Preamble

The Friends Committee on National Legislation is composed of members of the Religious Society of Friends who bring spiritual values to bear on public policy decisions. Our legislative policy grows out of our basic belief that there is that of God in every human being and that God's love endows all creation with worth and dignity. Through individual and corporate worship we try to be open to the will of God and to express the spirit of Christ in all relationships and levels of interaction, whether personal, communal, national, or global.

We work together to secure justice and freedom for all people so that we may live at peace with one another. As seekers after truth and Christians, Friends strive to make the social, economic, political, and environmental aspects of our lives consistent with our spiritual values and Quaker heritage. We endeavor to live in right relation with the earth.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation engages in the positive, continuing process of interpreting to people in government our convictions on the moral and spiritual values that should undergird government and law. We work to encourage Spirit-led decision-making on legislative matters. We listen to others, convey our beliefs about policy issues, urge members of Congress and others in government to support specific policies and actions, and try to shape and support legislation consistent with our convictions. We work to educate Friends and like-minded people to participate in the political process, whether as voters, activists, or elected officials.

In consultation with and on behalf of a broadly representative group of Friends, we have composed this Statement of our objectives for public policy. In this Statement, we focus on broad principles and goals rather than specific legislative actions that may flow from them. We attempt to focus on root causes of injustice and their long-term consequences, knowing that many issues are inextricably linked with one another. Many of the goals that we outline here require profound changes in attitudes and behavior, both in and out of government. Change may entail personal and material costs which we are prepared to share. We are convinced that such changes are essential for life on earth to survive and flourish.

Underlying all the legislative recommendations in this statement are spiritual convictions that ultimately cannot be legislated. They live in each individual conscience, forged and nurtured through ties to family and community, growing out of a continual search for truth.

Above all, we seek to remain open to where God's spirit leads us.