Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once stated that “bigots are speaking up now and all too many good people are remaining silent,” and that “the appalling silence of the good people is as serious as the vitriolic words of the bad people.”
Can we lean into those words?
Can we take responsibility for calling out prejudice, bias and bigotry when we hear it, at a family dinner, with a friend over the phone, with a stranger?
The “appalling silence” of so many within our country is stunning, especially from those who deign themselves to be leaders. Be it people from the left or the right, we each have a sacred obligation to stand up for the golden rule of loving the “other.”
During this time of remembrance of Dr. King and his legacy, can we remember that prejudice came against him and his stance on nonviolence from every direction?
Are you willing to stand up and be a beneficial force for nonviolent transformation?
The history of violence has found itself wanting in the arc of history. As the Buddha suggested, “violence never solved the issue of violence.”
Can we hear that in the first quarter of the 21st century, resonate and respond?
A great Muslim poet asked, “How can you have God when there is a loaded gun in your head?” Yet many from the faith traditions carry weapons, from their assault rifle to their bigotry.
The recent hostage crisis at the Congregation Beth Israel in Texas highlights the emergency we face. Some will say the gunman involved was a “lone wolf,” yet for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, that event is symptomatic of a huge blight upon our nation, wherein many have lost the capacity to see the beauty in diversity, of faith, of ethnicity, of race, of culture.
Let us take a moment to examine how each of us might be a larger voice of compassion, empathy and solidarity within our sphere of influence.
Let us take a moment to examine our own “appalling silence” and begin to learn to speak out for those on the margins, those who are fear-filled victims of prejudice, bias and bigotry.
Let us take a moment to see how we can each move beyond our own tribalism, whether it be nepotism, provincialism or nationalism, and reach across the chasms that separate us, embracing the other.
Can we hold the members of Congregation Beth Israel in our thoughts and prayers this week? Can we hold the congregational members of all synagogues in our thoughts and prayers as they struggle to understand such hatred?
If there was a silver lining to the crisis in Texas, it was the Muslim women who comforted the rabbi’s wife by preparing her favorite meal and bringing it to her.
Interfaith solidarity grows stronger by the day as we recognize our common humanity. The Interfaith Council of Southern Nevada encourages the Sun’s readers to attend a service of a tradition different than their own, to embrace the beautiful people they meet there, to experience, as Abraham Heschel suggests, “the radical amazement” of diversity.
Meanwhile, when you hear the voice of prejudice, bias and bigotry, call it out, not with anger and violence, but with nonviolence, with facts and with an attitude of compassion.
It is really simple: If you want to be a happy person, you will embrace diversity and seek to be a beneficial influence in our community, by serving others, in whatever way your hands and feet find to do. Any person who works against diversity works against the very fabric of the universe itself.
Listen again to Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Gard Jameson is chair of the Interfaith Council of Southern Nevada and Compassionate Las Vegas. He also is a professor of world religions at UNLV.
