Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/load.php on line 651
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/theme.php on line 2241
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387 Rhode Island State Council of Churches – RI Future Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
The Rhode Island State Council of Churches (RISCC) invites all faith communities to post free lawn signs that say “To our Muslim Neighbors: BLESSED RAMADAN.” Ramadan is the month of the Islamic lunar calendar when Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. In 2016, it’s from June 6 to July 5. This annual observance is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and is performed to learn compassion, self-restraint, and generosity.
“From the current political atmosphere to neighborhood hate crimes, we see negativity directed against Muslims. But this is not who we are in Rhode Island. When we are our best selves, we are a welcoming, caring, respectful community,” said Barbara Scott, the council’s president. “Signs on our front lawns is one positive way to demonstrate a caring spirit towards Muslim Rhode Islanders. We’re asking individuals, families and faith communities to place a ‘Blessed Ramadan’ sign near their front doors during the month of Ramadan as a gesture of witness and welcome.”
To get a free sign delivered to your address in Rhode Island, please email Paul Alexander with your contact information. The plastic signs are white with black type measuring 18 x 24 inches, similar to lawn signs used in political campaigns.
Other State Councils of Churches are now active in this effort of interfaith appreciation, including Minnesota, Ohio, Colorado, Arkansas, Kentucky and Washington State. Tennessee’s efforts are managed by Religions for Peace.
According to local Muslim scholars, one website is recommended to learn more about Islam. (Vocabulary nuance: Muslims are the people who practice Islam.)
The Rhode Island State Council of Churches, which will celebrate its 80th year of service in 2017, is a center for ecumenical conversation and interfaith dialogue between and among the faith communities of Rhode Island.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
[Editor: Pete Hoekstra, who found himself un-welcomed at the Rhode Island Island State House last Monday, had an op-ed in today’s Washington Times. We reprint it here with permission.]
[Comments and responses are welcome.]
Accepting Syrian refugees into the United States is an emotional issue. People are suffering and dying in Syria and throughout the broader Middle East. The grotesque nature of the situation is very real. Innocent Christians, Jews, women, homosexuals and children are being killed, sold as sex slaves and brutalized. Nobody in America wants that. Nor, however, Continue reading “Pete Hoekstra: Profane hatred blossoms on campus”
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Hundreds of people carrying signs of acceptance and support for refugees and immigrants filled the State House today in response to an anti-Syrian refugee rally sponsored by the Boston based and Orwellian named Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) and featuring former Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra. Russell Taub, a Republican candidate seeking US Representative David Cicilline‘s seat, introduced the event. State Representative Mike Chippendale, originally advertised to be part of the event, made one of the smartest moves of his political career by distancing himself as far as possible from this mess.
Things did not go well for the anti-Syrian refugee camp.
As Charles Jacobs of APT spoke, he was several times interrupted by those in attendance. He was called repeatedly on his racist and inflammatory speech. I wrote about Jacobs’ problematic and bigoted past here. Jacobs pressed on through his speech, if for no other reason than to have posted this fake news story about the event here. (Note that the story says nothing about the crowd assembled against Jacobs, that the picture used gives the impression that the crowd was there in support of his message and that the piece gives the impression that the crowd could hear and cared about his message.)
Jacobs became visibly flustered and several times argued with the crowd, turning the event into a call and response. Jacobs claims to represent the interests of American Jews, but the Jewish people who I spoke with at the event all told me that Jacobs is a bigot who does not in any way represent them.
Pete Hoekstra did no better than Jacobs. At one point in his speech, Hoekstra mentioned genocide, prompting a Brown student to ask, “What about the genocide in Palestine?” In response, a photographer with Hoekstra and Jacobs’ group asked, “What Palestine?” eliciting first a shocked silence, then a loud denunciation.
Tired of what she called Hoekstra’s lies, Sterk Zaza, a Syrian immigrant, stood and asked Hoekstra, “Are you better than me?” Hoekstra never answered.
Afterwards, Hoekstra said, in conversation with Omar Bah of the Refugee Dream Center, “I’ve been in politics for 18 years, and I have never been met with a group as hostile and uncivil as what you are. Congratulations.”
The anti-Syrian refugee speakers were continually disrupted throughout their presentations.
The counter protest and the pro-Syrian refugee event held afterwards were organized in part by the RI State Council of Churches, the Dorcas Institute, the Refugee Dream Center, members and families in the Syrian community, Quaker Friends, CAIR-MA, the Standing on the Side of Love committees of several Unitarian Universalist churches, and perhaps 200 students from various organizations at Brown University.
After the failed and frankly embarrassing anti-refugee event was over, Hoekstra and Jacobs left the State House and the pro-Syrian rally began. John Jacobs from the the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA) introduced the speakers. First up was State Senator Josh Miller.
Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman spoke next. Rabbi Voss-Altman said that he stood before the crowd as “a proud descendant of Jewish refugees who came here,” to America.
Omar Bah of the Refugee Dream Center came to America after being hunted, imprisoned and tortured in his home country. “What America stands for is love, is openness and its welcoming spirit…”
Businessman Youssef Bahralom is a gemologist and “very proud to be a Syriana and an American at the same time…”
RI State Representative Aaron Regunberg talked of being descended from a Jewish grandfather who escaped the Nazis. He was saddened to learn that the United States did not open its borders to Jewish refugees out of ignorance and bigotry. “It’s up to all of us here to make sure this time around,” said Regunberg, “the story has a different ending. This time, instead of succumbing to our basest instincts, Rhode Island stands up for its most fundamental values.”
Reverend Donald Anderson of the RI Council of Churches, said, “Unfortunately there are those among us who would turn their backs on our tradition of welcoming all faith traditions. But we must not let those who would prey upon fear and prejudice to snuff out the flame of religious freedom that makes our state and country so special.”
Sterk Zaza said she went to school in Syria, and contrary to the words of Charles Jacobs, “I was not taught to hate Jews. I was not taught to hate Christians. I have walked the streets of streets of Syraia and I have shaken the hands of Jews, of Christians, of Shia, of Sunni… and the man who was standing here, telling all these lies, couldn’t even answer me and tell me why he was any different than I am.”
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Islamophobia and hate crimes against Muslims are on the rise. People perceived to be Muslim have been shot at, assaulted and threatened. Mosques have been the target of hate crimes and arson. One site lists 19 such attacks in the last week. And so hundreds of Rhode Islanders representing many different races and faiths (and no faith) gathered in Kennedy Plaza to reject hate and fear and embrace freedom, peace and human rights.
The rally in Providence was a chance to stand against terror.
Recent events in San Bernardino and Paris have been used by the Republican presidential candidate front runner Donald Trump as a way to foment fear and bigotry. Parallels have been drawn, without irony or exaggeration, to the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s.
At the rally, Imam Farid Ansari quoted German pastor Martin Niemöller, who famously said, “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist.
“Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
“Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.
“Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Here in Rhode Island, a line against the horrors of the past has been drawn. So on the same day that the far right parties in France were routed by voters turning out in force to clearly reject of the politics of fascism and fear, Rhode Islanders came together to support and defend our Muslim neighbors. Hundreds of people crowded Kennedy Plaza to say, unequivocally:
“Not here and never again.”
To be present at this rally, to watch the children play, to see the people smile and laugh together, to hear one speaker after another call for compassion, reason and courage in the face of the murderous ideologies of ISIS and to call for an end to hate speech was to see Rhode Island at its best.
Our state is the cradle of religious liberty and freedom of conscience, and on this day we honored that legacy.
I can’t recall a time that I have felt more proud of my state.
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
The Rhode Island State Council of Churches, the RI Council for Muslim Advancement, the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island and the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today issued this open letter to Governor Gina Raimondo, following her comments yesterday that the controversy surrounding the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Rhode Island was “much ado about nothing”:
Dear Governor Raimondo:
As the rhetoric and vitriol surrounding the issue of resettling Syrian refugees in Rhode Island increase, we urge you to demonstrate leadership on this critical humanitarian issue by firmly and publicly denouncing the rising xenophobia we are witnessing.
Yesterday you were quoted as calling it “much ado about nothing,” and saying that you would “take a look at it” if asked by the federal government to help with resettlement. Respectfully, when other public officials in the state are protesting efforts to welcome any Syrian refugees in Rhode Island by holding public rallies and calling for the internment of any refugees that do arrive here, this is anything but a non-issue. Nor is it something to be blithely ignored for now, and only looked at sometime in the indefinite future.
We believe that it is time for you, as Governor of a state that has welcomed immigrants and refugees from its founding, to forcefully affirm the view – in the same manner as some of your Gubernatorial colleagues elsewhere around the country have done – that Rhode Island is prepared to welcome immigrants and refugees fleeing violence from Syria, and that you reject fear-mongering that undermines our state’s strong commitment to non-discrimination against people because of their ethnicity or religious beliefs. To ignore these troubling strains of prejudice is to only give them force.
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Don Anderson, Executive Minister
Rhode Island State Council of Churches
100 Niantic Avenue, Suite 101
Providence, RI 02907
Imam Farid Ansari
President
Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement
P.O. Box 40535
Providence, RI 02940
Rabbi Sarah Mack
President
Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island
70 Orchard Ave.
Providence, RI 02906
Steven Brown, Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island
128 Dorrance Street, Suite 220
Providence, RI 02903
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387