March 2, 2017
The Office of
Public Witness stands firmly with our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters
against targeted destruction of ancestral Jewish grave sites, the burning of Mosques
and all acts of religious bigotry. We echo the words
of Stated Clerk Rev. Dr. J Herbert Nelson: “In the face of our current realities, where hatred and
prejudice have become all too evident, it is imperative that we, the people, be
able to look to our leaders to bear witness to the best that is in us, to lift
up the promise of our Statue of Liberty that all are welcome, and to speak in
ways that unite us rather than divide us.”
We require
strong condemnation of all religious intolerance from our elected leaders at
the highest levels, and find their response insufficient thus far. In the immediate aftermath of
Election Day, a wave of hate crimes and lesser hate incidents swept the country
— 1,094 bias incidents
in the first 34 days, according to a
count by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The highest count came on the first day after
the election, with the numbers diminishing steadily after that. The number of
hate groups operating in the country in 2016 remained at near-historic highs,
rising from 892 in 2015 to 917 last year,
according to the latest count by the SPLC.
We call upon the Trump administration to address and root out
anti Semitism, anti Muslim bigotry and religious intolerance in all its forms,
including those found in its own communications.
The Office of Public Witness is deeply inspired by the
solidarity of Muslim-American leaders Linda Sarsour and Tarik El-Messidi, who raised over $100,000 to help repair the gravestones in St.
Louis, and are now directing extra funds from that effort to Philadelphia.
Through decades of policy, Presbyterians
have demanded humane treatment of people of all nationalities and faiths who find
themselves within our borders.
“Many neighborhoods and communities across the United
States are welcoming of greater religious and cultural pluralism. Many are not.
People from non-Christian, non-white, non-Western backgrounds often experience
discrimination due to religiocultural bias. Note especially the rise in
Islamophobia. Religiously based violence has risen throughout the United
States. This violence divides communities and discourages the neighborliness
advocated in Scripture and modeled in the life of Jesus Christ.” (The Interreligious Stance of the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as approved by the 221st
General Assembly.
In Faith We Share,
Rev. Jimmie Hawkins
