Every school day, our children stand up with their classmates and recite the Pledge of Allegiance: "We pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America." Some of them are the children and grandchildren of immigrants. Some of them can trace their ancestry back to the earliest European colonists; some to American Indians. Some of them have just arrived in Worcester as refugees and may not even know the words yet. Yet these new students stand with their classmates, hats off, hands on hearts, learning the ways of their new country. What a wonderful thing that our children grow up with the values of their country on display around them in the diversity of their schools.
Now that diversity and those values are being threatened. Following the horrific shootings in San Bernardino, California, some American politicians have called for reprisals against Muslim Americans. They hold all 2.75 million American Muslims responsible for the actions of two violent people. These politicians have called for a religious test for immigrants and refugees, or for stopping the free movements of citizens. They have held up as precedent some of the worst moments in our history: the restrictions on citizens of Japanese descent during World War II, or the deportation of citizens of Mexican descent during the 1950s. These politicians say that these moments define America. They say that in this moment of fear, we have no choice but to respond with the tools of fear itself.
We in this church know differently. We know that part of what makes America a great country is our bedrock commitment to religious freedom and liberty. First Unitarian Church was founded in the conviction that religious liberty was worth struggling for and suffering for. We know that immigrants and refugees have always shaped the character of our nation and strengthened us with their diversity. We know that Muslims in Worcester are our coworkers, our neighbors, our fellow people of faith, and our friends.
And we know that right now, our Muslim neighbors are frightened. "Fear Spreads Among US Muslims," reports the Telegram. This week a man threw a severed pig's head at a mosque in Philadelphia. Women who wear the veil wonder if they can safely go outside. Muslim fathers wonder if they can send their children to school. Our Muslim neighbors wonder if their country will continue to respect their right to worship according to their conscience.
We as a church have the opportunity to act in the face of this bigotry and fear. We have the chance to stand up for our values of religious freedom for all. The Prudential Committee is considering raising a banner on the pillars of our church that will read: "We Stand With Our Muslim Neighbors. Religious Freedom for All." This will proclaim our commitment, as a church founded in the value of religious liberty, to religious liberty for every person and every community in Worcester. It will say to our Muslim neighbors, in their time of fear and persecution, that we are with them. It will say that on Court Hill in the Unitarian church the beacon of liberty still shines brightly, that it has not gone out, that darkness has not overcome it.
The Prudential Committee is holding a listening session to consider a response to the recent anti-Muslim statements at noon this Sunday, December 13, in Unity Hall. We encourage you to attend this meeting to learn more, to ask questions, to show your support or to voice your concerns. Vice-Moderator Wendy Innis and Finance Committee Chair John Mirick will moderate the session.
As our children stand, hands on hearts, every school day, to renew their covenant as Americans, they conclude that ours is a nation with "liberty and justice for all." Even when we are afraid, we must not let go of our deepest commitments as people of faith and as Americans. May our church and our country ever be places of liberty and justice for all.
In faith,
The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart
Minister
Mr. Seth Popinchalk
Moderator
