All people are children of God

As members of the Inter-Religious Council of Linn County, we represent individuals and organizations from nine different faith traditions, including Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and Jewish. We deplore the recent fatal shootings at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, and we extend our sympathy, love, solidarity, and prayers to the 200,000 Sikhs living in the U.S. and the 27 million Sikhs around the world. It is a cruel irony that Sikhs hold non-violence as a paramount value and yet have been the objects of such an attack.

Since we believe that all people are children of God, we are deeply troubled by the fact that this horrible incident was only one of many recent cases where victims have been targeted because of their religion or race. Sikh human rights groups estimate that in the past 10 years, there have been more than 700 incidents of violence directed against Sikhs in the U.S. And the Southern Poverty Law Center recently stated that there was a tripling of anti-Muslim hate groups in this country in the past year. The recent burning to the ground of a mosque in Joplin, Mo., is yet another terrible manifestation of such hatred.

All of our faith traditions assert that individuals have intrinsic worth, and that all of us are responsible for the lives and the well-being of our neighbors. Let us resolve that hatred and violence based on religion must not prevail.

Allen Fisher

President

Inter-Religious Council of Linn County

Cedar Rapids