Observances of the Open Question

1 Let no act be excused merely because its author calleth the intention excellent.

2 Ask what was intended, what was chosen, what followed, and who bore the cost.

3 For the Office may rejoice in its results while the visitor is diminished by them.

4 A sacred name doth not make coercion into care; neither doth a condemned name establish the nature of an act.

5 The Society needeth no verdict upon a person’s eternal essence before addressing a boundary or repairing harm.

6 Let agreement be specific where agreement is required.

7 Let refusal be heard without manufacturing a spiritual penalty.

8 Let no teacher borrow another’s freedom in order to teach freedom.

9 And let these inquiries be turned upon the Society before they are offered as accusations against its neighbors.

10 An account of kindness shall not be accepted in place of kindness’s practical conditions.

1 Let the label advanced, ancient, rebellious, or scientific bear no more weight than the claim beneath it can carry.

2 Let familiar things remain open to examination, and unfamiliar things remain open to evidence.