In the wake of the recent shootings at places of worship at Bondi and San Diego, the Wellington Abrahamic Council of Jews, Christians and Muslims calls on all humans, religious and secular, to keep our sacred spaces sacred. All three Abrahamic religions believe in the sanctity of life. Killing people is wrong. Killing people as they gather to pray and express their spirituality is evil, no matter your religious or secular stripe.
The Abrahamic Council also calls on organisations, schools, governments, businesses, and places of worship to discuss and encourage their members to engage with people who are different to them, and get to know them. We believe that building real-life connection with “others” is the long-term solution to these acts of hate.
Jewish co-chair Dave Moskovitz says “Our society is increasingly fragmented, where we don’t have face-to-face contact with people that are different to us in real life. Many people spend most of their time online where they often interact with people like themselves, and objectify others. Judaism calls on us to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’, so we should go meet and get to know our neighbours. If they know us, they’ll better understand us and will be less likely to want to kill us.”
Christian co-chair Nick Polaschek says “Contrary to one current strain within Christianity, we affirm as Christians that Jesus’ teaching and example challenge us to respect those from cultures and traditions that are different than our own”.
“It always strikes hard when your family, neighbor, or even strangers are taken away abruptly in the name of hate,” said Rito Triumbarto, Muslim co-chair. He also suggests that more human interactions will suffocate prejudice and wash away hatred. As he notes, “We are created as nations and tribes that we may know one another” (Quran 49:13). Social cohesion is a way to keep us humane – let’s work harder on this.