Let us say no to hate. It is something that we have the power individually to do. On January 13, we saw a 9 year old girl born on 9/11 who was buried in Arizona, murdered by a man who sought to assassinate Congresswoman Giffords and shooting a crowd who went to see her. The response has been more anger, more venom, and some places even more hate. We can say “enough.” And it is time for us to see for ourselves how much control that hate has over our lives.
So we offer this challenge to ourselves and to you. Let us try a one month moratorium on hate – whether it is those who call others “thugs” or preach about the “worst people in the world.” Let us step away from such venom, harsh words, and accusations, and yes, hatred, towards others for one month – from January 14 to February 14, concluding on Valentine’s Day.
We could have picked any day to attempt this moratorium on hate, but let’s start now – let’s start today.
Then tell us your experiences, and we will anonymously (unless you want to be public on them) report them here on February 14. Let us see individually what a struggle it is to go a month without hate, and see what type of grip hate has on our lives as individuals.
To take a stand against hate, we declare our intentions and our goals to take charge of our lives and declare a month-long moratorium on hate. We seek to reject hate in our lives from in this month from January 14 to February 14. We seek to stop allowing hate-filled images, words, and comments in our individual lives and not allow hate to be a source of entertainment or interest in our daily lives.
We seek first and foremost to change hate in OUR lives, before we seek to change the lives of others. We will use this month where we reject hate in our lives to be consistent on hate.
We will reject the hate that continues to be spread throughout the world in many ways and many places, on the Internet, in public, in private, in media outlets, among politicians, and among ourselves.
We will reject hate against identity groups of our fellow human beings’ race, religion, nationality, creed, gender, sexual orientation, and we commit that it will not be a part of our lives for the next month. We will reject all slurs and cruel terms against our fellow human beings.
To those who seek to cling to hate, we offer an outstretched hand, not an upraised fist. They too are our brothers and sisters in humanity.
We urge all to join us in this month long moratorium rejecting hate in our lives.
We urge all to Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.
We take this public stance to prove that we have the Courage to defy hate in our own lives.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports our universal human rights, including equality for all and our rejection of racism, racial hate, and those who would deny the right of identity groups to have human dignity in their diversity in a pluralistic society. We urge all to Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.
In 2010, R.E.A.L. challenged the “white nationalist” American Renaissance group and its activists’ and its group’s views on minority races, and urged them to reconsider their views. When they sought to hold an event here at our nation’s capital where R.E.A.L is HQ’d in 2010, I sought to have a counter-message to give an alternative view to their rejection of human diversity and the consistent studies and comments that seek to claim that people of minority races in the United States are inferior, among other views. When R.E.A.L. sought to have provide such a counter-message, American Renaissance speaker Craig Bodekerstated: “I’d be surprised if someone didn’t decide to correct your behavior :) ” and “when someone does declares war on us, it’s OK to fight back. With any and all means.”
The American Renaissance Group has chosen Charlotte to promote its “white nationalist” views because their supporters claim Charlotte offers a more “patriotically-inclined ambience.” Another “white nationalist” who promotes this event as well as former Ku Klux Klan David Duke, states that “to ensure security, the exact location of the conference venue will not be disclosed until 48 hours before the conference begins.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) promotes human equality, dignity, respect, rights, and love for one another. We urge those who would promote racial hatred or disrespect to reconsider their actions.
R.E.A.L.’s position is the same as it was when we first approached American Renaissance as it is today.
We urge those with racial hatred in their hearts, to drop the burden of hate from their hearts.
Our message has consistently been not only to reject hate, but also to offer an alternative based on our universal human rights. To those who hate their fellow human beings, remember that our universal human rights are also your universal human rights. We challenge hate and we promote human rights, not just for us, but also for you.
We don’t offer you an upraised fist, but an outstretched hand and an invitation to…
Their Coptic Christians’ courage and resiliency should be an inspiration to all who believe in human freedom and human dignity, but it should be an inspiration most of all to those who defend our human rights, including our human rights of freedom of religion and worship for all. No one would blame the Copts for avoiding such services or finding more private ways to hold services. But their example today shows that there is no enemy powerful enough to destroy human freedom and human rights for all people, no matter how determined their mission of hate.
