In the first week following the September 11
terror attacks, hundreds of American religious leaders of all major faith groups---including Christian, Jewish and Muslim---began signing a
comprehensive statement on terrorism that recommends a resolute response
guided by the wisdom of religious faith.
We, American religious leaders, share the
broken hearts of our fellow citizens. The worst terrorist attack in history
that assaulted New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, has been
felt in every American community. Each life lost was of unique and sacred
value in the eyes of God, and the connections Americans feel to those lives
run very deep. In the face of such a cruel catastrophe, it is a time to look
to God and to each other for the strength we need and the response we will
make. We must dig deep to the roots of our faith for sustenance, solace, and
wisdom. First, we must find a word of consolation for the untold pain and
suffering of our people. Our congregations will offer their practical and
pastoral resources to bind up the wounds of the nation. We can become safe
places to weep and secure places to begin rebuilding our shattered lives and
communities. Our houses of worship should become public arenas for common
prayer, community discussion, eventual healing, and forgiveness.
Second, we offer a word of sober restraint as
our nation discerns what its response will be. We share the deep anger
toward those who so callously and massively destroy innocent lives, no
matter what the grievances or injustices invoked. In the name of God, we too
demand that those responsible for these utterly evil acts be found and
brought to justice. Those culpable must not escape accountability. But we
must not, out of anger and vengeance, indiscriminately retaliate in ways
that bring on even more loss of innocent life. We pray that President Bush
and members of Congress will seek the wisdom of God as they decide upon the
appropriate response.
Third, we face deep and profound questions of
what this attack on America will do to us as a nation. The terrorists have
offered us a stark view of the world they would create, where the remedy to
every human grievance and injustice is a resort to the random and cowardly
violence of revenge – even against the most innocent. Having taken thousands
of our lives, attacked our national symbols, forced our political leaders to
flee their chambers of governance, disrupted our work and families, and
struck fear into the hearts of our children, the terrorists must feel
victorious.
But we can deny them their victory by refusing
to submit to a world created in their image. Terrorism inflicts not only
death and destruction but also emotional oppression to further its aims. We
must not allow this terror to drive us away from being the people God has
called us to be. We assert the vision of community, tolerance, compassion,
justice, and the sacredness of human life, which lies at the heart of all
our religious traditions. America must be a safe place for all our citizens
in all their diversity. It is especially important that our citizens who
share national origins, ethnicity, or religion with whoever attacked us are,
themselves, protected among us.
Our American illusion of invulnerability has
been shattered. From now on, we will look at the world in a different way,
and this attack on our life as a nation will become a test of our national
character. Let us make the right choices in this crisis - to pray, act, and
unite against the bitter fruits of division, hatred, and violence. Let us
rededicate ourselves to global peace, human dignity, and the eradication of
injustice that breeds rage and vengeance.