This weekend’s field committee meeting was, in a word, awesome. The two and a half days that I spent with its members - Quakers from across the country with valuable and varied experiences with political action - affirmed the ways in which Quakerism resonates for me as a spiritual grounding and as a frame for social action. Our time together gave me energy, conviction, and affirmed my place here at FCNL. I just can’t get over this feeling that I really am in the right place at the right time.

When federal immigration enforcement is carried out by state and local law enforcement, communities are less safe. Read why.

In my second week at FCNL, sitting nervously in my first staff meeting, wondering what working at a Quaker organization would be like, I was told something surprising: we do not celebrate Columbus Day. Unlike the federal government, we will be coming in to work as usual on October 8. As a Quaker organization, we choose not to honor Christopher Columbus – the man responsible for the deaths of millions of Native Americans and the theft of their land – with a holiday.

Big things can happen in a few short words or sentences. The continuing resolution passed by Congress included language that ended funding for a new nuclear bomb plant in New Mexico, called the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) facility.

Did you know that before the 2006 elections, no state required a voter to present a photo ID? A bill or bank statement was enough to prove one’s identity. Since then, thirty states have enacted some form of voter ID law (including states where you can provide a non-photo ID like a voter registration card). Twelve states now require a photo ID, and some of those require that the photo IDs come from government or accredited authorities. Opponents of voter ID laws assert that many minorities, seniors, veterans, young people, and poor people are likely to be unable to vote in the next election because these ID requirements place an unnecessary burden on those groups.

This past Thursday, September 20th, the House defeated H.R. 5987, which sought to create a Manhattan Project National Historical Park in places such as Los Alamos, New Mexico, Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington. These cities all played a lead role in the creation and development of the first nuclear weapon, under the code name of The Manhattan Project.

On September 7, 2012, the U.S. Government officially designated the Haqqani Network, the most lethal branch of the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

Legally, the designation fits. But just because the U.S. could make this designation does not mean they should have.