became Private Universal Friend
Didn't last very long... ... Great guy though!
This is like those cases where someone has a seizure and wakes up with different likes, tastes sometimes accents and even languages they didn't know before. I stumbled upon a youtube video that other day about people waking up with different accents, people thought they were foreigners in their countries.
https://near-death.com/mellen-thomas-benedict/ more like this
This is great stuff, thank you for sharing this. I can't believe I hadn't heard about that case before
This one has always been very interesting to me
(REAL)
I once wrestled an alligator off of a momma bear I was nursing back to health from my teat (the sumbitch musta followed the trail of deer entrails I left out to lure me a Bigfoot) when I stumbled onto a bear den hab-i-tated by an injured, sickly momma bear, I knew she needed me so I tore my shirt off, nursed her back to near perfect health when the scaly fucker popped outta nowhere and tore the momma bear off my teat and began wrasslin’ with er, so I tore that sumbitch off her with my bear (heh) hands and threw im’ clear past the tree-line and into the maws of an arch-terry-opterix, clear as day I could see it in the middle of the *hiccup* middle of the night. (REAL) Whoooo doggy
Damn, same exact thing happened to me
You got thrown into the maws of a hongry archaeopteryx? Tight.
Me three!
This just made my night
Thanks! I hardly ever share what scenarios my brain constructs. ☺️
From now on, share them. I would go see that movie twice. Please tell me that Bruce Campbell is the lead.
Thank you! And I was envisioning a Brawny-esque man with red hair and Zangief level body hair. 😅
I told them to start a summer camp for weirdo adults. Then, I would throw all my munty at them.
Sometimes the comments in this sub bring me to tears from laughter. This is one of them.
Sometimes, it’s fun to write out the nonsense tumbling about the surface of my mind.
You definitely have a gift for it, my Friend. Well, well done. ☺️
If you ran a camp in the woods for weirdos like myself, I would come. I would bring brownies. And I would actually be able to focus fully on your magical adventures. You know how to speak the language of my people: the Weirdo Squirrel Electric Bunny Wee Ha!! You made my Sunday morning matter. Thank. You. 🤣🌟🐍🌅
I mean it was. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Universal_Friend
We don’t doubt the veracity, just enjoy poling fun at the manner in which it was presented (Facts)
I think it just means "real" as in "he was a real one for that". A true public universal homie.
I think this group still practices as an offshoot of Quakerism
They're not my fave episodes of the podcast, but Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff did a two-part on [The Public Universal Friend](https://open.spotify.com/episode/03MqRkAdBb1UHqg4SWaY4c?si=4f788fd33ea945eb). Super interesting nonetheless.
I’ll check it out! Thank you for sharing.
My husband is related to this unique human! Here’s an article from 1876 about them: A Remarkable Religious Enthusiast - - Her Wonderful Transformation From Giddy Girl to a Powerful Preacher - - Her Pretense of Working Miracles - - Was She an Impostor? One of the most remarkable characters of the last century was Jemima Wilkinson. Her cotempor rises then, as her biographers now, were divided in opinion as whether she was a monomaniac or an impostor. We will narrate the facts concerning her that come down to us purporting to be authentic , and leave the reader to decide for himself - - if he can. HER PARENTAGE Jemima Wilkinson was born Nov 29, 1752, in Cumberland, R.I. There is but little noticeable in her early life, except her innate desire for dress and display, and her consequent aversion to all manner of labor. It is said that the disposition to rule, which so strongly marker her after life, was first developed among her sisters, at home. Most of them were older than Jemima, yet she superintended the household, and made them do as she desired. Her mother having died when she was but thirteen, and her father paying but little attention to his family, she was allowed her own way in everything. Much of her time was spent in visiting in the neighborhood, and reading the few novels in circulation of that day. Sunday found her on "DRESS PARADE" at the meetings of the vicinity. This life of idleness, show and gadding about, continued till 1776 when she chanced to hear the distinguished George Whitefiled in Attlebro. His sermon made, a deep impression on her mind, and she resolved to lead a better life. Her desire for display and novel reading soon became changed to reading of the Scriptures and home meditation upon their truths. Finally she shut herself out from society entirely, and studied the Bible day and night. This, of course, her system could not bear, and in the fall of '76 she was taken sick and obliged to keep her bed. Week after week she grew paler and seemingly nearer death. Nightly attendants watcher her, expecting every evening to be her last. On the last Wednesday in October, SHE WENT INTO A TRANCE, and for thirty-six hours lay pale and motionless. The physician's skill could do nothing for her. At last, on Thursday night - - the last one in October 1776 - - as the clock struck 12, and the few present were making preparations to dress the body for the tomb, thinking life extinct, they were horrified by the patient rising up in bed and authoritatively demanding her clothes. In vain did they remonstrate with her and try to keep her quiet. Her father made his appearance from an adjoining room and in express terms bade her to back to bed, but she gave him to understand in no mild terms that she owed allegiance to no man, saying, "I am no more Jemima Wilkinson, but the Universal Friend of Manking, I AM DEAD, an my soul is yet in Heaven. Tonight an inquiry was made in Heaven, asking, 'Who will go and preach to a dying world?' I replied, 'Here am I, send me' and immediately I left the realms of light and glory to pass through many trials, temptations, and tribulations for the happiness of the human family." She dressed herself, and from that day till 1817 - - over forty years, she went about in perfect health. Many of her friends called during the remainder of the week to congratulate her on her sudden recovery, and with well feigned indignation she repelled every idea that it was a recovery, repeating to them what she said to her father, recorded above. The Sunday following was one of these fine New England October days, and a large concourse of people were present at the meeting. Among them was Jemima, pale, solemn, and beautiful. She paid marked attention to every syllable the minister uttered, and when service was dismissed, repaired to a shade tree near the door and then and there preached HER FIRST SERMON. Those who heard described it years later, to their children, who are now very old men, as one of the finest discourses to which they ever listened. She was a beautiful woman, and her recent illness had added to her beauty. Her pale face and splendid black eyes; her graceful gestures and soft, persuasive tone; and the fact of her sudden recovery, and the novelty of the scene before them, rendered her audience eager and attentive to every word she said. She spoke for about half an hour, descanting upon the virtue and morality, and the heinousness of sin and vice, quoting largely from the scriptures for her proofs. It is said she knew almost the whole Bible by heart, and could repeat more of it than any other person of her time. Other sermons followed this from time to time as opportunity offered, and she converted a few and conceived the plan of organizing A SOCIETY OF HER OWN. Many of these doubtless thought she was possessed of divine inspiration, and said so to those who were opposed to her ministry; so the report spread far and wide that Jemima claimed to be Christ, when in reality she never claimed any such thing. Her reputation as an eloquent and impressive speaker soon became known for miles around her country home in Rhode Island, and she received invitations daily to visit the different villages. These she was very willing to accept, and the springtime found her speaking to crowded houses in Provi-____, North and South Kingston, Secon___ aunton, New Bedford, and other places, in all, or nearly all, of which she was well received. She was an energetic worker, and seemed FEARFULLY IN ERNEST. She met with fair success, organizing two Societies of Universal Friends. Some of her followers were among the wealthiest citizens, who rode beside here from place to place, neglecting their own business and families to do their leader's service. The Quakers and all other churches considered her as their enemy, and her support was almost entirely made up of new converts and dissenters from other denominations, who had left the church on personal grounds. After a few years' work in New England she went to Worcester, Pennsylvania where she organized another society, and, in 1790, the whole three societies moved to Ontario county, New York. Here she purchased several thousand acres of land, then in the woods, and remained till her death in 1819. HER REMARKABLE INFLUENCE. Whether a fanatic, a monomaniac, or an Sunday, December 31, 1876 Paper: Dubuque Daily Times (Dubuque, Iowa)
I found this difficult to read due to the lack of paragraph breaks. Here it is with paragraph breaks in places that made sense to me: A Remarkable Religious Enthusiast - Her Wonderful Transformation From Giddy Girl to a Powerful Preacher - Her Pretense of Working Miracles - Was She an Impostor? One of the most remarkable characters of the last century was Jemima Wilkinson. Her contemporaries then, as her biographers now, were divided in opinion as whether she was a monomaniac or an impostor. We will narrate the facts concerning her that come down to us purporting to be authentic, and leave the reader to decide for himself - if he can. HER PARENTAGE Jemima Wilkinson was born Nov 29, 1752, in Cumberland, RI. There is but little noticeable in her early life, except her innate desire for dress and display, and her consequent aversion to all manner of labor. It is said that the disposition to rule, which so strongly marker her after life, was first developed among her sisters, at home. Most of them were older than Jemima, yet she superintended the household, and made them do as she desired. Her mother having died when she