Quakers were required to marry within the Society of Friends.
Quakers were required to be married after the Quaker fashion. This came to be a very significant discipline after the passage of the Uniform Marriage Act of 1753 which specifically exempted only Jews and Quakers from the requirement that "non-conformist" marriages be solemnized by a Church of England official to be legally recognized.
Quakers were committed to pacifism in both public and private affairs. Occasionally, as cause for disownment, there is cited "threatening to strike a fellow creature". Quakers were not permitted to bear arms, appear "arrayed in a warlike manner", join the militia, or pay war taxes.
Quakers were NOT forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages, which was commonly accepted in the 1600's when the Society was founded. They were however, forbidden to drink to excess. Quakers were known to have owned Inns in which alcoholic beverages were sold as a normal part of business, however Quakers seem to be forbidden to engage in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages. It was also considered contrary to discipline to offer alcohol as an inducement to others to perform some act.
Quakers were committed to democratic concepts and equality. As a result, many Quakers were heavily involved with the emancipation movement. Quakers organized the Underground Railroad to aid runaway slaves find freedom.
Quakers were anti-clerical. Many threads of activity and beliefs are traceable to the concept of the "Inner Light". In its simplest form, this concept says that every man and every woman has an inner capacity to understand the Word of God and to offer an opinion on spiritual matters without the necessity for the interpositioning of Priests or Ministers. However, since the earliest times, the Quakers have had recorded but not ordained Ministers to act as spiritual leaders. They held to the belief that certain people were born with the talent to minister. They watched for this talent to appear in an individual and when it was shown, recorded a person as a Minister as a self-evident fact.
Although not a matter of discipline, the Quakers were strong believers in action by committee. Committees were appointed for everything, including committees to attend weddings and funerals.
Quakers were strongly committed to plainness in dress, word, and deed.