On Friday, January 7, 2011, the Coptic Christmas Day, there will be thosewho have called for rallies in Egypt to defend Copts freedom of religion. Those individuals who have spoken out and offered human fellowship not just despite, but also because of our diversity, deserve commendation. In addition, we must also congratulate those such as Al-Ahram newspaper’s editor Hani Shukrallah who has openly and fearlessly challenged those that promote religious bigotry against the Coptic Christians and called for change.
But today, Coptic Christmas Day, I have a message to people of all faiths and all beliefs.
While we rightly defend the human rights of Copts and of all people, I urge people of all faiths to find the pluralism and respect for other human beings’ faith in God to respect their eternal rights with their God. It does not matter if you share those beliefs or not. But if you are a person of religious faith, and your life is shaped or even driven by that faith, then you know that no one and nothing can take your faith, your religious beliefs from you.
So it will be with the Copts. We must recognize and defend their human rights as human beings. In conflicts between people of religious identities, we often speak of human rights, but perhaps we also need to speak of eternal rights that people of faith have with their God.
To people of faith, I ask you on the Copts Christmas Day, to respect their eternal rights with their God, their savior, as rights that no one can or will ever take from them as well, just as no one could take your faith from you. Those eternal rights – the bond between you and your God – the bond between you and your Messiah – are just as inviolable, universal, and deserving of respect and honor as our universal human rights.
So today on Coptic Christmas Day, I ask you to think and respect the Eternal Rights of the Copts and of all people of faith around the world.
And to the brave Christian Copts, I wish you a Merry Christmas. No one and nothing can ever take Christmas away from you.
Coptic Christians Do Not Lose Faith, Despite the Violence and Oppression Against Them (Photo: LA Times)
Washington DC: Americans Join Together on 9/11 to Defend Freedom of Religion
September 11, 2010
On September 11, 2010 in Washington DC, American volunteers from diverse faiths, races, and identity groups, came together in a community unity rally in support of freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom at Freedom Plaza. Washington DC’s Freedom Plaza park was named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who worked on his “I have a dream” speech in the nearby Willard Hotel in 1963.
The community public gathering of concerned Americans was a response to the growing anti-Islamic hatred spreading across America, efforts to deny Muslims houses of worship in California, Tennessee, Kentucky, and New York, violence and vandalism against Muslim mosques, and violence against Muslim Americans. About 30 Americans from Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, and some as far as from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Seattle, Washington joined together on 9/11 to stand in solidarity on our freedoms. The event was sponsored by Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.),Muslims for Progressive Values, United for Pluralism, and the Muslimah Writer’s Alliance (MWA)
Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Americans spoke on behalf of the Constitutional religious freedom for Muslim Americans, as well as the need to ensure enforcement of the Religious Land Use Act federal law ensuring all people, including Muslim Americans, have equal opportunity to houses of worship without restrictive zoning or other acts designed to unfairly burden any American from creating a house of worship. The group circulated our petition to ask President Obama and Attorney General Holder to enforce these laws to ensure Muslim Americans equal rights to create houses of worship.
Photo Below: Washington DC – Some of the Individuals at Community Rally for Freedom of Religion
The Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV)’s Fatima Thompson spoke of the need to remind Americans that Muslims are our fellow Americans, who also suffered in the 9/11 attacks. She told the audience “Let’s not repeat the actions of those who would instill fear on others. Let’s consider the US Constitution and its guarantee for freedom of religion, freedom of worship and freedom of conscience. Let’s unite as Americans and demonstrate those values we cherish in order to allow all to enjoy these freedoms regardless of creed. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Photo Below: MPV’s Fatima Thompson Speaks Out for Freedom of Religion, Worship, and Conscience
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)‘s Jeffrey Imm extended the nation’s continued sympathy to those who lost loved ones, family, friends and associates in the 9/11 attacks on 2001. He urged the nation not to allow those who spread anti-Islamic hatred to divide us as a United States of America. He stated that the answers to such anti-Islamic hatred require both enforcement of the Constitution and law, as well as a renewed effort to combat the forces of intolerance with tolerance, meeting the forces of hate with love, and meeting those with an upraised fist with “an outstretched hand in healing and hope.” He stated “Winning minds without winning hearts will give us no victory over hate. We must Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.”
