Central Family,
The statement below just came in via email, and Pastor Tom would like to share it with you.
Spartanburg Interfaith Alliance Statement Against Racism
"The maniacal death of Mr. George Floyd at the hands of those who are assigned the public trust to serve and protect has evoked anger, protest, and violence in the streets around the country to a degree unseen in modern history. The revolving door of racism has once again resulted in the death of an African American man on public display for all the world to see. The time has come for the people of faith and people of goodwill to demand that enough is enough. No longer can we contend that silence and denial will cause the trauma and pain to dissipate. The voices of the African American community must be heard.
The prophet Habakkuk expressed it best when speaking to a community through the eyes of God that seemingly was on the verge of destruction. Habakkuk opened his oracle by saying, "O Lord, how long shall I cry and thou will not hear? Or cry out to you 'violence', and you will not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore, the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted."
Every opportunity must be open to listening to how African Americans are treated in this country. Every pastor and those with a public platform need to speak out against racism and injustices in our community. Public systems designed to oppress people of color and rob them of human dignity must be reformed.
In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., "I have heard a lot of cries saying, 'Slow up' and 'Cool off.' We still hear these cries. They are telling us over and over again that you're pushing things too fast, and so they are saying, 'Cool off.' Well, the only answer that we can give to that is that we've cooled off all too long, and there is always the danger if you cool off too much that you will end up in a deep freeze."
The time is now!
Dr. James L. Hailstock
Rev. Christi O. Brown
Rev. Scott J. Neely
Co-Chairs of the Spartanburg Interfaith Alliance
Join The Spartanburg Interfaith Alliance
An Interfaith Service of Grief and Action
Friday, June 5, 2020, 5:30 PM
Hosted by Congregation B'nai Israel
Please join the Spartanburg Interfaith Alliance for a service of grief and action against racism this Friday evening at 5:30 pm. We will join together as one people, across our differences of race, religion, and worldview, to grieve the tragedy of racialized violence that has shaped our country for more than 400 years-and to summon ourselves to action, to build a more livable world for us all.
This service is generously hosted by Congregation B'nai Israel within their weekly Friday Sabbath Service. May we all step forward to serve one another with such solidarity and commitment.
Please view the Live-Stream at:
