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On June 4, the leadership of four interfaith organizations—Religions
for Peace USA, Parliament of World Religions (PoWR), United Religions
Initiative (URI) and the Interfaith Center of New York (ICNY)—issued a
statement: “This
Perilous Moment: A Statement from Religious Leaders and Communities on
the Crisis of Racial Injustice and Inequity and Current Protests.”
This statement is important, as Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists,
Hindus, Baha’i, Humanists, Indigenous, Jains, Sikhs, Taoists, Unitarian
Universalists, Zoroastrians, and many others signed on to the statement
and were able to address, in one voice and with a sense of urgency, the
systemic evil of racism that plagues our country. Drawing inspiration
and empowerment from the spiritual resources of their respective
tradition, each faith community is underscoring their commitment to
justice, peace, and reconciliation.
The Orthodox Church, as an active member of the Interfaith
Organization Religions for Peace USA, is also a partner in this
interfaith witness. Her participation in these efforts reflect her ethos
as it has been authoritatively expressed in the Great and Holy Council
(Crete 2016) to seek inter-religious understanding and co-operation for
the advancement of peaceful coexistence and harmonious living. His
All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, in his address to the
Global Peace Conference of Al-Azhar and Muslim Council of Elders (2017),
expressed the belief of the Orthodox Church in the need for human
solidarity and the commitment of the Orthodox Church in advancing that
goal through interfaith collaboration building a culture of justice and
peace. He stated that the credibility of religious communities in
today’s world depends on whether they are active advocates and guardians
of human dignity and freedom of all people. His All-Holiness has
suggested that it is only through dialogue and collaboration that
faith-based communities, governments, and civil society are able to
respond together to the challenge of building a just and peaceful world.
He stated:
We can face these challenges only together. Nobody—not a nation, not a state, not a religion, nor science and technology—can face the current problems alone. We need one another; we need common mobilization, common efforts, common goals, common spirit. Therefore, we regard the present multifaceted crisis as an opportunity for practicing solidarity, for dialogue and cooperation, for openness and confidence. Our future is common, and the way toward this future is a common journey. As it is written in the Psalms: “Behold now, what is so good or so pleasant as for brothers to dwell together in unity?” (Psalm 133:1)
Advancing the cause of justice, peace, and reconciliation is
primarily an act of God. The faithful, filled with God’s love for all
humanity, are co-creators with God, creating a world that reflects as
much as possible God’s love, peace, and justice. Liberation from
injustice, oppression, racism and violence in today’s world requires the
collaboration of the Church with other faith communities and people of
God based on their shared humanity and their God-given vocation to love
one another. The joint statement issued by four interfaith organizations
described today as a “Perilous Moment” and underscored the shared
necessity to work together to combat the injustice, oppression, racism,
and violence in American society. This statement is not an ethereal
discussion about an otherworldly realm of existence – it reflects the
conflictual nature of history. It recognizes the evil of racism, white
supremacy, and police brutality against African Americans that has
justifiably contributed to an explosion of a justified and righteous
anger.
The faith communities jointly recognized that the “wicked scourge of
discrimination and racism is structural, systemic, systematic, and
institutional.” The origins of this systemic evil that plagues the
country are not only cultural, economic, political, and social factors
but also spiritual and moral. The legacy of racism affects every
aspect—“seen and unseen”—of our personal and communal life. The
religious communities jointly admit that they are complicit in the evil
of racism and injustice because of their long silence and lack of
action. They recognize that, in many different ways, false tenets of
their respective religious tradition have been used to perpetuate the
evil of racism. “Our sacred texts and traditions have been used, wrongly
so, to further racial injustice.” But religious traditions are, in
their view, “a deep well” from which they draw inspiration and power
that empower them to be agents of peace and justice. “People of faith
must stand for love and stand up for equity, equality, and justice.”
