This Week in the World

With election day quickly approaching, the voices of ordinary voters matter even more as we decide who is going to represent us in Congress in 2025.

Earlier this week we urged our network to engage with candidates for office and got a great response. It was exciting to see your passion for this work. Candidates can impact our communities, and you can influence their priorities.

This week, we mourned and honored the more than 100,000 people who were killed in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 79 years ago.

As we reflected on this solemn anniversary, we joined partners and friends around the globe to recommit to the urgent work of ensuring that nuclear weapons are never used again.

Traveling throughout the Middle East in January, FCNL’s Bridget Moix and Hassan El-Tayyab saw firsthand how the regional violence sparked by the Isarel-Gaza war was getting worse daily. Reflecting on their experience, they warned that these escalations would “continue until there is a ceasefire.”

The months that have passed since then have proven their words true and exacted an enormous human toll. Today, the region is closer to the brink of a major war than ever.

On Wednesday, Congress convened a special joint session to hear from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu sought to rally even greater U.S. military support for a war that continues to inflict unprecedented suffering on the people of Gaza.

Following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump last weekend, we joined people of faith and conscience around the country to reject political violence in all its forms. Just as violence is not the answer to political conflict here at home, it is not the answer to security challenges abroad.

The Biden administration is moving forward with a new shipment of 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel, reversing its vow to suspend weapons transfers if Israel moved forward with its assault on Rafah.

Independence Day is a chance to appreciate our democracy. Yesterday, we celebrated the 248th birthday of the United States of America. But today, many of us are deeply concerned about the health of our democratic system.

While it’s natural to feel anxious, never let anyone make you feel like your voice doesn’t matter or that you can’t make a difference. Despair is a threat and a lie. Our faith calls us to commitment and courage.

This week for the first time, the federal government formally declared what we have long known: gun violence is a public health crisis.

As Iranian writer Dina Nayeri said, “It is the obligation of every person born in a safer room to open the door when someone in danger knocks.”

This week, President Joe Biden took bold action to provide protections and opportunities for many of our undocumented neighbors.

This week, Congress took an important step toward addressing the painful legacy of Indian boarding schools.

On Thursday, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act (H.R. 7227) with overwhelming bipartisan support.

We hope Congress will move swiftly to bring this bill to the floor and pass it so that we can begin the long overdue work of truth, justice, and healing for Native communities.