“The immeasurable and sacred worth of every human being”
Last week’s tragic shooting at the Holocaust Museum shocked the nation. This terrible act of hatred not only took a life, but also nudged us to look more deeply at the growing prevalence of crimes motivated by hate, fear, and bias.
Multiple hate crimes in the past years have made the news. There was the horrific shooting at a Unitarian Universalist church (the shooter targeted the congregation for its liberal views) and the murder of a Jewish college student at Wesleyan, by a shooter with anti-Semitic views. At the end of May, a Mexican-American and his nine-year-old daughter were killed in a home invasion by suspects tied to anti-immigrant militia white supremacy groups. The murder of Dr. George Tiller because of his occupation as a late-term abortion provider was an act of hate against the pro-choice community. The brutal murder of Angie Zapata was an act of hate against the transgendered community, and part of a frightening 63% increase in serial hate crime incidents in Colorado in 2008.
The anecdotes are chilling, and the statistics aren’t any better. Recently, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups and hate crimes, reported that the number of hate groups have risen by more than 50% since 2000. Additionally, the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people killed in bias-motivated incidents increased by 28 percent in 2008 compared to 2007 and are at the highest level since 1999, according to a recent report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. Latinos are being targeted in increasing numbers too– the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights finds that for the fourth year in a row, the number of reported crimes directed against Hispanics increased — from 576 in 2006 to 595 in 2007.
Religious leaders from across the spectrum joined their voices to condemn the hatred and violence behind the shooting at the Holocaust Museum. Similarly, many in the faith community have spoken out in support of strong hate crimes legislation. As David Gushee has said, “As a Christian, I believe in the immeasurable and sacred worth of every human being as made in the image of God and as the object of God’s redeeming love in Jesus Christ… This bill deserves Christian support because its aim is to protect the dignity and basic human rights of all Americans, and especially those Americans whose perceived ‘differentness’ makes them vulnerable to physical attacks motivated by bias, hatred and fear.”
Voices like this are ever more needed in this climate of hostility, fear, and hatred. As people of faith, we’re called to stand against injustices like these. Particularly because many of these crimes are religiously-motivated, we must present a different religious vision– one in which all people’s inviolable worth is recognized and no one lives in fear because of his or her identity or connection to a specific community. Furthermore, we must also acknowledge that hate speech often leads to these acts of violence. As Americans, we treasure our robust First Amendment rights to free speech. As Jim Wallis says, “Government censorship and the abridgment of [free speech] rights is not the answer to hate speech.” But a societal, and especially a religious, response must be unambiguously clear– hatred is not consistent with our faith traditions. Jim goes on to say that, “Societal censorship, public outcry, and condemnation of these words is what’s necessary.” People of faith must step up and condemn hate-filled rhetoric and work for a world in which no human being lives in fear.