To the Editor:

Following the recent stabbings at the home of a Hasidic rabbi in a suburb of New York City, and massive shootings at the West Freeway Church of Christ, near Fort Worth, Texas, the Interfaith Council of Newtown offers the following statement, condemning these and multiple other “Hate Crimes” that are both evil and sinful in every sense of those words.

To deny the humanity of another is to question our God’s power to create and to enter into the life of a human creature; to breathe His life into that precious being. That is what a perpetrator of hateful crimes is doing — denying God, the Creator of all of us.

To treat another as mere “humus” (dirt/ clay, ‘adam’) is to attempt to remove the very life-principle (the soul?), i.e., to desecrate God’s wonder-full creation, Her sons and daughters.

As a loving family, we encourage every adult and child of our caring community to recommit our mutual call to faith — fully embrace our brothers/sisters, that we consider any disrespectful infringement in the lives of others, an offense against ourselves.

Our sister interfaith council, in Danbury, known as ARC (The Association of Religious Communities,) oversees a proactive program that calls for an immediate response in the instance of a threat to any faith, race, culture, or other community. One example of such action came in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorism, in NYC. Someone from the Greater Danbury area made a threat to a small business owned by a merchant who happened to be a member of the Muslim faith. The Rapid Response team, made up of nearly all religious persuasions descended upon the property under siege, and maintained peace, discouraging all forms of protest and potential violence. Perhaps it is time for us to join, or replicate, such a group.

Anti-Semitic hate crimes in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago — the nation’s three largest cities — have nearly attained an 18-year peak, as reported by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

We are aware that some of the perpetrators of said crimes have one or another form of mental illness and do not place these ill people in the same category as those who appear to look upon others as somewhat less than human or undeserving of human respect. Nevertheless, we condemn any hate-filled action against another, be he/she Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Bahai, or of any culture, faith, race, or gender. When one hurts another, in any manner of prejudicial actions, she/he is casting aspersions and causing pain on all of us. Bless our community with your prayerful commitment now!

Chaplain Leo McIlrath and other members of the Newtown Interfaith Council

13 Sugarloaf Road, Sandy Hook January 14, 2020