Auburn Responds To Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCT 27, 2018
Contact: Loretta Kane (917-410-7242 or [email protected])
Auburn Seminary calls on the Trump administration to ‘repent for aiding and abetting the rising hatred’
Statement of Auburn Seminary President the Rev. Dr. Katharine Rhodes Henderson
NEW YORK — Today, an armed man stormed a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and opened fire, killing eight people and injuring others. The Rev. Dr. Katharine Rhodes Henderson, president of Auburn Seminary, issued the following statement in response:
“I condemn the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, but that is not enough; it is nowhere near enough. I pray for those whose lives were taken by this horrific act, but that is not enough; it is nowhere near enough. Today, we need to go to the root of the rising hate in this country and that leads us directly to the White House and Donald Trump.
“The shooter reportedly shouted ‘All Jews must die’ before beginning his attack, and on social media singled out Jewish groups that supported immigrants’ rights in America. According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic ‘incidents’ in the United States jumped 57 percent between 2016 and 2017.
“This administration has allowed for the rising anti-Semitism in our country to go unanswered and even helped foment it — from refusing to condemn anti-Semitic chants in Charlottesville to leading chants to lock up the Holocaust survivor, Jewish philanthropist George Soros this week.
“I call upon the administration to repent for aiding and abetting the rising hatred of all kinds within our country, to explicitly reject the anti-Semitism that is festering in the toxic atmosphere of our national discourse.
“I ask my sisters and brothers in faith communities of all kinds to see that these acts of violence on our Jewish, People of Color, LGBTQ, Muslim and immigrant families are related and connected. This is not about partisanship. This is about turning the tide on wave after wave of hatred and discriminatory violence.
“I stand in solidarity with all my Jewish friends, neighbors and loved ones across the country and around the world. You are not alone. And today we shed hot tears of anguish and anger and pledge to end the disgusting scourge of anti-Semitism in all its forms.”
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Auburn is a leadership development and research institute, working to build the field of the multifaith movement for justice. From local to global, Auburn equips leaders of faith and moral courage and brings together unlikely partners to address today’s seemingly intractable challenges, strengthen communities and inspire hope.
