The San Bernardino shooting is the latest in a series of devastating and violent incidents. Our prayers go out to the victims of the San Bernardino shooting and to their families.
As we grieve together, law enforcement in San Bernardino is still investigating a motive behind the shootings. What is known definitively is the murderers’ names. While terrorism is suspected, law enforcement has not yet fully determined a motive. Making generalizations and assumptions based solely on faith or ethnicity is the definition of prejudice. People involved in recent shooting sprees have come from many backgrounds. Each of these crimes has included a devastating loss of innocent human life as well as an affront to the plurality and web of trust and interdependence that defines the best of America’s communities.
The Interfaith Center of New York also calls upon local and national elected officials and candidates for Office not to politicize this tragedy for their own political gain. Likewise it should not be used to justify discriminatory policies targeting the American Muslim community. We caution against the sensationalist headlines—particularly those of the New York Post—and call on media outlets to not succumb to vitriol against Muslim Americans. We ask reporters, producers, and editors to think before making unfounded generalizations or printing speculation or stories that could lead incite audiences or to think that this shooting reflects the values of the American Muslim community. We must stand together to stand up against hate of all forms.
