Interfaith message to Muslims: love will conquer hate - Times Union

The Rev. Kathy Donley with Emmanuel Baptist Church in Schenectady, addresses people of all faiths who gathered at The Islamic Center of the Capital District for a vigil for the victims of Friday's massacres at two mosques in New Zealand on Sunday, March 17, 2019, in Schenectady, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union) less

The Rev. Kathy Donley with Emmanuel Baptist Church in Schenectady, addresses people of all faiths who gathered at The Islamic Center of the Capital District for a vigil for the victims of Friday's massacres at ... more
Photo: Paul Buckowski, Albany Times Union

Photo: Paul Buckowski, Albany Times Union

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The Rev. Kathy Donley with Emmanuel Baptist Church in Schenectady, addresses people of all faiths who gathered at The Islamic Center of the Capital District for a vigil for the victims of Friday's massacres at two mosques in New Zealand on Sunday, March 17, 2019, in Schenectady, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union) less

Photo: Paul Buckowski, Albany Times Union

SCHENECTADY — The murder of 50 Muslims in New Zealand prompted interfaith leaders in the Capital Region to gather Sunday in a message of love to all faiths.

The message to Muslims and all those impacted by violence was clear: stay strong.

Local clergy and elected officials gathered at the Islamic Center of the Capital District to speak in prayer and solidarity, joined by a couple hundred believers: Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists.

"We grieve with a community that halfway around the world was assaulted because of who they were and what they believed and what they were doing," said Rabbi Matthew Cutler of the Gates of Heaven Synagogue in Niskayuna as he opened the event. "There is no place on this earth where racism and bigotry and hatred can thrive. We need to put an end to gatherings like this."

Zubair Ahmed, president of the Islamic Center of the Capital District, said he called the meeting Sunday to remember the 50 victims who died at the hands of a mass shooter inside mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, during packed Friday prayers. Three dozen more were injured.

A 28-year-old Australian, who posted a white supremacy manifesto online before the attack and live-streamed 17 minutes of the massacre, was arrested and charged with murder.

The victims were refugees and immigrants, some who made New Zealand their home for decades. New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called it one of the country's darkest days and vowed gun reform.

After the shooting that set Muslims all over the world on edge, the Islamic Center of the Capital District called police to ask for security patrols during Friday prayers.

Nayef Patel, one of the center's imams, said the community support on Sunday was "overwhelming." Friday's act of violence, intended to divide non-Muslims from Muslims, had instead brought people together, he said.

Local faith leaders, many who were members of the Schenectady Clergy Against Hate group, questioned what could be done to prevent hate crimes that have taken place in houses of worship all over the country and the world, including a Wisconsin temple, a Charleston church and a Pittsburgh synagogue.

More than one leader remembered that just five months ago, the Capital Region community gathered to support local Jews in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh massacre.

"How do we fight these hate crimes?" said Paul Uppal from the Guru Nanak Darbar Sikh temple in Niskayuna. "The solution is love."

He said that in the midst of hate, there was still love: like the man in the Christchurch mosque who reportedly welcomed the killer at the door with the words "Hello, brother."

"The challenge is to continue to choose love over faith. Redemption must follow. The road is rocky, but we must prevail," Uppal said.

Bob Longobucco from St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic church in Schenectady reflected with pain that the latest crime took place in a city called Christchurch and wondered how a person who said he shared the same Christian values would do such a thing.

"If there is any way what we have failed to promote what we think as good news of peace, for that, with heartbreak, I apologize," Longobucco said.

Sara Baron, a minister at the First United Methodist Church in Schenectady, also challenged white supremacy rooted in religion.

"Until we can build a world where every person is seen as a beloved child of the divine, regardless of race or skin color or faith tradition, we are still part of the problem," she said. "The answer is love, but I think to get there, we are all responsible for paying attention to the way that white supremacy and patriarchy and forms of hierarchy in the world have done damage so that we cannot participate."

New York state Assemblyman Phil Steck and U.S. Representative Paul Tonko joined clergy and spoke about freedom of religion.

"No one should live in fear because of how they reach their Creator," Tonko said.

In the crowd, Audrey Seidman, a Jew from Albany, and Uzma Rana, a Muslim from Slingerlands, united under the banner of a Capital Region chapter of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom organization that breaks down barriers of hate.

Seidman said through building a relationship, they realized how much they have in common.

"You can't hate someone when you become friends with them," she said.

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