Interfaith response to Ft. Hood incident

Below is an interfaith response to the Ft. Hood incident:

With other Americans across the country we have heard with heavy hearts the news reports of the tragic shooting at Ft. Hood, Texas this past Thursday. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and their families and we encourage all current investigations that will help to understand the motives and context for such a horrific act.

Meanwhile, we are concerned with the comments and speculation being made that suggest this act of violence is somehow reflective of the religion of Islam and the entire Muslim Community. Together, as Christian and Muslim Americans, we denounce such speculation born of prejudice and lack of understanding of what is true Islam. Left unchallenged, we fear that this biased attitude could lead to further mistrust, division, and violence, and further undermine the possibilities for a unified approach to the most critical problems we face as members of a common humanity.

If others forget, we are mindful of the fact that in the not too distant past Catholics and Jews were viewed with suspicion in American society, as having loyalties which kept them from being “true Americans”. If a Catholic or a Jew had committed a heinous act, the media would not be asking the same questions about their religion and the patriotic loyalty of their communities. With over 4,000 Muslims serving in our armed forces, and with Islamic crescents marking increasing numbers of graves in Arlington cemetery, why should the American Muslim community have to submit to such questioning?

In response to erroneous and misleading statements by those who would fan the flames of distrust of all Muslims and/or those of Arab ancestry, we commend the extraordinary 2005 statement from the international Muslim Community, The Amman Message (www.ammanmessage.com) which states in part:

Islam rejects extremism, radicalism and fanaticism—just as all noble, heavenly religions reject them—considering them as recalcitrant ways and forms of injustice. Furthermore, it is not a trait that characterizes a particular nation; it is an aberration that has been experienced by all nations, races, and religions. They are not particular to one people; truly they are a phenomenon that every people, every race and every religion has known.

We denounce and condemn extremism, radicalism and fanaticism today, just as our forefathers tirelessly denounced and opposed them throughout Islamic history. They are the ones who affirmed, as do we, the firm and unshakeable understanding that Islam is a religion of [noble] character traits in both its ends and means; a religion that strives for the good of the people, their happiness in this life and the next; and a religion that can only be defended in ways that are ethical; and the ends do not justify the means in this religion.

We urge all people of faith to denounce speculation fueled by hatred, fear and prejudice and stand united in the pursuit of truth, justice and peace.

We are writing as representatives of the Civilization Exchange and Cooperation Foundation, an interfaith foundation working to promote understanding and dialog between religious communities, foster a correct understanding of Islam, and facilitate the cooperative action of the interfaith community to address the issues of violence and injustice, and the misuse of religion that promotes violence in our world.

Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat, President of CECF
Fr. William A. Au, Pastor of Saints Phillip and James Roman Catholic Church
Rev. Mary D. Gaut, Pastor of Maryland Presbyterian Church

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