February 15, 2015

A week ago, people around the world were celebrating World Interfaith Harmony Week, a week dedicated to building peaceful relationships among the diverse religious communities of the world. SiVIC chose to observe that week with efforts to build compassion. We encouraged people in our community to reach out to one another across boundaries that separate us from each other, and celebrated those compassionate actions, as part of SiVIC’s commitment to build a more just and compassionate society in Silicon Valley.

So it is that we are especially stunned and saddened by the senseless shootings in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and by the persistent negative depictions of Islam and attacks on Muslims, both verbal and physical. We are grieved by the police beating of an elderly Indian man in Alabama, because he “looked black.” Nearly every day comes word of yet another act of violence, fueled by hatred of those who are marked as different.

The three young Muslims killed on Tuesday, Deah Barakat, his wife, Yusor Abu-Salha, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha, were inspiring and active members of the whole community. Our entire nation is the poorer for the loss of their spirit, heart, and vision. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of these young people who are gone before their time.

Sureshbhai Patel was merely visiting his family, walking down the street, when attacked by a police officer, an attack that left him paralyzed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Patel and his family, as well.

We affirm our love and respect for our friends and co-workers from the Muslim and Hindu communities of Silicon Valley and commit ourselves to working together with them and others for a better future for all our children and our children’s children.

We renew our call for compassion, not only in our own community, but in our nation. We call on the media, elected officials, and social media to stop using language designed to inflame passions, divide people from their neighbors, or isolate any group. We call on our fellow citizens to find non-violent ways of dealing with disagreement, whether it be over parking spaces, religious beliefs, or political stances. And we call on us all to find ways to stand up against hatred, reach out to our neighbors, and affirm the worth and dignity of all human beings.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose life and work we celebrated just last month, “We must learn to live together as brothers [and sisters], or perish together as fools.”

SiVIC Board

We encourage you to add your voice to the Virtual March for Unity by liking “Global March for Humanity” on Facebook and encouraging your friends to do likewise. Then find ways to build unity and understanding wherever you may be.