As ordained and lay leaders of faith communities in Honolulu, we publicly condemn the incidents of hate speech, graffiti, threats and all other expressions of antisemitism increasingly happening here in our community.
We are neighbors and friends who embody one of the most diverse communities in this country, living and working side by side in the spirit of aloha that makes our island home the unique and wonderful place it is.
As our world reels in pain and violence halfway around the globe, we may feel powerless to make any significant change in generations of conflict we don’t even fully understand. We can, however, refuse to accept any expressions of hatred, violence and antisemitism here, and call upon each other to remember the aloha with which we work to live every day.
In this is a season of light and hope, we make the audacious claim that peace is possible and love will win in the end. Every one of our religious traditions teaches us to love and care for our neighbors, and this is the standard to which we now call our entire island ohana.
The Rev. Darren Galindo
United Church of Christ, Judd Street
Sharen Nakashima
Soka Gakkai International, member
Mollie Speery
Baha’i Faith, member
(Editor’s note: This was co-signed by eight others of the Nuuanu Valley Interfaith Service Planning Committee.)
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