Interfaith Activists Announce Pledge to Resist Anti-Islamic Intolerance at State House Press Conference

BOSTON/State House - Over 50 members of the local clergy, religious educators and supporters held a press conference at the Mary Dyer statue in front of the Massachusetts State House on Tuesday "in response to the recent controversy regarding the proposed mosques and Islamic cultural centers in Manhattan and elsewhere." The organizers - representing the Roman Catholic, Protestant, Unitarian Universalist, Jewish and Muslim communities - released an Interfaith Pledge entitled "To Bigotry No Sanction, To Persecution No Assistance" that had already been signed by close to 1,000 people at the time of the event.

Rev. Nancy Taylor, senior minister and CEO of the Old South Church in Boston, said, "A broad mix of interfaith leaders met together to hammer out a statement, the Interfaith Pledge we are issuing today. It comes from all of us here and so many more. And it comes from our heads. It comes from our hearts. It comes from our experience of our brothers and our sisters who are Muslim-Americans who have been here for many many years, and before this nation began."

The last paragraph of the Interfaith Pledge says, "We pledge to confront instances of bigotry against any religious or ethnic group whenever and wherever we find them, and call upon all those who disparage entire groups on account of the acts of a few to look deeply within themselves, and to stop; and we pledge to work actively to break down barriers amongst the various communities of belief in our city - and beyond - and to replace those barriers with mutual respect, understanding, and an outstreched hand."

Rabbi Eric Gurvis of Temple Shalom of Newton and president of Newton Interfaith Clergy Association, said, "Sixty years ago, when my congregation was in formation, and was attempting to purchase a plot of land at the corner of Myrtle and Temple Street - already named Temple Street. There was controversy in the community and attempts were made to stop the purchase of the land and the building of the synagogue. The truth be told, many of us have those stories. Jews. Christians. Muslims. And other faith traditions have experienced what it means to be rejected by the community. And I have come to stand today with my brothers and sisters in ministry - my colleagues and this faith community - to remind us all that as proud Americans we believe in freedom of religion. We believe in the freedom of expression. As the Rev. Taylor said, we do not believe in terror. We do not believe in the right of one group to cast fear and hatred upon another. And we live in a world where fear and terror are a reality. But to deny the free practice of faith here on these shores is simply something that we cannot accept.

Dr. Abdul Cader Asmal, past president of the Islamic Council of New England, said "We are assembled here today to reaffirm the freedoms that all Americans are entitled to experience. In so doing, you demonstrate your solidarity with your fellow Muslim citizens in standing up for their Constitutional rights. For this, you earn our unconditional gratitude. It is with a deep sense of humility that I address you. In recognizing the rights we enjoy, we are also cogniscant of the profound pain caused by 9/11. It is thus with deep compassion for the families of the victims of 9/11 and for the enduring pain of all Americans that I approach you. I can understand the outrage of the relatives of some of the victims who perceive all Muslims, and not just the terrorists, as culpable for the carnage. I can appreciate the apprehension of others when they see Muslims abroad decimating one another with apparent reckless abandon. I can see the unexpressed concern about homegrown terrorism. As an American, I share all these anguishes. I also suffer the angst of a collective guilt for the action of a heretic who is the very antithesis of Islam. And I with my fellow Muslims must endure the Islamophobia his act has generated. It was to combat this very Islamophobia that the mosque complex was conceived. To provide a haven for tolerance, understanding and [unintelligable] across the cultural and religious divide that made this country a unique symbol of hope for the rest of the world. However, the relentless propaganda of the Islamophobes has been such that they have been evidentally able to convince some 70 percent of our citizens that he mosque project is a symbol of Islamist supremacy threatening to desecrate holy ground.

"For a moment, may I digress to explain what I mean by Islamophobia. Islamophobia is not the fear and concerns that most Americans - including Muslims - have about the wholly irrational and totally unsupportable acts of terrorists. Rather Islamophobia is a well-orchestrated, shameless demonization of Islam for the marginalization of Muslims.

"Up to now the Islamophobes with their fear mongering have enjoyed a good deal of success. But now, an increasing number of decent fair-minded Americans have seen through their machinations and are slowing their momentum. And coming to the support of the beliefs of their Muslim fellow citizens - as evidenced today. For this, as a Muslim and an American - and I see nothing irreconcilable between the two - I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all. All who stand at our side in our hour of need defending our Constitutional rights. God bless you for your presence. God bless those who could not be with us here today. God bless America. Peace unto you."

Following several other speakers - including Rev. Hurmon Hamilton, president of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and senior pastor of the Roxbury Presbyterian Church; Father Walter Cuenin, Catholic chaplain at Brandeis University; Rev. Sue Phillips, district executive of the Unitarian Universalist Association; and Rev. Nick Carter, president of the Andover Newton Theological School - attendees conducted a ritual laying of stones on the Mary Dyer statue.

Mary Dyer was a Quaker women hung for her beliefs by the Puritan authorities of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She had been a follower of Anne Hutchinson, who preached that God spoke directly to individuals, rather than through the clergy.

The event concluded with a ceremonial reading of the Interfaith Pledge. The full text of the pledge can be found at http://www.ipetitions.com/petitions/tobigotrynosanction/.