{"id":7193,"date":"2017-06-03T20:57:37","date_gmt":"2017-06-03T20:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.brethren.org\/news\/?p=7193"},"modified":"2018-10-11T21:00:09","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T21:00:09","slug":"vigil-against-hate-draws-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2017\/vigil-against-hate-draws-crowd\/","title":{"rendered":"Vigil against hate draws hundreds in Ambler"},"content":{"rendered":"

Church of the Brethren Newsline
\nJune\u00a03,\u00a02017<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
An article about the vigil written for the church’s newsletter by journalist and church member Angela Mountain, closed with this comment: \u201cThe service was moving and inspirational, and Ambler Church of the Brethren was privileged to host the community for the evening. May we continue to stand together and shine light for those who struggle against the darkness.\u201d Photo by Angela Mountain, courtesy of the Ambler Church.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Linda Finarelli, \u201cAmbler Gazette\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 300 members of the greater Ambler, Pa., community packed the Church of the Brethren, where the resonating message by religious and civic leaders was \u201cthere is no place for hate in our community.\u201d The May 25 candlelight vigil was a reaction to Ku Klux Klan literature left in the driveways of Maple Glen homes and \u201cKKK\u201d and four-letter words found spray-painted along the Power Line Trail in Horsham 10 days before.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are welcome here, whoever you are,\u201d Church of the Brethren pastor Enten Eller told the standing room only crowd. \u201cWe stand together against actions that would divide us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here to be a light in the darkness,\u201d said Eller, president of the Wissahickon Faith Community Association, which sponsored the event billed as \u201cA light in the darkness: An interfaith show of solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quoting the late Martin Luther King Jr., he said, \u201cWe must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are united together not as all believing the same way, but in celebration of the diversity that strengthens us,\u201d Eller said. \u201cThose who accept evil without protesting are really cooperating with it. Thank you for not cooperating with racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montgomery County Commissioners vice chairman Val Arkoosh said she was \u201csaddened by the overt racism, Islamophobia, desecration of cemeteries, mosques being burned down,\u201d but \u201cheartened by those coming together to say we will not stand for this in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting Upper Dublin High School is recognized as a No Place for Hate School, principal Robert Schultz said, \u201cWe recognize we have a long road to travel…. We will continue the efforts together. Upper Dublin High School will stand with all of you against hate and bigotry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cActs of hate will not be tolerated in Upper Dublin,\u201d township commissioner Ron Feldman said. \u201cThe commissioners will strive to make it a better place to live, and work to make sure people understand this shouldn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was prayerful we had moved beyond this,\u201d said Charles Quann, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church. \u201cAll Muslims are not terrorists; all African Americans are not hoodlums. I pray tonight we will begin to turn around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want us to be ready to make a difference. We are not going back. We are fired up and ready to go,\u201d Quann said, bringing the crowd to their feet. \u201cWe\u2019re here together, black and white to stand together. We will make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know light will ultimately vanquish the darkness,\u201d Or Hadash rabbi Joshua Waxman offered. \u201cAll of you are that light.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRacism and prejudice and judging our neighbors, increasing divisiveness in our nation, we need to put that back on its heels,\u201d said Upper Dublin Lutheran Church pastor Dyan Lawlor. \u201cThe time has come to fight all the \u2018isms,\u2019 to flush it out of our system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHate did not just start today, for a time it was silenced…a time when people would never speak those hateful words,\u201d said Congregation Beth Or rabbi Gregory Marx. Without naming the president, but quoting some of the divisive comments he made during the campaign, Marx said, \u201cWhen this becomes public discourse and becomes acceptable, then America is in trouble.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all responsible and we cannot wash our hands and walk away…we must rally and offer communal support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiping tears from her eyes at the end of the moving event, where those gathered held candles high and sang, \u201cWe Shall Overcome,\u201d Abington resident Maria Banks said she felt both fear and sadness, and was concerned for the children of her siblings, who were in \u201cinterracial marriages based and built on love,\u201d and hoped that \u201cno horrific things happening in the world may impact them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upper Dublin resident Bari Goldenberg said she was there, because \u201cI thought it was my responsibility. I want to do something to make a difference and make hate go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not OK to put someone else ahead of you,\u201d Upper Dublin resident Jane Beier said. \u201cWe are all mankind, all one. We are a community.\u201d<\/p>\n

—\u00a0Reprinted with permission. Credit: Digital First Media. Find this report published online by the \u201cAmbler Gazette\u201d at\u00a0www.montgomerynews.com\/amblergazette\/news\/photos-vigil-against-hate-draws-hundreds-in-ambler\/article_428c567f-f9db-5186-8bd0-1d2fd80399a4.html<\/a>\u00a0. Find a television news report on the vigil at\u00a0www.fox29.com\/news\/257042471-story<\/a>\u00a0.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to\u00a0www.brethren.org\/Newsline<\/a>\u00a0to subscribe to the Church of the Brethren Newsline free e-mail news service and receive church news every week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 300 members of the greater Ambler, Pa., community packed the Church of the Brethren, where the resonating message by religious and civic leaders was \u201cthere is no place for hate in our community.\u201d The May 25 candlelight vigil was a reaction to Ku Klux Klan literature left in the driveways of Maple Glen homes and \u201cKKK\u201d and four-letter words found spray-painted along the Power Line Trail in Horsham 10 days before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1295,1263,1273],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-7193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-advocacy","tag-peace","tag-spiritual-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7195,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7193\/revisions\/7195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7193"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=7193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}