Americans are not bound together by race, religion, culture, or even birthright citizenship. Instead, we are unified both under a representative government constrained by rule of law and around a dedication to the preservation of individual rights and freedoms. These principles find their fullest expression in communities of trust built by citizens who understand and observe the responsibilities that accompany those rights. Without this common cause and faith in one another, we descend into moral ambiguity, chaos, and uncertainty. We fear our neighbor and have no common bond.
Maintaining the integrity of our unifying ideas should be the highest priority of any principled leader. Events in recent weeks demonstrate the fragility of our union, and we are deeply concerned that the behavior of our president and many members of his political party threatens a once-secure premise — our shared national commitment to governance within a liberal democracy as defined and protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Toxic partisanship that is rooted in enmity and framed in the language of war has shredded our social compact, and this cannot be quickly reversed with performative calls for unity.
Sincere calls for unity must spring from a determined effort to actively protect our system of government and its underlying values — and must not be used to simply quell dissent or temper righteous indignation arising from the betrayal of those values. Unity will flow from accountability — an honest and open assessment of corruption and a willingness to face truth.
To those now calling for unity, we plead instead for a return to truth and meaning. We cannot preserve a nation unified around words by using lies or corrupted language. We cannot engage in good faith collaboration with people or groups who cheapen America’s core values by acting with political hypocrisy. We cannot be represented by leaders who would betray the essence of our laws and norms simply to protect personal power and undermine accountability.
Our nation has prospered and been most morally persuasive when citizens have sacrificed for transcendent ideas. Our greatest successes have come when our actions have aligned with our ideals, and our deepest failures have occurred when our actions and ideals were morally irreconcilable.
We reaffirm that our first loyalties are to the American people and the principles that solemnly bind us together. This is at the heart of our national covenant. As we individually align ourselves with and defend these ideals, our nation will experience sincere unity and will prosper. As an organization and as women of faith, we will continue to fight for the defense of these principles and the right of all to equally enjoy the blessings such principles provide.
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