An Open Letter to the Muslim Community

December 2015

We are writing this letter to our sisters and brothers in the Muslim community of the Bay Area of California, and Muslims throughout the U.S.  We want to express our outrage and deep concern about the Islamophobia rapidly escalating across our country, throughout our state, and even in our own neighborhoods.

We, as Unitarian Universalists and patriots, emphatically support the right of all people to freedom of religion.  We stand on the side of love with you against ignorance and hate.

We reject the ignorance, the hate speech, and the assaults that are inflicted on the Muslim community, and we commit to taking a strong stance against it.  Recently we have been dismayed to see would-be politicians making inflammatory statements to increase their ratings.  We’ve been saddened to see frightened people wrongly blaming all Muslims for the acts of two people in San Bernardino.  And we’ve been appalled to see individuals misguidedly thinking they have the right to set fires to mosques or personally assault Muslims who are expressing themselves lawfully and peacefully.

We know that many members of the Muslim community are U.S. citizens who love this country, despite the mistreatment you have faced.  You are an important part of us.  There are also many immigrants who work productively here, or are students or are visiting, and to us, all of you are welcome.

We are teaching ourselves about Islam so we can be better friends and neighbors.  We want to offer our camaraderie and our support in any way we can.  We want you to know that many of us in the Bay Area, and in the U.S., are happy you are here and we want you to stay and thrive.  Please don’t be disheartened by the fear-mongering.  We will overcome it, as we work together, side-by-side.

With love and respect,

Starr King Unitarian Universalist Church, Hayward:

Anti-Racism Multicultural Alliance

Peace & Justice Action Team

And 90 individual members of SKUUC