Posts Tagged ‘hate crimes’

Challenge Anti-Muslim Bigotry

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| Challenge Anti-Muslim Bigotry Share/Save/Bookmark Feb 19, 2013

We have cause to celebrate. American society is well on the way to reflecting the diversity of a globalized world. As the director of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign, I have the privilege of working in the midst of this beautiful multiplicity of thought, faith, and culture every day.

Growth in religious diversity offers rich opportunities for engagement across lines of faith and inspires my own commitment to continue this important work. I have had the privilege of witnessing how interfaith communities support one another in their shared needs for vibrant worship, and in service to address common social concerns. As such, interreligious communities play an important role in ensuring that the road to a truly multicultural society is normative, not hostile.

Help create a socitey where everyone is welcome and join me for the “Taking Action Against Anti-Muslim Bigotry” webinar on February 28.

As the saying goes, change doesn’t always come easy. While American Muslims make up just .9 percent of the U.S. population, 2010 FBI hate crimes statistics indicated a 50 percent increase in attacks targeting American Muslims. That is the fastest growing rate of hate crimes amongst American religious groups, and it has held steady in recent years.

We cannot sit idly by while members of our communities are targeted with hate and violence. Join me for the “Taking Action Against Anti-Muslim Bigotry” webinar on February 28. We’ll discuss ways of challenging anti-Muslim bigotry from individualized attacks, to proposed anti-Shari’ah legislation and stereotypical rhetoric.

Click here to register today.

Together, let’s explore practical options for you and your community to take in order to help make the road to a diverse society a healthy and supportive road for each American community, including American Muslims.

In faith,

Christina Warner
Director
Shoulder-to-Shoulder Campaign

PS: Faith-based organizations can also sign up to become Shoulder-to-Shoulder Community Members! This national network provides state, local, and regional faith-based organizations with resources to address anti-Muslim discrimination in their community and across the country. Email cwarner@shouldertoshouldercampaign.org for more details.

The message above went out on Tuesday, February 19, 2013 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

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Day 14: Create an Outpouring of Love

No Comments | Share On Facebook| Day 14: Create an Outpouring of Love Share/Save/Bookmark Feb 01, 2013

Today is Day 14 of the Thirty Days of Love. Today’s action is to join our response love network to offer messages of support in the wake of tragic acts of violence. Click here for resources, family actions, and more! Click here to sign up for the daily Thirty Days of Love emails.

When I first heard about the shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin last summer, I couldn’t help but remember a parallel act of violence four years earlier at my own congregation, the Tennessee Valley UU Church (TVUUC). In both cases, a man with a gun and an agenda targeted innocent people of faith.

But along with the recollection of heartbreak and loss, I also carry with me the memory of the incredible flood of love and support that we received from our local community and from across the country. All around our church there are things folks sent to let us know we were loved.

With the events at TVUUC in mind, thousands of you responded to the shooting at the Sikh temple last summer in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. SSL supporters wrote over 2,000 messages of love and support to the Sikh community there. I think that anytime there is an act of violence targeting people because of their identities, we can and should reaffirm a message of love and a vision of a country where we all belong.

In that spirit, Standing on the Side of Love is gathering a network of people to send messages surrounding victims of violence with an outpouring of love whenever incidents of hate occur. From the shooting in Oak Creek to the recent arson attack on a mosque in Joplin, we can ensure that victims of senseless acts of hate know that they are loved.

Click here to sign up. We’re also searching for inspiring names for our response network, or “love team” and would love your help. Love Ambassadors? The Love Squad? What helps us best convey that we are here in spirit with those affected by a tragedy? Send your ideas to love@uua.org.

In the wake of violence and tragedy, let us lift up voices of love and compassion. Sign up for the response network today and help ensure that whenever and wherever acts of violence occur, we can surround the victims with an outpouring of love.

In faith,

Rev. Chris Buice
Tennessee Valley UU Church
Knoxville, Tennessee

PS: We hope your congregation is participating in Share the Love Sunday! We have compiled some helpful resources for planning your service, taking a collection to support the Unitarian Universalist Association, and discussing what it means for your congregation to stand on the side of love. Thanks for your generosity on February 17!

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Day 12: Challenging Anti-Muslim Bigotry

No Comments | Share On Facebook| Day 12: Challenging Anti-Muslim Bigotry Share/Save/Bookmark Jan 30, 2013

Today is Day 12 of the Thirty Days of Love. Today’s action is to register for our “Taking Action Against Anti-Muslim Bigotry” webinar. Click here for more resources, family actions, and more! Click here to sign up for the daily Thirty Days of Love emails.

We have cause to celebrate. American society is well on the way to reflecting the diversity of a globalized world. As the director of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder campaign, I have the privilege of working in the midst of this beautiful multiplicity of thought, faith, and culture every day.

