Hate Crime

Posted on Posted in Stephanie

This is the list I’m reflecting on:

  • A seminary friend posted on Facebook that his friend lost two family members – a cousin and grandson – in the Kansas City shootings.
  • A text from our Hillel director came in that there had been shootings at a Jewish community Center on the eve of Passover.
  • Kansas City investigators announced that the shooter will be charged with a federal hate crime, while I sat in a diversely crowded doctor’s office waiting room with a two-year-old.
  • The Southern Poverty Law Center’s website has a bio on the shooter, and from there I navigated to the list of hate groups in Virginia.

I cannot believe we live in a world where we are still so consumed with hate and self-centeredness that we judge other humans by the color of their skin, their faith or non-faith tradition. I cannot believe that killing a Methodist boy at a Jewish Community Center furthers anyone’s agenda, even that of an “Anti-Semite.”

It is a significant week in the life of Christians and Jews. Jews observe Passover, the eight-day festival commemorating the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. Judaism follows a lunar calendar, so Passover shifts according to the Christian calendar and occurs from the 15th to the 22nd in the Hebrew month of Nissan. Seders on the first two days and the last two days of Passover remind Jewish folks of the true freedom which the escape from Egypt represents. The Lynchburg College Hillel is sponsoring a Passover Seder this Friday Saturday evening, open to anyone (by reservation; there are a few seats left). Members of the local Jewish community will come to campus and welcome our community to their celebration.

Christians this week observe Holy Week. Palm Sunday celebrated Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Throughout the week there are services on campus (see schedules below and at left, and the attached Holy Week flyer) and in the community that follow the Last Supper, Jesus’ betrayal, crucifixion and Resurrection.

The SPLC website currently lists 939 known hate groups operating across the country, including neo-Nazis, Klansmen, white nationalists, neo-Confederates, racist skinheads, black separatists, border vigilantes and others. Several of these groups operate in Central Virginia. Since 2000, the number of hate groups has increased by 56 percent. This surge has been fueled by anger and fear over the nation’s ailing economy, an influx of non-white immigrants, and the diminishing white majority, as symbolized by the election of the nation’s first African-American president.

I am angry that there are people who still think that killing and attacking others is a way to handle differences. I am angry that anyone feels unsafe because of who they are. I am angry that there are still people trying to hijack religion. I am disappointed that our students ever feel targeted or even uneasy because of who they are, and I am heartbroken that my young children may still be exposed to -isms in their lifetimes.

Please pray for the families touched by the violence in Kansas City, for the anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting today, for the anniversary of the Boston bombings, for our Jewish students on campus who have been reminded that some consider them “less.” If you are Christian, I hope that you have a thoughtful Holy Week; if you are from India, Happy New Year and Happy Vishu, and for our Jewish Community, Chag Pesach Semeach.

Blessings,

Stephanie