TRAGIC BEYOND BELIEF
The massacre at The First Baptist Church in the small town of Sutherland Springs, Texas leaves us stunned and speechless at the suffering that community must endure. Our hearts are broken again with grief as we attempt to absorb the impact and reality of such horrific violence. While such acts of violence always offends us, that these murders happened in a congregational Sanctuary appalls us all the more.
The Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County joins with all people of good will in offering our prayers and love to the community of Sutherland Springs, Texas. We also call upon our membership Congregations and the entire community to stand with the families of those victimized and killed. We need to offer public prayer as we continue to commit ourselves to forming and building a non-violent culture based on compassion and understanding.
Once again this unspeakable act of senseless violence calls us to work for the cause of what is right, just and good. Now is the time to speak out once more for sane gun laws as we confront the growing culture of violence that infects our society.
Over a thousand people in the United States have died from gun violence since the massacre of over five hundred people in Las Vegas on October 2, 2017. Since then our governmental leaders have done little or nothing to address the issue. A small but powerful lobbying group continues to hold the Nation hostage to its demands that no restrictions be placed on their interpretation of the Second Amendment. While the majority of people in the Nation support gun control laws, our representatives in government remain either mute or ineffective. We underscore that the right to live overrides the right to bear arms. Even if the Founders of our Nation imagined an armed citizenry for the sport of it, which we are convinced they did not, the power and availability of modern weapons demands constructive and protective legislation.
More than anything else, The Interfaith Council of Contra County bonds with the nation’s Interfaith Community and all responsible citizens in confronting the culture of violence that is enabled in so many ways from entertainment to governmental policies. We pledge to continue to do our part by promoting peace, understanding and good will within our communities.
But for now, in this heartbreaking moment, we stand in solidarity and compassion for all those who are the victims of violence, terrorism and hate every day across our country.
Sincerely,
Governing Board of the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County
This and the rest of the 2017 ICCCC Statements are gathered here: 2017 ICCCC Statements
