This reflection was part of the Vitality newsletter sent on November 6, 2026. To sign up for Vitality, click here.

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Quaker communities make decisions together, not through voting, but by asking what God requires of us on a given topic. Yet Quakers in many communities worldwide also participate in community decision-making through voting in municipal, state, and national elections. This season, several Quakers even participated in the local election process as candidates, bringing forth their values for potential alignment with the electorate.

Many Quakers I know consider themselves liberal, progressive, or leftist, while other Quakers within and outside of the unprogrammed tradition consider themselves to be politically conservative. The beliefs of Friends are widely documented through Minutes of Conscience and through testimonies. Some testimonies have remained fundamentally unchanged over the years, such as the peace testimony; some have emerged more recently as distinct expressions of longstanding Quaker commitments, such as the justice testimony; and some testimonies evolve, such as our understanding of oath-taking.

Every Quaker is not the same, and every Quaker doesn’t vote the same. We are informed by our lived experiences, influenced by families and friends, and bombarded by persuasive messages in media, both traditional and new. Our minds can be made up, and then change, just like any number of our neighbors.

This week, Friends in the United States of America have experienced yet another tumultuous midterm election season. For many communities, the policies of the Trump administration (some of which FGC is involved in actively fighting) have been used as a test of how one might vote: What did this candidate have to say about women’s reproductive rights? What did that candidate have to say about immigration? What did this party have to say about censorship of books in school libraries?

Some people ask themselves what the Christian Bible says or infers about those topics and more: capital punishment, war and peace, taxes.

“You will say, Christ saith this, and the apostles say this; but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of Light and hast walked in the Light, and what thou speakest is it inwardly from God?
—George Fox, Journal, 1652

This admonishment from George Fox feels especially timely today. What do you say about the topics I listed above? What do you say about the plans of your political party’s platform? (Have you looked at it lately?) What has God revealed to you about the things that Fox News and MS NOW say that we should be caring about?

And how do you know that it’s from God?

That is the challenge of the aftermath of the 2026 elections, now that the commercials have expired and preparations are being made for local and state inaugurations. So often we treat elections like sporting events, offering irrational devotion to our favorites and rabid hatred of our enemies. But as most Friends know, elections are not sport. The lives of us and our neighbors are on the line. We must live in the aftermath of these elections with our values firmly centered and forward, perhaps even rethinking how we stand up in the wake of these decisions.

The challenge of discerning God’s will does not end when the votes are counted. It extends to how we treat our neighbors, particularly those who voted differently from us.

Beyond Victory and Defeat

And so, a word on smugness.

You may have awakened on Wednesday morning to the news that your favorite candidate won, perhaps narrowly and perhaps as part of a wave of other like-minded candidates. Feeling exhilaration in the face of victory is normal but continued “othering” of the people—your neighbors—is not. It is time to remember and act upon what it means to be in community with one another despite our differences—whether or not your neighbors would have done the same for you had the outcome been different.

Being in community does not require us to abandon our convictions, excuse injustice, or pretend that the consequences of elections are equally felt by everyone. There are people whose rights, safety, and well-being may be threatened by the policies of those who have been elected. Faithfulness may require us to resist those policies, sometimes vigorously. But resistance to injustice need not become contempt for our neighbors. We can oppose what people do without denying their humanity.

It is also not the time to marginalize entire states because of your frustration. In a race that I watched closely, a Black woman who was attacked because of her southern drawl (among other things) failed to secure a win. In the wake of that loss, I read a chorus of attacks against that state, including insults against the intelligence of its residents. However, at least as of this moment, nearly four million people voted for her.

That’s not nothing.

Four million people heard a message and agreed with it. The candidate received ten times as many votes as there are Quakers in the world. Perhaps, instead of wasting energy vilifying the people who exercised their constitutional rights, Friends with such an interest might consider how to care for and unite with the four million who seem to be aligned with their values.

Electoral defeat does not erase the people who voted, the values that inspired them, or the possibilities for what they might accomplish together. There are real losses when elections result in policies that harm our neighbors, and we must not minimize those consequences. But when democracy is applied with fidelity, an unsuccessful candidate’s supporters do not disappear, nor does their opportunity to organize, build community, and work toward a different future. Sometimes the time for a particular vision is now, and sometimes its fulfillment is deferred.

As Friends, we are called to something more enduring than electoral victory. We are called to faithfulness, to community, and to the continuing work of discerning what God requires of us. Our testimonies are not merely positions to be defended or values to be proclaimed. They are commitments to be lived, especially when doing so is difficult.

Queries for Faithful Witness

In the days, months, and years ahead, I invite Friends to consider the following spiritual queries, individually and in community:

What does it mean to live Quaker testimonies publicly, especially when doing so may cost me comfort, privilege, relationships, or reputation? Am I willing to be recognized by my faithfulness, even when that faithfulness is unpopular?

Where am I being called to speak, and where am I being called to listen? How do I distinguish between the leading of God and the desire to be right, to win an argument, or to defeat an opponent?

Who among my neighbors may be made more vulnerable by the results of these elections? Have I asked them what they need from me, or have I presumed to know? How might I accompany them in ways that honor their dignity, agency, and lived experience?

What am I willing to risk or sacrifice to protect the dignity, freedom, and well-being of others? When the rights or safety of my neighbors are threatened, what does faithful solidarity require of me beyond statements of concern, prayers, or expressions of sympathy?

How might my meeting become a place of refuge, resistance, and renewal in the months and years ahead? What resources, relationships, and spiritual gifts has my meeting been given that we might put to work in service of those who are afraid, marginalized, or harmed? 

Rashid Darden

Associate Secretary for Communications and Outreach