Galesburg Interfaith Letter to City Council 1/16/23

This statement from Galesburg clergy and religious leaders was shared at City Council. Due to the large community response to transphobic comments that were made by a city council person, the statement was not able to be read in its entirety so I share it here:

Mayor, Council Members, and people of Galesburg,

As people of faith and leaders within our faith community, we been made aware and greatly troubled by recent comments and social media postings by community leaders that target and dehumanize members of the LGBTQIA+ community, specifically persons who are transgender, nonbinary, and gender-queer. Within our various traditions, we understand that humanity was created in the image of God. We read in the first chapter of Genesis, the first book of Jewish and Christian scripture, “God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to be like us…. Humankind was created as God’s reflection: in the divine image God created them:…God looked at all of this creation, and proclaimed that this was good – very good”. As part of God’s good creation, all people are thus of infinite sacred worth, not in-spite of their gender identity but including their gender identity.

In today’s increasingly polarized world, it can happen that the ways in which we talk about one another are framed as being rooted in ideology, political correctness, or as reflection of ‘wokeness’. It is then tempting to reduce individuals to faceless groups. As clergy and religious leaders, we believe that we are called to center the concern for others in our conversations on all subjects. Thus, we are not here to speak to political ideology or ‘wokeness’ but rather the ways in which we care for one another.

According to the Pew Research Center, around 5% of young adults identify as transgender or nonbinary. That is one in twenty young adults. As these young people grow up, they make up an increasingly large part of our community. The community that you lead and represent. Your example as leaders in this community makes a real impact on people’s lives. In 2022, the Trevor Project found that 45% of LGBTQIA+ youth have seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth. This is not because the LGBTQIA+ community is inherently more prone to suicide. Rather, this is because of the stresses and stigma that is placed on them simply because of who they are. When they are part of communities that accept them for who they are, these numbers reduce dramatically.

When we use dehumanizing language to describe people and groups of people, including the LGBTQIA+ community our words have a real impact on real people. We are here today, as members of the faith community to remind us all, that we are talking today not about ideas, issues, or abstractions, but about people. We are talking about real people. We are talking about friends, relatives, loved ones, neighbors, congregation members, and constituents. These people live real lives, dream real dreams, and have real feelings. When we use demeaning and dehumanizing language it causes real harm: spiritual harm, emotional harm, mental harm, and physical harm. This harm is inflicted upon these persons that we know and love, as well as upon their friends, families, and communities. In Christian scripture, the Apostle Paul uses the metaphor of the body for the community, noting, “…So that there won’t be division in the body and so the parts might have mutual concern for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part gets the glory, all parts celebrate with it”. In other words, this harm is not isolated in the lives of individuals but flows all through our community causing ripples of pain and conflict. The harm inflicted upon our transgender and nonbinary siblings harms us all.

We thus thank this council for its continued affirmation of support for the LGBTQIA+ community, and invite us all into a time of reflection upon the impact of our words.

The Interfaith Collective of Galesburg

Rev. Glen Bocox

Erev Rav Jennifer Bunde

Rev. Dr. Carrie Carnes

Rev. Dr. Scott Carnes

Rev. Dr. Monica Corsaro

Rev. Dr Pam Marolla

Rev. Vince Marolla

They are Us

An article from the Galesburg Register Mail by our own Rev. Dr. Monica Corsaro regarding the mass shooting in New Zealand. https://www.galesburg.com/news/20190317/monica-corsaro-they-are-us

Life and Death and Breath

From Rev. Vince Marolla,

In the wonderful diversity of life and death, we are all equally sustained by the spirit of the creator. Live in the richness of the breath of God.

https://www.galesburg.com/news/20190317/vince-marolla-life-and-death-and-breath

Can We Move Past Polarization

From our own Dr. David Amor

https://www.galesburg.com/news/20190309/david-amor-can-we-move-past-polarization

The key necessities are, first, to engage with each other and not simply stay in our corners shouting insults. And, second, to remember that the people with whom we disagree are human beings just as we are, facing their own versions of most of the same challenges we face and sharing many of the same personal aspirations. It may require a real imaginative leap to try to see the world from their perspective — or some real courage to ask them to help you understand them — but the effort is rewarding and productive. It may not change our minds about our own values and priorities, but it may open the door to a connection that allows us to move forward.

What Makes you Come Alive

Pastor Frank Langhoff writes,

I have always yearned to live fully. The saying of Jesus, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly,” has resonated with me. I believe that we come alive when we are able show up as that unique human being we are. Our uniqueness is a combination of purpose, innate strengths and connection with the movement of God. The key is to become aware of what makes us come alive. Sometimes awareness of our purpose, our gifts and our connection with God eludes us. How do we find what makes us come alive?

