On a day dedicated to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, a hero of the civil rights movement, and in the midst of a three-day celebration of his legacy promoting interfaith community building and interracial understanding, we find ourselves stunned by an act of hate in our neighborhoods.
To the person who distributed these [Klu Klux Klan] fliers, we ask you to apologize to our community and to choose a better path. Your path of hate only ends in violence to self and others. It denies our interconnectedness and the worth and dignity of every person.
There is another way, and we invite our whole community to pursue it. We invite all to stand on the side of love. By this, we mean to promote respect for self and others. We mean to relieve suffering wherever we find it. We mean to extend a hand of friendship and human kindness in every interaction. We mean to engage in dialogue that challenges racist assumptions and promotes love that is both human and divine. If we choose this path of love together, our community will be stronger and safer for all who live within it.
These individuals and organizations endorse this letter and pledge to walk this path of love together.
● Citizens for a Diverse and Open Society of Red Bank;
● the Rev. Virginia Jarocha-Ernst, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County;
● the Rev. Liz Congdon and the Monmouth Center for World Religions and Ethical Thought;
● Rabbi Marc Aaron Kline, J.D., Monmouth Reform Temple;
● Sid Bernstein, Citizens for a Diverse and Open Society of Red Bank;
● The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County’s Racial Justice Task Force: Aimee Vanduyne, chair, Ann Sherwood, Jennifer Thomas, Jane Reskof, David Reskof, Jan Ruth Boyarin, Joan Farkas, Mary Carol Day, Aida Murphy, Deja N. Covington, Molly V. Walker, CNM, MSN, Rick Goldberg, Joanne Heneghan, Ivan Polonsky and William Van Wyke.
The Rev. Virginia Jarocha-Ernst
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County
Lincroft