The shooting of the three heroic individuals at the Islamic Center of San Diego this past Monday has left us heart-broken. As an interfaith group representing many faith traditions, ICEJ extends our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, to the Islamic Center (with whom we have had a long and fruitful relationship – ICSD’s Imam Taha is a member of our Working Group), and to the Muslim community as a whole. As persons of faith, we stand with you all!
ICEJ also condemns all violence motivated by a deep hatred of Islam or of any other religion. This assault is part of a campaign of religious, racial, and social intolerance led and supported by the highest centers of power in this country, abetted by powerful corporate and social media interests working to create a narrower, more white and more Christian America.
This is not who we are as a nation or as a people. For nearly 250 years, we have stood to the world as a haven for the world's poor and oppressed, where people can find the freedom to live their lives and practice their religion without interference. While each of us in ICEJ worship in our own way, we are united in supporting the common messages of our faiths that the way forward is through the loving acceptance of our fellow humans, the pursuit of dialogue as a means of seeking unity and of settling differences, the rule of law, and the responsibility towards future generations to be good stewards of this world and its environment. It is time that we stand up, reclaim and embody these values! Every freedom that we practice in America has been hard-won. Our country has always been a work in progress but progress we must. And right now that means standing in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters in San Diego and across our nation!!
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