Media Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York City, NY Monday, August 06, 2012
ICNY Joins UNITED SIKHS and other Faith and Interfaith Leaders to Mourn Deaths at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek.
Contact: Annie Rawlings
Director of Outreach and Program Administration
Interfaith Center Of New York
475 Riverside Dr. Suite 540
New York, N.Y. 10115
Phone: (212) 870-3518
Cell: (347) 418-5730
annie@interfaithcenter.org
https://interfaithcenter.org
We join our colleagues in the New York City faith community, and Americans of faith and no faith, in grieving for the victims of the shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek. Our hearts go out to all of their families, to their community, to the people of Oak Creek, and to the courageous first responders who sought to protect members of the congregation. It is a core treasure of American democracy that all peoples have the right to pray as they choose. That someone would breach the peace of sacred space with such profound harm is shocking.
We offer our deepest condolences to our friends in the Sikh community. At this time we still do not understand the rationale for this heinous act, but we stand in solidarity with the Sikh community that has suffered shameful expressions of prejudice. We will continue to work together with all who seek to extinguish the fires of discrimination, religious or otherwise, and to broaden the path where all of us can walk together.
We think of the Sikh faith’s understanding of the oneness of humanity, belief in the equality of all people, embrace of non-violence, and commitment to service. We stand with them not only during this tragic time but always, as members of one human family. We were not surprised to learn that even amidst their grief and shock, members of the Sikh community in Oak Creek served food and water to the media covering this terrible tragedy, and promised to open the doors of their gurdwara in even wider welcome to the world in coming weeks.
Aisha H.L. al-Adawiya
Founder & Chair Emerita, Women In Islam Inc.
The Rev. Chloe Breyer
Executive Director, The Interfaith Center of New York
Joyce S. Dubensky
CEO, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding
Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman
President, New York Board of Rabbis
The Rev. Dr. Katharine Henderson
President, Auburn Seminary
Jasminder Kaur
Project Manager, UNITED SIKHS
Valarie Kaur
Director, Groundswell, the social action initiative of Auburn Seminary
The Rev. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki
Vice President, The Interfaith Center of New York
Past President, Buddhist Council of New York
The Rev. Stephen H. Phelps
Interim Senior Minister, The Riverside Church
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik
Executive Vice President, New York Board of Rabbis
Hardayal Singh
Director, UNITED SIKHS
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