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Dwarf Quaker Slavery-fighting Activist Benjamin Lay is My New Hero

Posted on August 20, 2017February 13, 2019 by

The New York Times has an inspired write up about Quaker activist Benjamin Lay, “You’ll Never Be as Radical as This 18th-Century Quaker Dwarf.”  It really speaks to my condition, as Friends say:

“Lay, a hunchback as well as a dwarf, was the world’s first revolutionary abolitionist. Against the common sense of the day, when slavery seemed to most people as immutable as the stars in the heavens, Lay imagined a new world in which people would live simply, make their own food and clothes, and respect nature. He lived in a cave in Abington, Pa., ate only fruits and vegetables — “the innocent fruits of the earth” — and championed animal rights. He refused to consume any commodity produced by slave labor and was known to walk abruptly out of a dinner in protest when he found out that his host owned slaves.”

I admit to not being the most diligent Quaker in the past few years. But this has put the war-fighting spirit of George Fox back in me.

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