by 
The Friends Committee on National Legislation reminds Quakers and everyone to recognize the threats of our nation’s new leadership while honoring our core values: justice, mercy, truth, simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship. Below, I quote one of the public statements from FCNL :
“We are not for names nor men, nor titles of Government, nor are we for this party nor against the other… but we are for justice and mercy and truth and peace and true freedom that these may be exalted in our nation… that these things may abound.”Quaker Minister, Edward Burrough, 1659.
This week, we were grateful that millions of people participated in our democracy and that the elections were conducted in a broadly fair, free, and peaceful manner.
With Burrough’s words in mind, we are called to raise a grave warning of the threats we see in the re-election of Donald Trump. Threats to the dignity and lives of millions of our neighbors, including many with whom we work. Threats to the values we hold dear. Threats to a wide range of issues crucial to building the world we seek. To our democracy itself.
These threats only magnify the challenges before us. The weeks, months, and years ahead will not be easy. Like so many across our communities, we are heartbroken by the election result and anxious for what lies ahead.
Yet as people of hope, we will persist in our belief that our democracy is strongest when we are all engaged with it, and with one another.
We will continue to stand in solidarity with people most impacted by government policies. We will continue to fiercely advocate and lovingly defend human dignity and the rights of all people. We will continue to seek opportunities for cooperation across political divides and peacebuilding amid conflict. We will continue to work relentlessly to advance policies that will bring about the more just, peaceful, and sustainable world we seek.
In times of fear and danger, we are called into deeper community with one another – and with those with whom we disagree. Difficult as it may be, we continue to be called to love our neighbors, no exception.