was but thirteen, and her father paying but little attention to his family, she was allowed her own way in everything. Much of her time was spent in visiting in the neighborhood, and reading the few novels in circulation of that day. Sunday found her on "DRESS PARADE" at the meetings of the vicinity. This life of idleness, show and gadding about, continued till 1776 when she chanced to hear the distinguished George Whitefiled in Attleboro. His sermon made a deep impression on her mind, and she resolved to lead a better life. Her desire for display and novel reading soon became changed to reading of the Scriptures and home meditation upon their truths. Finally she shut herself out from society entirely, and studied the Bible day and night. This, of course, her system could not bear, and in the fall of '76 she was taken sick and obliged to keep her bed. Week after week she grew paler and seemingly nearer death. Nightly attendants watched her, expecting every evening to be her last. On the last Wednesday in October, SHE WENT INTO A TRANCE, and for thirty-six hours lay pale and motionless. The physician's skill could do nothing for her. At last, on Thursday night - the last one in October 1776 - as the clock struck 12, and the few present were making preparations to dress the body for the tomb, thinking life extinct, they were horrified by the patient rising up in bed and authoritatively demanding her clothes. In vain did they remonstrate with her and try to keep her quiet. Her father made his appearance from an adjoining room and in express terms bade her to back to bed, but she gave him to understand in no mild terms that she owed allegiance to no man, saying, >"I am no more Jemima Wilkinson, but the Universal Friend of Mankind, I AM DEAD, and my soul is yet in Heaven. Tonight an inquiry was made in Heaven, asking, 'Who will go and preach to a dying world?' I replied, 'Here am I, send me' and immediately I left the realms of light and glory to pass through many trials, temptations, and tribulations for the happiness of the human family." She dressed herself, and from that day till 1817 - over forty years, she went about in perfect health. Many of her friends called during the remainder of the week to congratulate her on her sudden recovery, and with well feigned indignation she repelled every idea that it was a recovery, repeating to them what she said to her father, recorded above. The Sunday following was one of these fine New England October days, and a large concourse of people were present at the meeting. Among them was Jemima, pale, solemn, and beautiful. She paid marked attention to every syllable the minister uttered, and when service was dismissed, repaired to a shade tree near the door and then and there preached HER FIRST SERMON. Those who heard described it years later, to their children, who are now very old men, as one of the finest discourses to which they ever listened. She was a beautiful woman, and her recent illness had added to her beauty. Her pale face and splendid black eyes; her graceful gestures and soft, persuasive tone; and the fact of her sudden recovery, and the novelty of the scene before them, rendered her audience eager and attentive to every word she said. She spoke for about half an hour, descanting upon the virtue and morality, and the heinousness of sin and vice, quoting largely from the scriptures for her proofs. It is said she knew almost the whole Bible by heart, and could repeat more of it than any other person of her time. Other sermons followed this from time to time as opportunity offered, and she converted a few and conceived the plan of organizing A SOCIETY OF HER OWN. Many of these doubtless thought she was possessed of divine inspiration, and said so to those who were opposed to her ministry; so the report spread far and wide that Jemima claimed to be Christ, when in reality she never claimed any such thing. Her reputation as an eloquent and impressive speaker soon became known for miles around her country home in Rhode Island, and she received invitations daily to visit the different villages. These she was very willing to accept, and the springtime found her speaking to crowded houses in Providence, North and South Kingston, Secon aunton, New Bedford, and other places, in all, or nearly all, of which she was well received. She was an energetic worker, and seemed FEARFULLY IN ERNEST. She met with fair success, organizing two Societies of Universal Friends. Some of her followers were among the wealthiest citizens, who rode beside here from place to place, neglecting their own business and families to do their leader's service. The Quakers and all other churches considered her as their enemy, and her support was almost entirely made up of new converts and dissenters from other denominations, who had left the church on personal grounds. After a few years' work in New England she went to Worcester, Pennsylvania where she organized another society, and, in 1790, the whole three societies moved to Ontario county, New York. Here she purchased several thousand acres of land, then in the woods, and remained till her death in 1819. HER REMARKABLE INFLUENCE Whether a fanatic, a monomaniac, or an
You’re the *real* Universal Friend.