Photo Below: R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm Urges Respect and Love for Our Fellow Americans
R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm went around with the microphone to gather comments from the assembled audience, which shared their individual messages of peace, and support for freedom of religion, worship, and respect for their fellow Americans. (When additional YouTube videos of such messages are available, they will posted on R.E.A.L.’s YouTube page and updated to this web site.)
Mike Rychlik and others urged individuals to also join the Interfaith Youth Action Unity Walk on September 12 starting at 1:30 PM at Embassy Row, in Washington DC – for more information see, 911UnityWalk.org.
Another attendee, Andra, sang “Let There be Peace on Earth,” as other members of the community rally joined in.
Photo below: Concerned American Andra Waves Peace Flag, Sings “Let There Be Peace on Earth”
The group then sang, as our final “surprise” part of the event, a sing-a-long to an American folk song – “This land is your land.”
You can hear and see their solidarity in supporting Muslim Americans and all Americans in our shared America, our shared Constitution, our shared law, and our shared nation – in their singing of “This land is your land, this land is my land” – for ALL Americans.
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
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American Folk Song: This Land Is Your Land
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me.
I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
While all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me.
When the sun came shining, and I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,
This land was made for you and me.
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to those who lost families, friends, and acquaintances in the September 11, 2001 attacks. I would like for us all to extend our sympathies, our compassion, and our prayers to those who died this day, and those who were left to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives and their dreams. I would like for all of us to extend our shared remembrance to the brave men and women who gave their lives to help protect and save others in the terrible attack on September 11, 2001. The heart and prayers of this nation go out to you this day and every day. We remember.
We often say “it is a good day to be responsible for equality and liberty.” And indeed it is. Even on 9/11, perhaps especially today, it is always a good day to be responsible for equality and liberty. Across the nation today, Americans will remember this day as Patriot Day, as designated by the President of the United States. The Presidential proclamation for Patriot Day points out that the Americans we lost on 9/11 came from diverse identity groups. The Presidential proclamation for Patriot Day also points out that the Americans we lost on 9/11 also came many faiths. We know that included Muslim Americans.
Those who died on 9/11 lived in an America that believed in our equality and liberty for each of us, including our freedom of religion, our freedom of worship, and our freedom of conscience – without question, without reservation, without exception. That is the America we love, the land of the free and the home of the brave. That is the America that we need to reclaim for all Americans – Muslims, non-Muslims, and people of every faith and identity group.
But we will not be moved – from the truths that we find self-evident as Americans. We will not be divided. We will stop the virus of hatred towards one another, and we will not turn against one another, but we will remain a UNITED States of America. We will defend the freedom of religion and worship for Muslim Americans, because it is the AMERICAN thing to do.
We will also not be moved, we will not be divided on the Constitution of the United States or the law. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion for all. We will defend the Constitution of the United States of America. United States federal law also ensures the right of all Americans to practice their religion without intimidation by oppressive zoning or other restrictions, as we continue to see growing across America today. We have a petition to President Obama and Attorney General Holder to call upon them to enforce the Constitution and to enforce the Religious Land Act to ensure such freedom of religion for Muslim Americans today. The first step in overcoming our divisions is to remember that our Constitution and our law applies to all Americans, including Muslim Americans. We cannot make deals with hate or compromises on freedom.
On this National Day of Service, we must join together to serve our nation by seeking to heal the wounds of this growing national hatred against Muslim Americans. To those who seek hate, I only offer love. To those who seek to never forgive, I only offer forgiveness. Instead of an upraised fist, I offer an outstretched hand in healing and hope to all Americans. We got to this situation together, and we must heal as a nation together. Enforcing the Constitution and law is only part of the solution to our national divisions. We must also remember the importance of respecting one another, and with that respect, trusting one another.
America has seen other crises of intolerance, distrust, and hate before. We faced such crises together not just with our minds, but most importantly with our hearts. There was a time in America when many people believed that black Americans did not have the same rights as white Americans. We challenged that hate with logic and law. But I saw that struggle against hate with my own eyes, and I know that America needed more than that.
We have defied the power of hate with the power of love. We must do so once again. Winning minds without winning hearts will give us no victory over hate. We must Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.
