Which religion is the most peaceful?

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I had to go with Jains. Sam Harris often refers to them when people say 'all religious fundamentalism brings violence', actually no... the more extreme you go as a Jain the more you're concerned about silverfish in the carpet.

You only get peaceful people, like aggressive

irrelevant of religion.

Depends on the individual. People can preach peace but it's a matter of practice

While communist countries as a whole have tried to discourage religious practice, Albania was the only one to have banned it outright, from 1967-1990.

I chose Bahai, although I am a Lutheran, which is also a peaceful and very inclusive faith.

That.

With the Quakers as the second most nonviolent.

The Jains are against violence against any living beings. The Quakers are pacifists as well, but limit that to interhuman relations, and dont care if you eat meat, or beat up on insects. Lol!

Quakers are nicest people.

And I'm not a quaker.

Just every time I read about them in history, whether it's an gorta mor or more recent stuff, they're there being heroes and doing the right thing.

They're not necessarily the most peaceful but they're the nicest.

Seconded. I went to a few Quaker meetings with a former girlfriend and I was stunned by how nice people could be.

As far as I can tell, Jainism has the strictest non-violence teachings of any of the religions listed.

They're organized mystics that have a town hall sort of assembly without particularly strong ceremony, a bit like UU's but more in principal rather than dressing up like a CoexIsT bumper sticker.

LOL

And you derived this characterization of Quakers from....?

Quakers I've talked to?

I might have used an off-putting phrase or two so I'll try saying it a different way:

1) There are meetings where people take turns leading prayer and meditation.
2) There really isn't a traditional ceremony in the catholic sense, just meditation and some discussion.
3) The really isn't a lot of ornamentation - the prayer area is kept relatively simple.
4) The focus is on an inward relationship with God.

Do these sound correct?

Not really.

The relevant part of Quaker practice to this thread is the Peace Testimony. Because most Quaker documents are quite lengthy, here is just a bit from wiki:

“Peace testimony, or testimony against war, is a shorthand description of the action generally taken by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) for peace and against participation in war. ... Because of this core testimony, the Religious Society of Friends is considered one of the traditional peace churches.”

I’ll look for a 25 words or less version of Quakerism so you don’t have to embarrass yourself further.

I've heard those atheists go around forcibly un-baptizing people with hair dryers.

Seriously, religion is not the problem. It's forcing one's religion on others that is the problem.

Wasn't my desire or goal to be disrespectful of it. That's part of why I wondered if I'd set a tone by mistake.

The people I've talked to expressed that it's a quietist tradition which is in that sense inward-facing. I personally don't see 'mysticism' as a dirty word because I think of manual inner work and balancing, in the west I think of people like Boehme, Swedenborg, Emerson, etc. but I get that I probably need to stay mindful that most people mean something like 'silly', 'impractical', or 'eccentric' by it. Pennsylvania actually has been a hot bed for inward traditions, Mark Stavish introduced us to the Pennsylvania Dutch Braucherei, it's also a place where the first Rosicrucian settlements in the US founded themselves (19th century, P.B. Randolph etc.), a lot of very 'mystical practice for daily life' kinds of groups out there and it probably had something do with the culture of tolerance and introspection that the Quakers brought with them.

The language does not bother me and I wasn’t insulted. So, I think I am the one who inadvertently sounded like I was criticizing you. I should have used more emojis. I apologize. It’s just you are usually so articulate and well-read, it seemed jarring that you were missing the boat here.

Many Quakers are mystics and the practice is supported. Quakers often describe spiritual leadings as listening to the quiet still voice everyone can hear once the external world noise is silenced. But Quakers are not looking inward, nor are they meditating in Meetings for Worship. Quakers are basically being quiet so they can have a corporate experience of listening to God. Although quiet, it is an active silence.

Some bullet points:

Quakers emphasize transformation and what good can be done in this life, rather than salvation.
When praying, Quakers listen to God rather than talk to God.
Rather than a single minister, everyone is a minister. The organization is ground up. There are no authorities.
There is wide latitude in details one chooses when worshiping.
Quaker practice is based on a few basic testimonies: Peace, Truth, Equality, Simplicity.