Statement

FCNL leaders provide statements on the mass shootings this weekend in Buffalo, NY, and Laguna Woods, CA.

We affirm again that war is never the answer. Lasting peace can only be achieved through peaceful means.

More than a decade after the start of the war in Syria, the United States continues to rely on military force as its primary tool of engagement. We call on the White House and Congress to end the war-based, militarized approach to terrorism and properly resource critical non-military tools that deal with the root causes of terrorism and prioritize peace.

Russia, the United States, and Ukraine all share one key interest now: preventing a war. To put people first, all sides must do everything in their power to deescalate the situation and return to the bargaining table. Anything less represents a moral failing of the highest magnitude.

In 2021, at least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting – far more than in any other year in the last decade.

After 20 years, we must no longer let the wounds of torture, indefinite detention, and a broken military justice system fester. We must finally close Guantanamo.

One year after a violent mob inspired by the sitting president encouraged an insurrection to block the count of electoral votes, our democracy remains at risk.

On Dec. 6-8, FCNL’s outgoing General Secretary Diane Randall and incoming leader Bridget Moix joined leaders from Quaker Agencies in London to mark a time of transition in our leadership and our work. Together they affirmed their collective commitment to working to build the just and peaceful world God tells us can be ours.

For what seems like the first time in far too long, the legal system has reinforced the twin pillars of justice in the United States: all are equal before the law and, while all are innocent until proven guilty, the guilty will be held accountable.

With this verdict—in all its devastating familiarity—a terrible truth is affirmed: Justice is not applied equally in the United States. The legacy of white supremacy continues to poison the very core of our justice system; protecting white people even as it inflicts continual harm on people of color.