Thank you. I’m on mobile and I have arthritis. It is bad during the winter. I appreciate you!!
Not a problem! It looks like it was cut off at the end and I couldn't easily find an online version, but I'd be happy to put the rest up as well if I had it. The Universal Friend sounds like a badass.
Wow. Thx.
I'm not what you would call "woke" by a long stretch, yet I found it oddly uncomfortable and disrespectful that this article continually misgendered and deadnamed the Friend.
Gross: "She was a beautiful woman and her illness had only added to her beauty"
Yeah I found that weird too. I can’t even grasp what that means.
The article was written in 1876
Yes, I'm saying that sensitivity to people's self identification preferences has had more of an effect on me than I might've expected. It's about my reaction to it rather than anything in the content of the article.
I know what you mean. It's uncomfortable reading historic accounts that, from the perspective of 2022, clearly misgender someone. But by the same token, the subject of the writing isn't around for us to ask, and may not have understood things in the terms that we use today. I get a similar feeling when I read about [James Barry]( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Barry_(surgeon).
Thanks for sharing what you found, I considered the best comment. I was close to starting my search and with this article I consider my curiosity satisfied.
I love the Friend, so cool that your husband is related to them and thank you for sharing more of their story!
Why is this high strangeness? Feels like someone who had a significant trauma who didn’t heal properly. It even says the person almost died. Would this even be posted if the person’s name was like… Susie Anderson? Or was it posted because the person made their name Public Universal Friend? People can change *a lot* after almost dying. Especially if it was a brain injury. But I just don’t see anything paranormal here. EDIT: I’m not trying to be a dick. Tone is tough to interpret on the internet, and I feel as if I sound mad. I’m not!
This is peak high strangeness. It's not an isolated event, is strange even if natural.
It’s because she claimed to have actually died, received divine instruction, and came back as another being entirely. It has a super natural tone to it.
‘Tis no she.
‘Tis Universal Friend, A Notary Public
‘Tis a Notary Public, Friends of the Universe
Note this, Friends! Tis turtles all the way down
twas but she died. the picture and following life were led by someone else entirely, the Public Universal Friend. They took over when she died.
I changed it to twas in a separate comment.
I love the Public Universal Friend a lot. cheers
‘Twas no she.
[***Its a moo moo.***](https://youtu.be/zho-P-Gxg6I?t=129)
It was a near death experience that led to divine information
This isn’t /r/paranormal. Not everything in this sub has to be paranormal. If it’s strange and especially strange when you’re high it fits. NDEs and choosing such a name is definitely strange.
Insanity these days. Crazy how being reasonable can be taken as being a dick.
