We Must Learn to Love Our Neighbors, Not Sow Division
As citizens of these United States and as clergy persons leading congregations in Westchester County, we have been disheartened by the ugly acts of violence against the Quaker community and the First Congregational Church of Chappaqua, as well as the Presbyterian Church of Mt. Kisco. These violent acts, including arson, are becoming all too commonplace in our towns and villages.
For the Quaker and Congregational communities, it was their Black Lives Matter sign, at train stations and schoolyards it is anti-Semitic graffiti, for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Pleasantville it was the breaking of a sign and ripping of a rainbow flag. We are compelled to speak out condemning such acts of aggression for the cowardice they represent. Sneaking around in the dark to destroy is not a heroic act.
There is another way, not the way of the right nor the way of the left, but the way of faith. The way through which we learn to love our neighbor as ourselves. The way through which we learn kindness, compassion, generosity, justice, hope and love.
We, the Pleasantville Clergy Association, respectfully submit that the way forward for our nation is not chaos and division, but peace and reconciliation. We must learn to listen, to truly hear the lived experience of our neighbors, with open hearts.
Respectfully submitted,
Pastor Roger Berner, Emanuel Lutheran Church
Rev. Dr. Debra Bronkema, Pleasantville Presbyterian Church
Rabbi Julie Danan, Pleasantville Community Synagogue
Rev. Susan Goodman-Chapungo, United Methodist Church
The Rev. Mary B. Gregorius, St. John’s Episcopal Church
Dr. Majhabeen Hassan, Muslim Women’s Association
Rabbi Maura Linzer, Temple Beth-el, Chappaqua
Rev. Dr. Arlin Roy, Foundation for Religious & Mental Health