Growth in religious diversity offers rich opportunities for engagement across lines of faith and inspires my own commitment to continue this important work. I have had the privilege of witnessing how interfaith communities support one another in their shared needs for vibrant worship, and in service to address common social concerns. As such, interreligious communities play an important role in ensuring that the road to a truly multicultural society is normative, not hostile.

But, as the saying goes, change doesn’t always come easy. While American Muslims make up just .9 percent of the U.S. population, 2010 FBI hate crimes statistics indicated a 50 percent increase in attacks targeting American Muslims. That is the fastest growing rate of hate crimes amongst American religious groups, and it has held steady in recent years.

We cannot sit idly by while members of our communities are targeted with hate and violence. Join me for the “Taking Action Against Anti-Muslim Bigotry” webinar on February 28. We’ll discuss ways of challenging anti-Muslim bigotry from individualized attacks, to proposed anti-Shari’ah legislation and stereotypical rhetoric. Click here to register today.

Together, let’s explore practical options for you and your community to take in order to help make the road to a diverse society a healthy and supportive road for each American community, including American Muslims.

In faith,

Christina Warner
Director
Shoulder-to-Shoulder Campaign

PS: Faith-based organizations can also sign up to become Shoulder-to-Shoulder Community Members! This national network provides state, local, and regional faith-based organizations with resources to address anti-Muslim discrimination in their community and across the country. Email cwarner@shouldertoshouldercampaign.org for more details.

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Standing on the Side of Love with Sikhs Across the Country

No Comments | Share On Facebook| Standing on the Side of Love with Sikhs Across the Country Share/Save/Bookmark Aug 21, 2012
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Standing on the side of Love at vigil in support of the Sikh community in Sacramento after two Sikh men were shot last year. (Credit: Mary Helen Doherty)

In the wake of the tragic shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin at the beginning of August, Unitarian Universalists and other interfaith partners have made a tremendous showing of solidarity across the country. In addition to the candlelight vigils that were held around the nation, half a dozen religious leaders representing the Shoulder to Shoulder campaign, including Unitarian Universalist Association President Peter Morales, held a press conference to respond to the violence and voice support for the Sikh community. What an incredible outpouring of love.

Here are just a few of the places where UUs are making news:

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Tell Rep. Joe Walsh: End the Vitriolic Rhetoric

2 Comments | Share On Facebook| Tell Rep. Joe Walsh: End the Vitriolic Rhetoric Share/Save/Bookmark Aug 17, 2012

Congressman Child SupportWe lament the recent rash of violence across the nation and decry the kind of language that makes excuses for, encourages, and even incites such violence. The fear-promoting words of Rep. Joe Walsh are a recent example of the sort of accusatory, bigoted rhetoric that betrays the cherished ideals of religious freedom and tolerance.

At a recent town hall meeting, Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois’ 8th District made a number of insensitive and inflammatory comments about the American Muslim community. These kinds of comments are not helpful to our national conversation and perpetuate a culture of violence against American Muslims.

The following weekend, two different Muslim houses of worship were subject to violent, hateful attacks and a number of Muslim graves were vandalized in nearby Chicago suburbs. Violent rhetoric, like the language so often employed by Rep. Walsh, normalizes and enables this kind of violence.

Please join us in speaking out against this kind of hateful rhetoric and sign our petition to Rep. Joe Walsh today.

As Chicagoland Unitarian Universalist ministers, we choose to Stand on the Side of Love and ask all people to follow the path of peace, justice, and goodness called for by their own faiths. We ask that every leader, civic or religious, speak the language of common good and understanding rather than hostility and ignorance. We hope that Rep. Joe Walsh will step back from his angry and hateful remarks, apologize to the thousands of peace-loving, moral, and devoted Muslims, and, even more importantly, recognize that he has the power to help build bridges and defuse violence.

Let us reclaim a more peaceful society where religious freedom is protected and our beautiful diversity is celebrated. Leaders like Rep. Joe Walsh must change the language they use and participate in civil discourse rather than make accusations.

Click here to sign our petition to Rep. Joe Walsh, and ask him to end his use of inflammatory, hateful language.

We write this, not to condemn Rep. Walsh, but to ask everyone, particularly our leaders, to take stock of our language and to question whether our actions promote the ideals for which we, as a nation, stand. We can all speak and do better.

In faith,

Rev. Hilary Krivchenia
Countryside Unitarian Universalist Church
Palatine, Illinois

Rev. Connie Grant
Unitarian Church of Evanston
Evanston, Illinois

Rev. Emmy Lou Belcher
DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church
Naperville, Illinois

The message above went out on Friday, August 17, 2012 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

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