Video: ‘Draw the Circle Wide’
By Kevin Coughlin
In other eras, Americans have united to combat external threats: The British, the Axis powers, the Soviets.
But in an extraordinary spectacle on Tuesday, they gathered in Morristown to share fears about their own government.
“The next four years of a Trump presidency will be very purposeful for us. In some ways, what has changed is that now we can see more clearly not only how far we have come to advance justice, but how far we still have to go,” Unitarian minister Alison Miller told about 300 people at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer.
Standing on the Side of Love: Thanksgiving Against Fear, a bi-lingual interfaith service, was organized by the Morris Area Clergy Council.
Many concerns were voiced about the future under President Donald Trump, based on his campaign statements demeaning women, immigrants and the disabled, among others, and his appointment of advisers such as Breitbart News publisher Steve Bannon, a darling of the alt-right movement.
“There is fear. There is uncertainty. In fact some see darkness down the road, suffering, and separation,” said Father Hernan Arias, pastor of St. Margaret of Scotland Roman Catholic Church.
The priest asked God to “give to our leader a heart filled with wisdom and understanding, a heart that will enable him to see the good in every man and woman.”
A transgender woman said she worries that “a wave of repression is coming our way.” A domestic violence survivor said she fears misogynistic victim-blaming will become “acceptable behavior.”
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE?
Readings from the Bible, the Koran and Martin Luther King’s “American Dream” speech were interspersed through the two-and-a-half-hour event. It also included poetry, and hymns — led by the Harmonium Choral Society and composer Mark Miller — with titles such as There Is No Fear in Love, Sing for Peace and Rise Up.
Spectators were asked to jot their feelings onto scraps of cloth, for display at Redeemer until Inauguration Day.
There were some light moments: Redeemer Rector Cynthia Black struggled in Spanish to apologize for broken bathrooms.
Then, underscoring one of the evening’s themes, Black reminded the predominantly white audience: “What is the first language of all of us? Love.”
“Tonight we stand on the side of love … we will not let hatred darken our hearts,” echoed the Rev. Susanna Cates of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
Yet love, or even God, is not enough, according to others who preached unity and coordinated action to defend civil rights.
Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin
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‘STAND TALL’
“We are all in for a trying time,” said Mayor Tim Dougherty. He is grateful “to live in a community that cares, a community that is diverse, and a community that will stand up to the rhetoric that we’re going to have to deal with over the next couple of years. So stand tall, stand together.”
Dr. Ali Chaudry, president of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, asked everyone to sign a pledge to oppose assaults against any faith.
“Given the toxic rhetoric we faced during the election and then, more recently, the formation of the new leadership of the country… there is a great deal of fear” among Muslims, he said.
But as Thanksgiving approaches, Chaudry said, we should give thanks for the “ideal of America, and its institutions, [which] will protect us against any excesses by any arm of government.
“And it is up to us to protect ourselves, to stand up for what we believe in,” he continued. “For we believe in this country as the greatest country on earth, and it has absolutely the potential for protecting the dignity of everyone.”
Ana Gabriela Bonilla Martinez, a college senior, said she and hundreds of thousands of others could face deportation if the incoming administration scraps DACA, President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
That program, Martinez said, stemmed from a movement just like the ones that fought for labor rights and civil rights. She urged fellow citizens to keep pressing for immigrants’ rights.
“Please, join an organization. Donate your time. Talk to your legislator. Make a donation. Go to rallies, picket lines. Whatever needs to be done, we need you to fight with us, and we will fight with you,” Martinez said.
The greatest sin right now is silence, suggested Alison Miller, senior minister of the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship.
“We voted for leaders who presented themselves as having no conscience,” Miller said.
“But we must not allow our commitment to black lives, immigrants, non-mainstream religions, LGBTQ-identified folks, or people with disabilities to backslide for the sake of ‘going along to get along.'”
I am SO GLAD that Trump won!!!
It was a service of union. Morristown is a COMMUNITY of DIVERSITY!
REMEMBER MY WORDS ON THE CLOTH…I STAND FOR US, YOU, LGBT, BLACK LIVES MATTER, ALL IN LOVE!
Thank You WINDS OF THE SPIRIT FOR STEPPING FORWARD IN A TIME FOR INCLUSIVENESS.
Michelle4Mayor
Council Person At Large: Michelle Dupree Harris