 

read more – https://www.galesburg.com/news/20190303/rev-frank-langholf-what-makes-you-come-alive

Jennifer Bunde: The Jewish High Holidays: A time of reflection

Judaism is a religion that marks time. There are holidays for planting and holidays for harvesting. There are prescribed times of joy and grief. And in the fall of every year, Jewish people around the world begin a time of introspection and reflection leading up to what are known as the High Holidays. This Sunday night, Jews around the world will begin observing the first of the Jewish High Holidays, known as Rosh HaShanah, or “Head of the Year,” also known as the Jewish New Year. The second of the High Holidays, Yom Kippur, or “Day of Atonement,” will begin at sundown 10 days later on the 18th.

Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are called the High Holy Days because of their significance to the Jewish people. It is the time of year in which Jews traditionally believe God is deciding their fate for the coming year. We imagine there are two books: the Book of Good Life and the Book of Death. On Rosh HaShanah, we say our fate is written in one of these two books for the coming year and on Yom Kippur that fate is sealed. But, we are told, that teshuvah, which can be translated as repentance or returning to God, can tip the scales in our favor.

Many Jewish people spend the month leading up to the High Holidays preparing themselves and getting ready for a prolonged period of self reflection. It’s a wonderful time to take stock of the past year. What have I done well? Where did I come up short? Tradition encourages us to seek out those we have hurt to make amends — we are told that we cannot ask forgiveness from God unless we have sought forgiveness from those we have hurt.

As I mentioned before, Judaism is a faith that alerts you to the time and season you are in. Traditionally, every day in the month leading up to Rosh HaShana a shofar, or ram’s horn, is blown. Yes, we still really do use a ram’s horn in our worship at this time of year, and yes, the sound is big and loud. But it is a sound that for generations has told us to “wake up!” “listen!” “get ready!”

The sound of the shofar is not the only thing that’s different; our music changes as well. In Jewish tradition, most of the prayers in our liturgy stay the same regardless of the day in which they are said. But the melody put to the prayers changes, depending on whether it’s a weekday or the Sabbath, a festival or the High Holidays. These tunes that we only hear at this time of year help to place us in a solemn mood and cue us into the “awesomeness of the day,” as our liturgy says.

link to full article

What will you have?

Rev. Lee Whiteside writes:

When your dining companion says to the server, “I believe I will have today’s special,” you get a very brief glance into your friend’s belief system. If you follow up on the belief comment, you might ask, “What else do you believe?”

What we believe and how that impacts our daily living is an interesting pursuit. We all believe some things. These beliefs may be expressed in our lunch preferences or our religious connections. We may alter our plans for the day if we believe the weather forecast for thundershowers. We may pause for prayer before dining on today’s special — or not.

Nearly all beliefs have their roots in trusted sources. We believe mother because, well, she is mother. We believe the weather report because it is correct most of the time. We choose our sources for belief and practice based on some level of authority that we recognize and trust.

Religious practices, both ours and our neighbor’s, have similar roots. We accept certain sources of authority.  (click to full article)

Religious Freedom Must be for Everyone

Pastor Robert Franek from Faith Lutheran (ELCA) in Wataga writes:

Freedom in a Lutheran Christian key sounds something like this: We are freed in Christ to love and serve our neighbor. In this context, “neighbor” takes on a broad definition that includes every person because they are created in the image of God, and all the rest of the created world and the ecosystems that sustain life. Here neighbor also includes a preferential option for the vulnerable, the oppressed and the marginalized, whether because of who they are or systems and structures of prejudice and injustice.

This is especially important to remember in our pluralistic democracy that ensures the religious freedom of all people. (continue to full story)

NAACP Picnic

This is a few weeks old now, but what a great event!  We were able to give away lots of Hate Has No Home Here yard signs!

Discover Islam – Video Series and Conversatons

The Galesburg Interfaith Collective will be offering a series of documentary video and conversation session on the Islamic faith in August.  It is an opportunity to learn about a religion that many of us only know about by stereotypes and caricatures.  Come broaden your horizons.

Wednesday Evenings, 5:30-7:30 pm

• August 15, 22 – Galesburg Public Library
• August 29 – Temple Sholom

The videos are not sequential, so if you can’t make it to all three sessions, come to one or two and you will still be enriched.

The Islamic Society of North America says “Films like these are needed to bridge the divide between the Muslim world and America.”

Awards –

•            Al Jazeera Documentary Film Festival finalist 2010-11
•            Interfaith Film Festival Harvard University Boston 2011

Topics – 2 topics per evening

• Islam: Faith and History
• Christians and Islam
• Islam: An American Faith
• Islam: A Faith Hijacked
• Women in Islam
• African Americans and Islam

Discover Islam DVDs are copyright 2011 Muhammad Quadir.