On Capitol Hill, inside a light-filled office building heated geothermally and topped by a green roof, a group of Quakers scrutinizes legislation and policy on everything from Iran and Afghanistan to welfare and Native Americans. Quakers, also known as “Friends,” have a long history of fighting injustice. The Friends Committee on National Legislation, founded in 1943, is the oldest registered religious lobbying organization in America. Bridget Moix is the group’s senior lobbyist on foreign policy. A Takoma Park resident, she fills her days fighting to prevent and end war.
Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I’m Quaker. I appreciate the sense of hope and possibility that the Quaker faith offers. Friends believe that there is that of God in every person, and we place great value on each person’s direct experience of the spirit. Quakers also have this sense of trying to be true, in every action we take, to our beliefs. We don’t always succeed, but the commitment to that appeals to me. At the same time there’s a lot of room for doubt and questioning. We say we are seeking truth, not that we’ve already found it. Friends don’t have a specific dogma or creed, but share what we call testimonies of peace, equality, integrity and simplicity.
How did you become Quaker? Many people are surprised that Quakers still exist.
I was as well. I was actually raised Catholic. Then during college, I interned in Philadelphia with a Quaker organization, the American Friends Service Committee. That was my first introduction to Quakers, and I was inspired by this group of people trying to live out their values in the world. Then I also began attending meeting for worship and really loved sitting in silence and listening together for the spirit to guide us.
Lobbying for the end of war seems a fruitless effort. Do you ever think you’re trying to do the impossible?
It’s a big mission — we seek a world free from war and the threat of war. That sounds idealistic to a lot of people. But for me, and I think for a lot of Quakers, it’s the idea of seeking to build the community of God here on earth. Here at Friends Committee on National Legislation
we talk about “prophetic pragmatism.” We’re working toward this long-term vision of the different world that we want to create that’s grounded in our faith, but we know we have to take small, practical steps to try to reach that vision. It won’t be a short process; it won’t be an easy process. But it’s what our faith calls us to do. Quakers also worked for religious freedom, an end to slavery, women’s rights and other causes that seemed impossible. I certainly have days when I doubt. But what’s faith without doubt? So many people seem not to see the futility of war. You don’t have to be a pacifist to see that war doesn’t solve the problems that the world faces.
Many Christians believe in the validity of just war theory. Jesus said he came not to bring peace, but a sword. As a Quaker, why do you believe war is wrong?
I think war is the most abhorrent violation of God’s creation. You can find a biblical quote and use it to justify just about anything. But if you look at Jesus’ life, it was always guided by love and peacemaking and nonviolence. For Friends, the Quaker testimony of rejecting war and seeking peaceful alternatives has been confirmed again and again as not only a core faith value, but also a practical approach to the world. We believe the means are as important as the ends, that the means are the ends in the making. Violence ultimately begets more violence and can’t bring about the good ends we seek. Abolishing war sounds very idealistic, but war is the result of human choices, and humans can make other choices.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
I truly believe that a more peaceful and just world is possible, and that my faith calls me to work toward building that world.
– Leah Fabel