We can be a UNITED States of America, responsible for equality and liberty, and respecting freedom of religion and worship for Muslims, non-Muslims, and people of all beliefs and conscience. But to do so, we must respect one another, we must find a way to trust one another, and we must open our hearts to love one another – as fellow Americans and fellow human beings.
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
God bless you all and God guide the United States of America.
NYC: Planned World Trade Center 1 and Pentagon Interfaith Chapel Stained Glass Window
It will initially be a simple static page where we will have links to other diversified tools on the Internet, to make it much more difficult for those who seek to silence us.
Our web page here, RealCourage.org, that has been our home since February 2009. Individuals have repeatedly tried to hack and shut down our web site hosted here, and we have been migrating over to another web site, a new hosting provider, and different WordPress blog, as some of our readers already have seen from our Facebook, Twitter, and other postings.
We have attempted to withstand attacks by those against our universal human rights. Regardless of whether issues here get resolved, we will stop using this web page as our main point of contact due to individuals that have managed to disable it in August. I will be sharing more specific information on this with the public in the near future.
But to those who seek to silence the voice of our universal human rights, you should know that you will not succeed.
While much of America faces a darkest night on our shared human rights today, R.E.A.L. remains confident that together we can work towards a brighter day.
We are not discouraged. We remain Responsible for Equality And Liberty. It always a good day to be responsible for equality and liberty.
Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.) - The Time Has Come NOW!
We still have the open issue of the Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.) that has not yet been ratified and which needs the attention of American government leaders, American government representatives, and the women and men of the American public.
So we will be at the White House on Women’s Equality Day, urging President Barack Obama to make women’s full Constitutional equality a priority in his administration!
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), United4Equality LLC, and local area chapters of the National Organization for Women (N.O.W.) will jointly hold a protest and candle light vigil at the White House on Women’s Equality Day to urge our president to remember that once again this year, half of the nation still does not yet have full Constitutional Equality. We will have candles – and we will hold this rain or shine! We urge you to join us!
— National Women’s History Museum – Senior Vice President, Ann Stone
— Sewall Belmont House & Museum – Lead Docent, Erin Dexter
— Business & Professional Women USA – Immediate Past President and Bowie Councilwoman, Honorable Diane Polangin
— Coalition of Labor Union Women – Executive Director, Carol Rosenblatt
— Event Hosts – United For Equality, Responsible For Equality & Liberty
— Open Mike for Women on their views about Women’s Rights in America Today
Tell President Obama We Will Continue to Shine a Light for Women's Constitution Equality
Event Logistics and Contacts:
Date: Thursday, August 26, 2010 — in front of north side of the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC
— 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM – Rally for Women’s Equal Rights at Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, across from Lafayette Park
— 8:15 PM to 9:30 PM – Candlelight Vigil and Remembrance of Women Leaders in front of White House at Lafayette Park and Pennsylvania Avenue.
Public Transportation encouraged: On-street parking is not available near the White House, and use of public transportation is strongly encouraged. Parking is available in parking lots near the Metro Center station or Farragut North or Farragut West Metro Stop, and then either walk (or use the subway for a short few stops if parking at Metro Center) from a nearby metro stop – see details below.
Restrooms/Public telephones: The nearest restrooms and public telephones to the White House are in the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion (the park area south of the White House) and in the White House Visitor Center. Restrooms or public telephones are not available at the White House.
Lafayette Park in the Direction of the White House - Keep Walking to the Lafayette Park Sidewalk facing the White House
Parking Options Near White House: — 15th and 17th Streets are the ‘bordering’ streets East and West.
— To the West, (NY Avenue-E)/F/G Streets sometimes has parking on the street
— Pennsylvania Avenue between 17th and 18th may have parking and there are parking garages in this block of Pennsylvania Avenue
— Best chance for parking is in the Metro Center area as people are heading home from work, but be careful if you park in a garage to check to see what time it closes.
