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As ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, New York, September 9, 2010 -- The terror attacks of September 11, 2001 changed millions of lives forever, and the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches is calling on churches to hold all the victims in prayer -- families of the dead and injured as well as millions of Muslims who continue to be targets of islamophobic rhetoric and attacks. In a letter to NCC Governing Board members, the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon expressed alarm that the pastor of a small church in Gainesville, Fla. continues his threats to burn the Qur'an, and called on Christians to remember Jesus' commandments to love God and "love your neighbor as yourself." Kinnamon included in his letter a bulletin insert of the statement issued September 7 by a historic summit of interfaith leaders expressing their concern about the rise of anti-Muslim statements and actions in the U.S., and urged communions to share the message with their churches. Remembering the horror of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Kinnamon said the aftermath has been "almost as horrible." "What began with a twisted plot by a handful of terrorists with bizarre ideas about God evolved quickly into two wars, tens of thousands of additional deaths among all combatants, and the deepening of xenophobic misunderstandings on all sides about the nature of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. A printable copy of the letter and the bulletin insert can be found at www.ncccusa.org/NCCseptember11letter.pdf The text of the letter is below:
See also:
www.ncccusa.org/MK.cordobamosque.html September 7 Statement of Interfaith Leaders Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 36 member faith groups -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation. NCC News contact: Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org |