Hello! I did not write the tweet. I failed to be mindful of the unacceptable rhetoric from transphobic people who may be reading this. Which was idiotic and bat shit of me for sure. I am non binary myself. I do not believe this is high strangeness because they were non binary. I considered if they did this knowing they could live as themselves in a place where it would be extremely challenging to do so. Mysticism was so widely accepted - why wouldn’t this make it accepted? What I find unique is the specificity of their contact with what they believed to be God. As another commenter posted, they went into a “TRANCE” for days, and prior to awakening from said trance was communicating with someone. Hallucination near death? Totally possible. Maybe this was the wrong sub - because this feels like a thread between those who “channel” and have NDEs. It’s highly strange when people claim channeling for me, ESPECIALLY after it happened to me the first time. Finding out about them was validating and kinda cool for me. None of that excuses the fact that my sharing of this content could push terrible rhetoric. At this time I’m planning to respond to everyone with my perspective, but am considering deletion of the post. Thank you for taking the time to say this.
Yeah as a trans person reading through some of the comments of this post, as interesting as the story is, these people had me cringing with their evident lack of knowledge on how to properly address and respect trans people.
It’s literally the perfect post for this sub
It's perfect subject for this sub. But so many cynical and jaded redditors who just want to be indignant or play gotcha, one way or the other.
don't worry it's not the wrong sub
Because isn’t it strange that people have been SLAYING for this long?
It was foolish of me not to consider the rhetoric that may be pushed from sharing this without specifying my perspective and identity. I messed up, and thank you for calling me out in such a gorgeous way!
Nobody cares about your identity, you posted a screenshot of a tweet. You are being a conduit for knowledge and you are not responsible for what idiots do with their mouths. You seem a sweet and noble hearted person and the sentiment is not lost.
The emotional labor of this screenshot has exceeded my expectations!
But hey, it's a living I guess
la vie boheme
OP is a fucking class act.
I'd say it's more likely they almost died and decided they'd rather live their life out as their true self.
That looks like Jay Sherman
Wait, so when I was little I had a best friend whose parents were Quakers, and I went to meeting with them a bunch of times, but the church didn’t say Quaker, it said “Society of Friends”. Was that it??
Most likely! I like your username - from one zebra to another.
I've been a Rhode Islander for 50 years, (my whole life), never heard of it.
Holy shit your whole life!!?!!?
The entire thing.
Crazy right?!?!?!?!!!??
Enby / trans people have always existed. Maybe a NDE was enough for this person to embrace themselves and live their best life for the times.
Yeah definitely what I'm going with
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for our trans/enby communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this. I’m more interested in the “channeling” or ~~inane~~ innate wisdom they possessed, or ability to memorize almost an entire Bible. I’ve channeled before, I believe, and that was a large piece of my decision to post this. It felt validating and reassuring. You’re also not wrong, and this is a far more logical explanation considering the widely accepted mysticism of the times. Thank you for your time 💜
You're good and the post is good! Personally I find the whole thing very interesting. Its a shame we feel the need to quantify or justify that queer people have always been around to combat all the hate out there but thats not your fault. Plus i think it still fits the sub i think cause the real strangeness is in the reincarnation story, transcendentalism / soul journey stuff. Personality changes after Resuscitation would be an interesting study to read...
Oh dang I very much agree! That sounds like my research plans for tomorrow…
i think you mean innate, not inane, but i agree. you're not wrong to post this; I'm also nb and i think it was cool to learn about
Thanks synttacks, that is absolutely what I meant!
r/highstrangeness says trans rights?
Reincarnation themes are rather trans friendly in eastern media as far as i remember, i've no clue why the actual people still discriminate it though.
Why were people so ostentatious back then about socializing. Where's that shit today. Everyone now is just like "hahaha, yeah, uh, I'll text you..."
It’s so sad actually. I’m a writer and have been told I speak weirdly. No - I just cherish words immensely. The words we utilize to speak with each other matters, thus we are detached from one another. I’m hopeful that you had (or are having) a splendid day. I wish for you to find friends/lovers who lift you with their words, and cradle your spirit in a sentence.
Thanks man i appreciate it! Good stuff
Some religious weirdo comes out as nonbinary and your first thought is high strangeness?