– Parking lots that we have seen within a few blocks of Metro Center near to Freedom Plaza (and National Theater) include:
– PMI
— 1220 E Street, NW – Enter on E Street between 12th and 13th Streets
— 424 11th Street, NW
— 1325 G Street, NW – Enter on G Street between 13th and 14th Streets
– QUICK PARK
— 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW – Enter on 13th Street between E and F Streets
FARRAGUT NORTH METRO STATION to WHITE HOUSE Walking Directions:
1. Exit station through CONNECTICUT AVE & K ST NW entrance.
2. Walk a short distance S on Connecticut Ave NW.
3. Walk straight on 17th St NW.
4. Walk approx. 1 block S on 17th St NW.
5. Turn left on I St NW.
6. Walk a short distance E on I St NW.
7. Turn right on Connecticut Ave NW.
8. Walk approx. 1 block S on Connecticut Ave NW.
9. Bear right on Jackson Pl NW.
10. Walk approx. 1 block S on Jackson Pl NW.
11. Turn left on Pennsylvania Ave NW.
12. Walk approx. 1 block E on Pennsylvania Ave NW.
— Reverse Directions back to Farragut North
Republican Congressional candidate Ron McNeiltold the school children about Islam “That religion is against everything America stands for. The freedom and liberty and if you girls who are out here were Muslims today you don’t have the rights that you have as American citizens and Christians. You’ve got a separate religion and it’s plan is to destroy our way of life and our lives then you’ve got to think differently about it.”
Florida: Congressional candidate Ron McNeil tells children that Islam is "against everything America stands for" (Photo: Ron McNeil for Congress Web Site)
Remarking on the planned 51 Park Place Islamic Center, Ron McNeil also sought to have Christians “walk” on the planned Islamic center, stating “I’m totally against it. If I had my way it’d be pretty much over my dead body to build a mosque there. The Muslims will have that place to gloat about for years if they get their way and it was the Muslim religion that caused the problems we had on 911. It was extremist. It probably didn’t represent their exact religion but the very fact they want to build something right there in the shadows of ground zero is ridiculous.” (Actually, it is two NYC blocks away on Park Place.)
Others have condemned his views asking him “when was the last time you actually read the Bill of Rights?” And another stated “I’m a Republican, but I will never vote for a man that tells teenagers a mosque should be… built nine stories under the ground so citizens and Christians can walk above it. I am a Christian and a Republican and I still find his speech choice of words disgusting for a man running for public office.
No other candidates at the Candidate forum had any remarks on the subject.
However, one of the children in attendance spoke up to challenge Congressional candidate Ron McNeil’s views.
Student Doug Reed challenged Ron McNeil’s comments, publicly asking McNeil “What gives you the right or the federal government the right to tell Americans that they cannot build a institution or building in a certain place?”
When McNeil replied “That religion is against everything America stands for.” Doug Reed asked a different question “Where is it our place to tell them that they’re wrong and that their religion is bad. It’s not our place as Christians, I believe.”
Florida Student Doug Reed Challenges Anti-Islam Congressional Candidate Asking What Gives Anyone The Right to Deny Freedoms or Say Someone Else's Religion is Wrong (Screenshot WJHG Video)
Congressional candidate Ron McNeil replied “It’s our place as Christians to stand up for the word of God and what the bible says.”
The Northwest Florida News also reported the comments of Bay County Islamic Society spokesperson, Hashem Mubarak, where he told the news that “If we’re going to say hateful statements, inflammatory statements for political reasons, this is wrong and this is actually against the American values. Christianity actually is for love and understanding and he does not apparently represent that with what he said. I really demand that Mr. McNeil make an apology of what he said or we would be happy to discuss with him and have a dialogue and maybe educate him.”
At another one of the 9/11 attack sites, the Pentagon in Washington DC, a daily Islamic prayer service has been held in November 2002 by the Office of the Pentagon Chaplain, whose mission is “meeting the spiritual needs of the Pentagon.” Neither of the Pentagon chaplains are Muslim, and according to the AP, the Friday Muslim worship service at the Pentagon is ” run by an imam from a local mosque.”
Mission of Office of Pentagon Chapel (Photo: Pentagon Web Site)
At the Pentagon Interfaith Chapel, it has a stain glass window, inscribed “United in Memory,” designed by a veteran. But the memory of 9/11 is intended to be unifying for the armed forces of all religions, races, and identity groups, rather than a source of division.
