Skip to content
Project 2025
Donate to support
diverse voices
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
Supreme Court’s decision on birthright citizenship will depend on its interpretation of one key phrase

Supreme Court’s decision on birthright citizenship will depend on its interpretation of one key phrase

This really may be the political end for Trump

This really may be the political end for Trump

Trump’s Rob Reiner Post Sparks Rare GOP Backlash

Trump’s Rob Reiner Post Sparks Rare GOP Backlash

America’s Partisan Hypocrisy: Hunter Biden’s Crimes vs. Trump’s Business Conflicts

America’s Partisan Hypocrisy: Hunter Biden’s Crimes vs. Trump’s Business Conflicts

California’s Governor Race Is a Democratic Nightmare, But There’s One Easy Fix

California’s Governor Race Is a Democratic Nightmare, But There’s One Easy Fix

Kick off 2025 at the ‘Faith in Democracy’ vigil

American flags fly with a beautiful bright blue sky
Lynne Gilbert/Getty Images
David L. Nevins
By David L. NevinsDec 25, 2024
David L. Nevins
David L. Nevins serves as publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action. He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.” He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
See More Writings by author

Every year during the holiday season, The Fulcrum publishes stories that reflect themes of the holiday season, with universal messages that are central to the holiday spirit — messages of love, kindness, hope and generosity that are universal values to peoples of all cultures and backgrounds.

This season is no different. On this Christmas day we have a special announcement: The fourth annual Faith in Democracy interfaith vigil will take place Jan. 5 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It will be led by the Franciscan Action Network, Sojourners, Faith in Peace Concerts, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and many other partners that will bring together faith leaders and believers from a variety of traditions, all speaking from sacred texts that guide us to protect the rights of all and to resolve our differences without violence.

In the United States, our way of doing that is through a properly functioning and fully representative democracy.

You can join the vigil live and or on a livestream. Hear inspirational music and interfaith messages that unify Americans by emphasizing a strong commitment to, and concerns about, our democracy and our freedoms at this critical juncture.

“We believe that people of faith can be uniters, not dividers. We are relieved that the elections of 2024 have been accepted as free and fair. But we have real concerns about democracy, justice and freedom in America at this juncture. For our country to heal and unite, we must never forget what happened here four years ago, and we must hold those responsible accountable,” said David Searby, project director of Faith in Peace Concerts.

Franciscan Action Network Executive Director Michele Dunne said: “As Franciscans, we are called to act as peacemakers and bridge-builders as well as advocates, but not at the expense of justice. The legacy of January 6 continues to divide Americans and create concern about the health of our democracy as well as our ability to resolve political differences without violence.”

The Faith In Democracy vigil will take place Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, at 3:30 p.m. ET on Seventh Street at the center of the National Mall between Jefferson Drive and Madison Drive, live and online. Organizers seek to flip the script on Jan. 6 to create a day of continual unity behind democracy, justice and peace. Let's come together to pray for democracy, peace, and unity as our newly elected officials take office.

Register to attend in person or via livestream.

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Latest news

Affordability Crisis and AI: Kelso’s Universal Capitalism
Media & Technology

Affordability Crisis and AI: Kelso’s Universal Capitalism

Accountability Abandoned: A Betrayal of Promises Made
Governance & Legislation

Accountability Abandoned: A Betrayal of Promises Made

The statue of liberty.
Democracy

Give Me Your Rich: The Gold Card and America’s Betrayal of Liberty

A stethoscope, calculator, pills, and cash.
Health

How Expiring Subsidies and Medicaid Cuts Could Reshape U.S. Access to Care

Read More

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Karen Brinson Bell

Karen Brinson Bell

Photo provided

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Karen Brinson Bell

Editor’s note: More than 10,000 officials across the country run U.S. elections. This interview is part of a series highlighting the election heroes who are the faces of democracy.

Karen Brinson Bell, a Democrat and native of North Carolina, is the former executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, serving from June 2019 to May 2025. As the state’s chief election official, she was responsible for overseeing election administration for more than 7.5 million registered voters across 100 counties in North Carolina. During her tenure, she guided the state through 20 elections, including the 2024 presidential election held in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, as well as the 2020 presidential election during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under her leadership, North Carolina gained national and state recognition, earning four Clearinghouse Awards from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, two national Election Center awards, and the inaugural Partnership Award from the North Carolina Local Government Information Systems Association.

Keep ReadingShow less
As the Earth Rumbles, the Sky Calls, LaLu, the Eagle, Wants To Speak!

A reflection on freedom, democracy, and moral courage in America, urging citizens to stand up before our values fly away.

Getty Images, James Gilbert

As the Earth Rumbles, the Sky Calls, LaLu, the Eagle, Wants To Speak!

As a professional dancer, I’ve always been grounded, but the earth is rumbling, and I am uncharacteristically unsteady. I’m not alone in this feeling. Shifting cultural values are rattling our sense of moral integrity. Unfathomable words (calling a congresswoman and the people “garbage”), acts of cruelty (killing survivors stranded in the ocean), or calling a journalist “piggy,” are playfully spun as somehow normal. Our inner GPS systems are not able to locate the center.

I’m climbing trees these days in order to get up off the earth. At the age of 74, it is frankly exhilarating – I am more cognizant of the danger, so I must be attentive. All my senses are buzzing as I negotiate the craggy shape of a giant, catalpa tree. I settle into a large, gently curving limb, which hugs my body like a nest. My cries enter the vastness of the universe, and the birds sing me to sleep. I’m trying to locate myself again. Dreams are vivid up in the air.

Keep ReadingShow less
Social media apps on a phone

A Pentagon watchdog confirms senior officials shared sensitive military plans on Signal, risking U.S. troops. A veteran argues accountability is long overdue.

Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images

There’s No Excuse for Signalgate

The Defense Department Inspector General just announced that information shared by Defense Secretary Hegseth in a Signal chat this spring could have indeed put U.S. troops, their mission, and national security in great peril. To recap, in an unforced error, our Defense Secretary, National Security Advisor, and Vice President conducted detailed discussions about an imminent military operation against Houthi targets in Yemen over Signal, a hackable commercial messaging app (that also does not comply with public record laws). These “professionals” accidentally added a journalist to the group chat, which meant the Editor-in-Chief of the Atlantic received real-time intelligence about a pending U.S. military strike, including exactly when bombs would begin falling on Yemeni targets. Had Houthi militants gotten their hands on this information, it would have been enough to help them better defend their positions if not actively shoot down the American pilots. This was a catastrophic breakdown in the most basic protocols governing sensitive information and technology. Nine months later, are we any safer?

As a veteran, I take their cavalier attitude towards national security personally. I got out of the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander after ten years as an aviator, a role that required survival, evasion, resistance, and escape training before ever deploying, in case I should ever get shot down. To think that the Defense Secretary, National Security Advisor, and Vice President could have so carelessly put these pilots in danger betrays the trust troops place in their Chain of Command while putting their lives on the line in the service of this country.

Keep ReadingShow less
A Democrat's Plan for Ending the War in Gaza
An Israeli airstrike hit Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Jan. 1, 2024.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A Democrat's Plan for Ending the War in Gaza

Trump's 21-point peace plan for Gaza has not and will not go anywhere, despite its adoption by the UN Security Council. There are two reasons. One is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-orthodox nationalist allies will not agree to an eventual Palestinian state in the occupied territories. The other is that Hamas will not stand down and give up its arms; its main interest is the destruction of Israel, not the creation of a home for the Palestinian people.

Democrats should operate as the "loyal opposition" and propose a different path to end the "war" and establish peace. So far, they have merely followed the failed policies of the Biden administration.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025