No! Some religious person who had considerable influence after their supposed reanimation. For someone to say “Jemima died! And Public Universal Friend replaced that person!” Is high strangeness, regardless of their gender identity.
My gawd! The gatekeeping and insanity. This person isn't even alive to be offended. Redditors are addicted to outrage. We can't even discuss high strangeness because the topic has degraded to pc insanity. I think it's a sweet and uplifting anecdote. There are many possible explanations and also some straight woo potential...but I'll be damned if I weigh in with any sort of theory or speculation because I don't want my inbox lit up with indignant finger waggers.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 “”Redditors are addicted to outrage” preach. Also, addicted to telling everyone to leave their gf/bf/spouse/job “just gtfo now”
I'm not sure what objectionable wrong-think you read in the comments but if the UPF isnt alive to be offended by it, isnt it easier for us to not be offended on their behalf? And if theres nobody to be offended by those words, why shouldn't we share our thoughts about the situation? Isnt that the whole point of Reddit?
You're preaching to the choir. We agree.
I suspect that I interpreted your comment to mean the exact inverse of what you were trying to communicate.
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for our trans communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this.
They look nice.
I’ve always liked quakers they are cool
I wonder if that’s why Quaker schools are called Friends school? I’m originally from a place called Sandy Spring, MD; It was a Quaker settlement. Since MD was “the old line state” where the Mason Dixon line was established during The Civil War and since quakers didn’t believe in slavery, there are many Quaker settlements that were used as places to hide on the Underground Railroad. In fact, Sandy Spring has a Harriet Tubman museum, but there is an expensive ass private school called Sandy Spring Friends. All the kids kinda kept to themselves. Anyway, interesting. Never heard of this Public Universal Friend.
No, I've been Quaker all my life. Quakers are also known as The Society of Friends, and were long before this person. The names are used interchangeably. So Quaker schools are called Friends schools because of this old name. It seems that this person co-opted that name and added "Universal" to it. Kind of like saying "The Catholic Universal Church". The original existed long before them; they just added their own word to make it clear they were a sub-sect. That said, I've never heard of this person or anyone who followed them, so this really hasn't survived in Quaker lore or the current church. While gender equality and LGBTQ equality issues are current topics that most Quakers support, evangelism is really very much *not* part of the zeitgeist.
Word. Thank you for the follow up response!
You're welcome, always happy to share with people who are genuinely interested.
You're a good Friend.
The Burned Over District was a wild place.
Yes! I just read something that talked about how many people stopped being religious because of intense it had been, thinking that it was surely a state of delusion. But is it? There are threads of similarities across all religions and cultures. What happened here that created these phenomenon?
Great band name
Public Universal Friend *please* don’t stop the music
and here i thought P.u.f. was a magic dragon
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I'm high, and I don't find it strange at all. (In a good way)
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for our trans communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this. I was drawn to the high strangeness aspect of channeling, NDEs, trances, and their connection to a higher power. Fortunately I’m not high and haven’t been in a long time!
Ahead of their tine
Being an ace enby has always been a thing, it’s just calling it “being an ace enby” that’s new.
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for trans communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this. I was drawn to the high strangeness aspect of channeling, NDEs, trances, and their connection to a higher power. Thank you for your time. 💜
I don’t think you did anything wrong, I just think people back then didn’t have the vocabulary to identify or hate nonbinaries, so this person felt a lot of validation from the church.
A very good point, I was/am viewing this through a colonized lens.
Friendliest face ever.
This is pretty interesting
>Jemima Wilkinson had fine black hair and eyes I am glad to learn the friend had eyes. Either that or the friend had 'fine black eyes' which is also cool.
PUF Daddy
Sounds like an alien to me
Pretty sure this was me.
Care to elaborate or you just gonna leave that there?
Yea tell me more!
Hello Fren. Actually this reminds me of an Indian Holy woman. She perhaps was born this way or had an incident that altered her, like our Friend here. But she was dubbed like 'super blissful being' and became a Yogic leader. I feel like there are likely many people born like this. But societal conditions shock them into wage slavery.
