Published in
the Connecticut Post, Thursday,
August 12, 2010
August 9, 2010
To the Editor,
As people of
faith, and community leaders of
churches, synagogues and
mosques, we were horrified to
learn of the anti-Muslim protest
on Friday outside the
Masjid An-Noor
mosque in Bridgeport. We are
deeply troubled by those who
would seek to incite fear and
hatred toward our Muslim
brothers and sisters, our
neighbors and friends. The
group responsible, ‘Operation
Save America’, demonstrates a
fundamental lack of
understanding for the teachings
of Islam, and does not represent
people of faith in our
communities. They reveal a lack
of tolerance for pluralism and
diversity in the practice of
faith, as well as the legitimacy
of differing faith-based
teachings and beliefs on the
social issues that they
highlight in their protests. We
stand together as one in our
affirmation of diverse
communities of faith co-existing
and building bridges of dialogue
and understanding.
Our communities
have been building bridges for
decades, and current
opportunities for interfaith
dialogue and co-operation
include the Tent of Abraham
interfaith dialogue program, the
bridge-building ministry of the
Council of Churches of Greater
Bridgeport, and the Connecticut
Sponsoring Committee – a
faith-based community organizing
project for social change.
We wish our
Muslim friends a blessed
Ramadan, and commit ourselves to
continuing to strengthen the
bonds of understanding between
us.
Sincerely,
Andrew H. Banoff,
President & CEO, The Jewish Home
for the Elderly
Rev. Dr. Anthony
L. Bennett, Pastor, Mount Aery
Baptist Church,
Co-Leader,
Connecticut Sponsoring Committee
Rev. Richard L.
Bishop
Rev. Dr. Brian R.
Bodt, President and Chief
Executive Officer, The Council
of Churches of Greater
Bridgeport, Inc.
The Rev. James
Cooke, Chaplain and ACPE
Supervisor, Bridgeport Hospital
John R. Cottrell,
Chief Operating Officer, The
Council of Churches of Greater
Bridgeport, Inc.
Bari Dworken,
Tent of Abraham Steering
Committee
Rev. Judith S.
Greene, Christ Church Tashua,
Trumbull
Laurie Gross,
Director of Community Relations,
Jewish Federation of Eastern
Fairfield County
Rabbi Rachel
Gurevitz, Congregation B'nai
Israel, Bridgeport.
The Reverend Dr.
Geoffrey Hahneman, Rector, St.
John's Episcopal Church
John Harmon, Tent
of Abraham Steering Committee
Jack
Hickey-Williams, Associate
Council of Churches for Bridge
Building
Rev. Edward C. Horne , United
Methodist Church of Westport and
Weston
The Rev.) Kurt J. Huber, Rector,
St. Peter's Episcopal Church
(Monroe, CT)
Rev. Taka Ishii, Golden Hill
United Methodist Church,
Bridgeport
Carl Johnson,
Chairman of the Board Council of
Churches of Greater Bridgeport
Nasif Muhammad
–Al-Aziz Islamic Center
The Rev. Dr. Gail
Keeney-Mulligan, Episcopal
Priest – Diocese of CT,
Bloomfield.
Bryan Leone,
Pastor, Good Shepherd Lutheran
Church, Monroe
Larri Mazon,
Bridge Building Ministry
Advisory Council
Maria Dolores
Paoli, Teen Co-ordinator,
Institute for Islamic and Arabic
Studies, Stamford.
Harvey Paris,
President, Jewish Family Service
Rabbi Shaul
Praver, Congregation Adath
Israel
Rabbi James
Prosnit, Congregation B'nai
Israel, Bridgeport.
Rev. Demetrios A.
Recachinas, Protopresbyter, Holy
Trinity Greek Orthodox Church,
Bridgeport
Rev. David Rowe,
Greenfield Hill Congregational
Church, Fairfield.
Rabbi Dan Satlow,
Congregation Beth El, Fairfield.
Olga Shibtini,
Vice President of Bridgeport
Islamic Community Center (BICC).
Rabbi Stephen
Shulman, Director, Pastoral
Services, The Jewish Home For
The Elderly
Reverend
Julie-Ann Silberman-Bunn ,The
Unitarian Universalist Church of
Greater Bridgeport, Stratford
Reverend Sara D.
Smith, Esq.,
Senior Minister, United
Congregational Church,
Bridgeport,
United Church of
Christ
David Spollet,
Pastor, First Church, Fairfield
Rabbi Israel C.
Stein, Rabbi Emeritus,
Congregation Rodeph Sholom,
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Rev. Suzanne
Wagner, Olivet Congregational
Church, UCC
Rev. Alida Ward,
Greenfield Hill Congregational
Church, Fairfield.
Ira J. Wise, RJE,
Director of Education,
Congregation B'nai Israel,
Bridgeport.
Organizations
listed are for identification
purpose only.