Religious communities, including the Orthodox Church, once they
acknowledge that their faith has been manipulated for oppressive and
unjust purposes, have the responsibility to identify those aspects of
their tradition that promote justice, human dignity, and the rights of
all people. They should review their religious education programs and
their spiritual traditions, trying to identify better ways to raise the
consciousness of the faithful concerning their responsibility to respect
and care for all people who are beloved children to God regardless of
their world views, race, color, or culture. Interfaith collaboration and
dialogue provide opportunities to all committed and involved religious
communities to critically rediscover aspects of their respective
tradition as they seek to address issues of common concern. Yet, it is
important to recognize that within each of the faith communities, there
will be people who for a variety of reasons have embraced in faith a
“tribal God” and refuse to recognize the universality of God’s love that
demands from them to love, care, and respect humanity in its diverse
racial, religious, cultural, and ethnic existence.
The evolving social unrest and the polarization that the evil of
racism has ignited challenges religious communities, civil society, and
governments to hear the voices of the suffering people and address their
legitimate concerns. In trying to quell social unrest, the statement of
the religious communities rightly warns that each of the actions that
people take “represents steps towards one of two possible different
paths: inclusive democracy or authoritarian state.” The interfaith
communities unreservedly have opted to “decisively to walk towards
inclusive democracy, where faiths and freedoms flourish.” They must
responsibly “act now” and live with intention through the real
discomfort of this crisis, and all the things after it, that require
faith communities to co-steward the healing that society needs. Of
course, such an active involvement in the process of social
transformation and reconciliation that aims to eradicate the evil of
injustice and discrimination should be grounded not in a particular
political ideology but in the “deep wellsprings” of each religious
community’s faith in fostering hope, justice, and reconciliation. The
effective expression of their respective faith traditions to the current
situation requires people of faith to educate themselves about the very
real impacts of racism and sojourn with movements led by persons of
color for justice, equality, and equity. A dynamic witness of the
religious communities against the evil of racism in all of its insidious
forms includes participating in protests, calling out racial
injustices, and partnering with affected communities. Religious
communities must also encourage volunteerism and philanthropic
commitments to institutions working to advance racial justice and
harmony.
Thus, the faith communities do not remain indifferent, praying to God
to bring healing and reconciliation, but they dare to take sides: “We
are here to stand with those who are rightly and justifiably enraged at
police brutality and racial injustice, and who feel unheard and unheeded
in their lamentations.” They join their voices and their actions with
the protestors, as they pray unceasingly for peace and justice to
prevail and for healing of hearts of all those feeling the pain of these
traumas. This, however, does not mean that they condone irrational
explosions of violence and looting. Looting is viewed as distraction
from the main reasons their collective concerns gave rise to protest
demonstrations in the beginning – namely, addressing racial injustice,
police brutality, and white supremacy.
Police brutality as a tragic epiphenomenon of systemic racism that
needs to be addressed should not become a pretext of dismissing the
importance of law enforcement for people’s safety and well-being. “Law
enforcement has an important and vital role in our society to serve and
protect all of us, and we support their peaceable actions to uphold just
laws.” People have to be able to trust that the rule of law is applied
fairly and equitably to all parties. Political leaders, as well as law
enforcement, must ensure that people have the space and freedom to
express their will through constructive peaceful protests against all
forms of injustice and racism.
The systemic nature of racism, violence, and injustice requires “a
longform response effort that will span generations.” Even if the moral
indignation subsides and the attention of the mass media has shifted to
other matters (though they should not), faith communities must continue
to pray with their “feet and hands” and work together to resolve the
insidious impacts of the ugly legacy of slavery, the blight of racism,
and the multiple forms of discrimination in our communities. The
religious communities would give credence to their joint vision of an
inclusive society by advocating changes, not only in the society, but
also in their internal life by supporting efforts at diversity, equity,
and inclusion in their places of worship, workplaces, and lives.
Fr. Emmanuel Clapsis is Archbishop Iakovos Professor of Theology at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.
Public Orthodoxy seeks to promote conversation by providing a forum for diverse perspectives on contemporary issues related to Orthodox Christianity. The positions expressed in this essay are solely the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Orthodox Christian Studies Center.
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