The Rt. Rev. Stephen Lane of the Diocese of Maine writes an oped in the Portland Press Herald. Maine has had a series of racist and anti-Jewish acts recently. He states the Episcopal Church of Maine will stand against hate.
We live in an environment of increasing uncertainty and fear for the future. At times like these, it is not uncommon that our hearts turn in fear towards those who are different from us. That fear sometimes translates into violence, which in turn creates more fear.
….On Sunday (after another incident) the people of Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh took, I think, the better route. They marked it, they asked their neighbors, Jews and non-Jews, to join them in renouncing this repugnant act.
They said, essentially, “This is what happened here and we must – all of us – stand together against it.”
They are right. We must join together as people of faith and as people who stand for the basic tenets of freedom, justice and peace no matter what our race, our culture, our country of origin, our sexual orientation, our religion.
The sin of racism distorts our biblical understanding of creation, wherein all human beings are made in the image of God. In our Christian tradition, racism blasphemes the ministry of Christ, who died for all people, not just a few.
Read it all here.