Come-outer

Come-outer is a phrase coined in the 1830s which denotes a person who withdraws from an established organization, or one who advocates political reform.

History

The term was first applied during the Second Great Awakening to a small group of American abolitionists who dissented from religious orthodoxy, who withdrew from a number of established churches because the churches were not progressive enough on the issue of abolition. A come-outer would not join a church which held a neutral position on the issue of slavery, and he would not vote, or run for office, or otherwise take part in a government that let slavery happen. The phrase was derived from the Bible verse, II Corinthians 6:17 which read "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, said the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."

Garrisonian anti-institutionalism