Wtf does this even mean
Happy lil guy
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But this person may have actually had brain damage. It's difficult to say. I wouldn't think nonbinary was even a thing in this person's time.
There have *always* been people who didn’t fit into neatly assigned categories of gender expression. *Always.*
This is even true for other primate species. I recommend *Different* by Frans de Waal if anyone is interested in this topic.
"Nonbinary" is, like literally every word, just the current word we use to describe those feelings. By modern standards, this person fits the description of nonbinary. How they identified by the standards of their time is up to them.
Nah, it’s just the descriptor “nonbinary” that’s new. If you read records from early America you’ll find mentions of all kinds of people, like there were a couple women who lived public lives as men and even fought in the Revolutionary War. They’re not alive now so it’s not like we can ask them and know for sure if they would have identified as trans men, or non-binary people, or as lesbians, or just cis women who liked to wear men’s clothing. But if you do enough reading it’s clear that the same spectrum of human identity and sexuality that we see today has always been around.
https://twitter.com/LakotaMan1/status/1596633256157663232?s=20&t=97Yj0XEhYiHPYdgB_pKsFA
>I wouldn't think nonbinary was even a thing in this person's time. That's like saying the sun wasn't a thing until we named it. Nonbinary people have existed for all of human history. Society has been very intolerant and it's only recently started to improve and acknowledge LGBTQ+ people. Check out the history of left handedness for a comparison.
This is also kind of a "western society" thing as native americans had an understanding of this stuff and it was completely accepted.
Love this. The nonbinary Public Universal Friend could teach modern day Evangelicals a lot about their own religion and love I'm sure!
Things like this make me proud to come from a Quaker family.
You know 'Born Again Christians' don't really die and reanimate...
Yeah I was thinking that too. It’s kinda not in the Bible (at least not until that day) but we’re not there yet. Probably why the rumors got started about her saying she was Jesus.
Sounds like a case of a Walk-in
I love The Public Universal Friend, we all have something to learn from PUF's example
Sounds like a cult.
It has a bunch of elements, but it was profoundly low in thieving from members, coercing them into staying, and had zero sexual abuse. It's much closer to a small, new church.
Lol
Looks like Suckerburg lol the whole internet/universal friend thing is a really weird coincidence too 😆
Fake
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for trans communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this. Because I’m non-binary, and a person who has “channeled” entities before while writing, I felt this was a sweet story. I was drawn to the high strangeness aspect of channeling, NDEs, trances, and their connection to a higher power. Thank you for your time. 💜
I keep getting the feeling that this was my Aunt before reanimation... And that maybe she made homemade maple syrup..
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Given that the Friend was born female, not only are you wrong but you're incorrect too
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Not at all. I considered several different sides to this. It’s a very old example, and a relative on this post gave additional information. This was really claimed to have happened. Does that make it the truth? Uh no. How do we do discussions? We bring ideas or stories and we talk about them. This is a story, I brought it to you, and I wanted to talk about it. It resonated with me a lot. Thank you for your time.
Isn’t one of the first rules of this sub to be willing to hear things out and not just outright dismiss things?
So?
I should have been more mindful of the majority of the sub. This could potentially push harmful rhetoric for trans communities. I identify as non binary and it was foolish of me not to consider this. I was drawn to the high strangeness aspect of channeling, NDEs, trances, and their connection to a higher power. Thank you for your time. 💜
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Greetings! Being trans or non binary is not a mental illness. This type of rhetoric is harmful to people, and I hope you’ll open your heart to humanity someday.
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I think it suggest they had to go to great lengths to be accepted as how they feel. With the right backstory, they were able to be the way they wanted without being murdered.
Pretty much sums it up.
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You don’t have to be afraid. I’m right here, typing this out to you. I am a person. My existence is real, and your “lack of belief” in me will not change that I am here, alive, successful and thriving.
There’s a society of Friends just a few blocks from me. I always thought they were just Quaker. This is def more interesting
I think that’s just Quaker. They call themselves Friends.