On January 13th, New Hampsire Episocopal Bishop Bob Hirschfeld asked New Hampshire Episcopal ministers to “get their affairs in order to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.” He warned his clergy to prepare for a “new era of martyrdom.”
On January 23rd, ninety-nine clergy members of different faiths were arrested at a pray-in at the Minneapolis Airport. The arrestees included Protestant, Catholic, Unitarian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, and Indigenous ministers, rabbis, and priests.
On January 25th, a group of Baptist, Methodist, Congregationalist, and Episcopalian ministers and Jewish rabbis in Westchester county organized a public event to express solidarity with the arrested clergy and the citizens of Minneapolis. The event was held in a Westchester, NY synagogue, three days later on January 28th.
The event, “Stand Up and Stand Together: An Interfaith Call to Action and Prayer,” was attended by dozens of clergy and over 700 members of the public. It was also attended by local public officials including mayors, County Assembly members, and our district’s congressman. The program included prayer, oratory, and song.
Some moments were deeply affecting. The Reverend Doris Dalton, the Director of Connectional Ministries for the New York Conference of the United Methodist Church and the Reverend Danielle Lindstrom, the minister of the Community Unitarian Univeralist Congregation (where my Zen group happens to meet), read a powerful quote from a speech the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered from the pulpit in Selma, Alabama on March 8, 1965:
“Deep down in our non-violent creed is the conviction there are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they’re worth dying for. And if a man happens to be 36-years-old, as I happen to be, some great truth stands before the door of his life–some great opportunity to stand up for that which is right.
A man might be afraid his home will get bombed, or he’s afraid that he will lose his job, or he’s afraid that he will get shot, or beat down by state troopers, and he may go on and live until he’s 80. He’s just as dead at 36 as he would be at 80. The cessation of breathing in his life is merely the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. He died…
A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.”
The final speech of the night was delivered by the Reverend Lee Trollinger of the Calvary Baptist Church. His was a stem-winder delivered in the stirring oratorical style only a Black Baptist minister can deliver—one that ended with a peroration that had everyone on their feet:
“What threatens one life threatens the moral fabric of the soul of America. We must refuse to allow violence to define our future… Every person matters. Every family deserves to be safe… Tonight, I call you all to stand with the families that are mourning right now in Minneapolis and throughout America. Stand with the communities of our Latino brothers and sisters who we invited tonight and were too afraid to come tonight because of the fear that’s in America. Stand with those who feel targeted…
We have come together for what? To share and to care in solidarity. What do we stand for? Justice… With truth and dignity for all. Who do we stand with? The People of Minnesota. The immigrants that sought a better life in America and communities that are under siege by ICE throughout this land.
Here is a question that I close with this. How will we move forward? Here’s the answer- together. With one heartbeat, one voice, and one purpose, let us gather… We will not be violent in the face of fear. We will not be divided in fear, we shall share, we will care, we will stand, we will heal, we will rise together, our community can be better.”
The gathering ended with all the clergy gathered on stage singing, “This Little Light of Mine.” That’s me in the picture above, the little guy seventh from right.
I wrote about this event because it is representative of similar small gatherings all across America. I have wondered whether, if ICE were to invade our community the way it has Minneapolis, our community would be able to organize itself to resist; to provide food and care to migrants afraid to leave their homes; to stand out in the cold with cellphones to document ICE’s crimes? This event told me that, yes, we have the social infrastructure, organizational capacity, and public support to do so. Our ability to resist fascism depends on the health and resilience of civil society, and in this moment churches, synagogues, temples, Zendos, and mosques can help lead the way. It is also an example of how Buddhists can increase our moral influence by joining interfaith efforts to tell truth to power.
Note: While I have mostly reconstructed this event from my memory, I was also assisted by an article written by Rebecca Ludwig in the Scarsdale 10853 on-line newspaper which includes the photo posted at the top of this article. Ms. Ludwig’s full article can be found here. A full video of the event can be found here.