North Columbus Friends Meeting (Quakers)

Adapted from the Kent Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends by The North Columbus Friends Meeting on 9.14.2025

The North Columbus Friends Meeting wishes to express our concern with the recent actions of our current governments. As Quakers we value Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, Justice, and Stewardship. We are called to search for the Truth and to recognize “that of God,” a divine Light, that is inherent in every person. We believe the policies of the current governments are in stark conflict with the values and holy guidance we believe we are called to follow. Our concerns include:

• Ongoing violations of, and efforts to undermine, our constitutional form of government with its tripartite structure, separation of powers, and checks and balances.
• Frequent attacks on our Constitutional principles and guarantee of free speech.
• A disregard for, and frequent violation of, basic civil rights of citizens and residents, including failure to provide due process for all on American soil.
• An apparent inattention to the sworn obligation to see that laws are faithfully executed.
• The apparent use of Federal office to enhance personal wealth.
• The defunding and dismantling of food and nutrition programs that deprive children, the poor and the elderly.
• Cutting services and funding for America’s veterans, the Social Security program, and healthcare.
• The rescission of funding for and attacks on science and research in health care and other areas in violation of existing laws and the will of the people.
• The denial and suppression of honest discussion of history, including the historical maltreatment of ethnic and social minority groups, as we struggle to perfect the union.
• Replacing truth and factual accuracy with groundless conspiracy theories and endlessly repeated falsehoods.
• The cruelty and shortsightedness we see in the defunding of international aid programs that help children and other people in crisis and the real threat of causing widespread death.
• Support for foreign wars that deprive people of life and liberty, including in Gaza.
• Implied and explicit support for totalitarian regimes around the world and their suppression of human rights of their citizens and residents.
• Abandonment of historical allies and refusal to support Ukraine as it defends against the Russian invasion.

Recognizing the seriousness of these issues and the need for immediate and sustained action to address them, we encourage everyone who shares our belief in the inherent dignity and worth of every person, and shares our concern for justice, truth, and our rights, to join us in making your voice heard. It would serve us well to be reminded that, in the face of injustice and that which is wrong, our silence is complicity.

𝐖𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.