August 24, 2010
Dear Sisters and Brothers in the Diocese of New York I am writing to tell you that I wholeheartedly join other
religious and civic leaders in calling on all parties involved in the dispute over
the planned lower Manhattan Islamic community center and mosque to convert a
situation that has sadly become ever more divisive into, as Archbishop Timothy Dolan
recently stated, "an opportunity for a civil, rational, loving, respectful
discussion." The plan to build this center is, without doubt, an emotionally
highly-charged issue. But as a nation with tolerance and religious freedom at
its very foundation, we must not let our emotions lead us into the error of
persecuting or condemning an entire religion for the sins of its most misguided
adherents. The worldwide Islamic community is no more inclined to violence
that any other. Within it, however, a struggle is going on - between the
majority who seek to follow a moderate, loving religion and the few who would
transform it into an intolerant theocracy intent on persecuting anyone, Muslim
or otherwise, with whom they disagree. We should all, as Christians, reach out
in friendship and love to the peaceful Islamic majority and do all in our power
to build and strengthen bridges between our faiths. We should also all remember
that the violence and hateful behavior of the extremist are not confined to any
one religion. Over the centuries we
Christians have numbered more than a few among us who have perpetrated unspeakable
atrocities in Christ's name. I must admit that I also have a more personal connection with
this issue. At the Episcopal Diocese of New York we know the leaders of this
project, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan. We know that they are
loving, gentle people, who epitomize Islamic moderation. We know that as Sufis,
they are members of an Islamic sect that teaches a universal belief in man's
relationship to God that is not dissimilar from mystic elements in certain
strains of Judaism and Christianity. Feisal Abdul Rauf and Daisy Khan are,
without question, people to whom Christians of good will should reach out with
the hand of hospitality and friendship, as they reach out to us. I understand and
support their desire to build an Islamic center, intended in part to promote
understanding and tolerance among different religions. For these reasons I applaud the positions taken by Governor Patterson, Mayor Bloomberg and others and look
forward to furthering the efforts to resolve this issue. I am convinced, aided
and guided by the One God who is creator of all, that people of goodwill can
find a solution that will strengthen, rather than divide, the human condition,
The Right Reverend Mark S. Sisk
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