Responding to hate with love: Clergy lead community talk
If we are not our brother’s keeper, then what is our obligation and responsibility to someone else?
“We should be our brother’s neighbor, our brother’s and sister’s confidante, and certainly we should not turn against our brother,” said the Rev. Marvin A. McMickle, who will make his point using the Biblical tale of Cain and Abel during an interfaith study session at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Temple B’rith Kodesh, 2131 Elmwood Ave. Brighton.
McMickle said he’ll use the story as an example of what happens when people turn on each other, for reasons that seem to defy explanation.
The study session is called "Community Conversation: Responding to Hate with Love, Responding to Violence by Making Peace," and is organized by Temple B’rith Kodesh senior rabbi Peter Stein.
He said he developed the idea as a response to last month’s killings at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
He said there is a Jewish tradition at the end of the first 30 days after a death of studying,” he said. “The idea is you study, you do something that is life-affirming.”
Stein also cited the tradition of trying to make the world better. “We’re meant to be repairing the world, not closing ourselves away, hiding from the world,” he said.
Since the June 12 attack, Stein said other national and local violent events have underscored the need for unity.
“There’s more and more that’s happening. This isn’t just going to be a chance to look back a month and say that one night was terrible. That one night was a tragedy. It wasn’t isolated. I think that’s what’s going to be on people’s minds. People will be thinking about Dallas, they’ll be thinking about things that happened locally as well. … I don’t view as a memorial event for one tragedy. I think hopefully it’s a broader conversation.”
McMickle, who is president of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and has served in other cities, said clergy need to be more involved when there is a crisis.
“They kind of have a business-as-usual attitude about their preaching, about their teaching,” he said. “I think if we can ignite some passion in those who do the preaching, we can get them to reach the folks who come to hear them preach, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim.”
Stein said that Rev. George Heyman, president of St. Bernard’s Seminary, Bishop Prince Singh of the Episcopal Diocese, and the Rev. John Wilkinson of Third Presbyterian Church also were scheduled to participate. Stein said he expected representatives from the Muslim community.
“I also hope there will be people there who are not religiously connected,” Stein said. “I think part of it is to have a conversation with a mixed group and say sometimes things happen in the name of religion that are terrible and are perversions of religion. And sometimes things happen religiously that are wonderful and beautiful and peaceful.”
McMickle said the event goes against the current grain of division and difference. “Here at least is an invitation to cross boundaries and come together. … I do hope the invitation will be widely accepted and we have not only different colors but different religious traditions ... The more voices we have around the table and the more perspectives about what peace looks like, the better."
If you go
What: Responding to Hate with Love, Responding to Violence by Making Peace
When: 7 to 9 p.m., July 19
Where: Temple B’rith Kodesh, 2131 Elmwood Ave.
Cost: Free.
For more: Email hchesterton@tbk.org or call (585) 244-7060, ext 227.