quackquack

Via Peggy Parsons here’s our second place listing on CNN’s Ten Most Important Kisses of History:

The Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, is a small Christian sect best known for rejecting all forms of violence, embracing progressive politics, and dedicating themselves to simple, restrained living. They’ve promoted a more harmonious world by founding causes such as Amnesty International, not to mention lending their name to oatmeal.

So we were surprised to learn that when teenage Quakers get together, their favorite activity is a free-for-all kissing game that often ends in bruising and rug burn. Alternately known as Ratchet Screwdriver, Bloody Winkum, or Wink, the game dates back to the early 1900s.

Peggy’s given her own commentary over on her Silly Poor Gospel blog.

Martin’s Commentary: This has got to be one of the stupidest articles on Friends to come out in awhile. Number two on the list of the most important kisses, right behind Judas giving Jesus the peck of betrayal? I think not. If the Quaker blogosphere were some major force in American culture, I’d accuse CNN of linkbaiting us (posting something outrageous just to get us to link to it) but they probably don’t even know there are Quaker bloggers.

Wink is a popular game with teenager and twenty-somethings in liberal Quaker circles. When I was in my twenties, it was huge in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and Friends General Conference, though there was some pushback because of injuries. It’s a purely cultural overlay, a folk tradition that makes no claim to high theological insights. It’s kind of on a par with Ultimate frisbee, hackiesacks and Birkenstock sandles. It’s a bit bizarre, but not offensive, fun but silly. I’ve seen accounts of it among Australian Friends and British Friends and it’s passed over to Unitarian circles as well. It’s got its own Wikipedia page, which looks to be the primary source for the CNN hack who wrote the article (for those keeping score, it first appeared in a magazine of trivia and the author is a freelancer from Minneapolis.)