September 11, Wheadon Responds

At the September 23rd Administrative Council meeting, Wheadon voted to endorse the following statements regarding the horrific events of September 11 and subsequent days. These statements mark a new beginning of committed efforts to support justice and peace in our community and the greater world.

Justice Not Vengeance

Our hearts and prayers go out in compassion to the victims and their families who have suffered so greatly from the unspeakable acts of brutality committed on September 11, 2001.

We share the shock, anger, and grief of so many people in the U.S. and around the world and call for a response that is prompt, just, and effective.

We foresee that a military response would not end the terror. Rather, it would spark a cycle of escalating violence, the loss of innocent lives, and new acts of terrorism. As citizens of this great nation, we support the efforts being made to find those behind the acts of terror. Bringing them to justice under the rule of law - not military action - is the way to end the violence.

We note that although the terrorist acts of September 11 were aimed at the United States, citizens of over 40 nations are counted among the victims. The carnage of terrorism knows no borders. Our best chance for preventing such devastating acts of terror is to act decisively and cooperatively as part of a community of nations within the framework of international law to root out terrorism and work for justice at home and abroad.

We affirm that the United States is a nation of laws, rooted in fundamental American values of democracy, justice, human rights, and respect for life. The laws that protect our civil liberties and freedoms in the United States are part of what define us as a nation. They must not be abridged; to do so would offer victory to those who wrought these vengeful acts.

(This statement was drafted by the Institute for Policy Studies.)

Statement of Religious Leaders Acting Together for Equality

RELATE is an interfaith advocacy network of religious leaders in the northern suburbs. Members are clergy and lay people from a variety of congregations in a variety of faith traditions. The impetus for RELATE came in a desire to have a united interfaith voice in the northern suburbs to educate and advocate for justice and equality, as well as to respond to acts of hate, such as the shootings of July 1999 and the KKK rally of November 2000. Our efforts at this time are focused on three issues of civil rights: fair and affordable housing, elimination of racial profiling, and support of diversity and tolerance education in the area schools.
Religious communities and leaders in the Northern Suburbs join all in the United States and people of good will across the world in grieving the terrible acts of September 11. We find these acts of terrorism to be horrendous and contrary to the core teachings of our faith traditions. We join in calling for prayer for our nation, for those who have been injured in these attacks, for those who have died in these attacks and in subsequent rescue efforts, and for the family, friends, and colleagues in the United States and in other countries around the world who now wait and mourn. We call for continuing prayers for peace and unity in these difficult and uncertain times.
We also abhor the misguided acts of hatred against particular institutions in our communities, in the Chicago area, and across the nation. We abhor the stereotype-based assumptions made about and actions taken against people of any particular faith tradition, ethnicity, or nation of origin. We urge people in our faith communities, particularly parents, to be especially careful when they speak to children about these acts of terror and those who committed these horrendous acts. Even in our anger, we must not begin to hate.
We, as RELATE, uphold the wisdom and vision of our foundational statement: Ultimately, the only way to begin to realize the dream of a diverse, multi-cultural community living in peace and prosperity is to dwell together side by side. When we have the opportunity to look into one another's eyes can we know we have the same hopes and fears. Through dwelling and sharing together, we can learn to affirm and celebrate each as a living embodiment of the one God. We can realize that in fact there is no 'other,' there is only Us.