For Immediate Release
As people of faith, we believe that peace can only be realized when the human dignity of every person is fully upheld and honored. For far too long, too many in our communities have been made to feel that their cries are falling on deaf ears. If we have ears to hear them, the uplifted voices, broken-out windows, and burnt buildings are merely tangible expressions of the palpable pain reverberating through our communities. It is critical in this moment that we listen to these cries of agony and outrage –– deep pain borne throughout generations –– from Black people and all those oppressed by the demonic system of white supremacy. We can no longer accept neutrality, passivity, or ambiguity. We must serve our community in this moment by heeding the call and making it irrefutably clear that we stand together.
Peace can only be found when our community is made whole and all people are treated as the sacred beings we are. Under no circumstance does the violation of property equate to violations of human dignity and life. It is not our place or desire to dictate how people express their grief and pain but it is our duty to do our part to keep people out of cages. To this end, Faith in Texas is working to bail out activists jailed during recent protests in support of Black lives. We will not find peace by locking our brothers and sisters in cages that further dehumanize them and devalue their lives, especially in jails overrun with a deadly virus.
Peace is inextricably linked to dignity and equity. If we truly seek peace for our nation, we must listen deeply to the cries of the oppressed, and tap into our prophetic imaginations to unleash a new system of justice – justice that ensures the hungry are fed, the vulnerable are cared for, that the sick are healed. Only when every person in our community is valued will we realize true peace.
No matter our faith or religious creed, we are all believers in humanity. We are people of diverse races, socioeconomic backgrounds, and professions. We are family, friends, neighbors, and community. We must all use our voice, our vote, our power, and our privilege to create a new system that is truly good news to the poor, sight for the blind, and freedom for the oppressed.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” –– Luke 4:18-19