Pentagon Chapel Near 9/11 Attack: "United in Memory" as All Religions Worship Together (Photo: Pentagon Web Site)
AP reports: “Muslims pray daily at Pentagon’s 9/11 crash site.” In the AP report, it states that: “Americans are debating bitterly the proposed building of a mosque near New York’s ground zero, but for years Muslims have prayed quietly at the Pentagon only 80 feet from where another hijacked jetliner struck. Pentagon officials say that no one in the military or the families of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has ever protested. They describe the 100-seat chapel as a peaceful place where some 300 to 400 Pentagon employees come to pray each week. The chapel hosts separate weekly worship services for Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Mormons, Protestants, Catholics and Episcopalians.”
The goal of the Pentagon chaplain office, which runs the chapel, is to ‘provide assistance and support for the religious, spiritual and morale needs of all service members and employees,’ said Army spokesman George Wright. In 2001, hijacked American Airlines flight 77 flew into the west side of the Pentagon, plowing through three of the building’s five office ‘rings’ and killing 184 people. As part of its massive renovation and to honor victims in the attack, the Pentagon opened the chapel in November 2002.”
“The chapel includes no religious symbols, except Catholic holy water at the door; religious accouterments are brought in for various worship services. Wright said that Muslim employees can gather for a daily prayer service Monday through Thursday, and attend a Friday worship service run by an imam from a local mosque. Two in-house Army chaplains run the chapel, neither of which are Muslim. Col. Daniel Minjares is associated with the Church of the Nazarene; his deputy, Lt. Col. Ken Williams, is Southern Baptist. Wright said the chaplains provide religious services for their denomination, but can provide services such as grief and marital counseling to employees of any faith.”
The Indonesian Jakarta Post reported on the rejection of the violence against the Christian Church by Muslim leaders. In the Jakarta Post report stated that “Hasyim Muzadi from 40-million-strong Islam organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) deplored Tuesday the assault on religious freedom.”
At Interfaith Conference, International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS) secretary-general and Nahdlatul Ulama former chairman Hasyim Muzadi (center) Speaks (Photo: JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
The Indonesian Jakarta Post reported that Indonesia Islamic leader Hasyim Muzadi said: ‘We reserve our rights as citizens to practice our beliefs. No one can forbid us to worship, including the government, let alone our own community,’ Hasyim said during a dialogue between Muslims and Christians at the HKBP Church on Tuesday. Hasyim said that people should differentiate between worship activities and administrative issues such as legal licenses. ‘For administrative matters, let’s leave [licensing] to the congregation and the government,’ he said. ‘[Regarding worship activities], the government should protect followers of any religion so they can perform their rituals without the threat of violence.’ He called on diverse communities in the neighborhood to learn more about religious tolerance. ‘Let’s build together a harmonious inter-religious life,’ he said.”
International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS) secretary-general and Nahdlatul Ulama former chairman Hasyim Muzadi
The Post also reported that “As many as 1,500 members of Solidarity Forum of Interfaith Harmony (FSKUB) staged a rally Sunday in front of the State Palace, expressing their frustration over a series of religious violence recently in related to a construction of a religious house. ‘It is an appropriate expression from a minority group which has been conflicted with a certain public organization,’ the Islamic Liberal Network (JIL) leader Ulil Abshar Abdala told kompas.com.”
Indonesia Muslim Activist Ulil Abshar Abdalla Respects Christian Frustrations in Seeking Religious Freedom (Photo: Wikipedia)
The Post reported that the assembly was “an act of peaceful protest against the state’s silence toward the persecution of religious minorities.”‘
Indonesian Muslims joined the protest with the Indonesian Christians seeking religious freedom, including Muslim legislator Eva Kusuma Sundari.
Indonesia Muslim Legislator Eva Kusuma Sundari Stands in Solidarity with Christians for Religious Freedom (Photo: Facebook)
According to the Jakarta Post, “Legislator Eva Kusuma Sundari, who joined the protest, condemned the government’s lack of action in handling the matter. ‘I urge the President to show his leadership. Authorities, including the police, the Home Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry, will follow their leader. And they are the actors who can solve this issue.. The President did not dare act because the Islam Defenders Front [FPI] was formed and nurtured by his seniors in the military. Police were also too scared. This is the last term of his presidency; he should dare to raise his voice to overcome this problem.”
