Interfaith Grand River responds to the local news and events in our community. Previously we addressed the issue of the Gideon Bibles in public schools, and vandalism that occurred in March 2010. The Tenth Anniversary of 9/11 An Interfaith Grand River Statement The tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, is being widely observed. For Interfaith Grand River (IGR), which brings together Waterloo Region’s diverse faith communities and spiritual traditions, this anniversary is of special significance. By coincidence, after several months of planning in the spring and summer of 2001, IGR held its first meeting on September 13, two days after the attacks. As a result of this timing, one of the first tasks of the diverse group of people who met that day was to issue a statement expressing their collective sorrow at the loss of life and their shared hopes for the future. The statement they agreed on, which was adapted from one composed by the Center of Concern in Washington, read in part: We join our prayers with the prayer rising up around the planet for healing, peace and justice for all. We pray as well that the world’s political, economic, social, cultural and religious leaders will respond with the courage, compassion and wisdom needed to foster healing and to resist the temptation to a retaliation which can only degenerate into cycles of further terror and more devastating violence. We urge special sensitivity, solicitude and care for all those sisters and brothers among us who because of their religion, ethnicity or outward appearance are vulnerable targets for the grief and rage felt by us all. The terrorism of some must not be allowed to turn us to terrorism against each other. In the months that followed, IGR also developed a statement of purpose. In part, it saw its purpose as being to “cultivate an environment of tolerance, understanding, respect, trust, mutual support, and ultimately love.” Among the objectives it set for itself were “to promote dialogue among our different traditions, leading to understanding and respect” and “to challenge expressions of intolerance, religious and other, in the community.” This tenth anniversary is a good opportunity to reflect on the extent to which the hopes IGR expressed and the goals it set in those early months after what became known simply and universally as “9/11” have been realized — in the world, in Waterloo Region and in IGR itself. The hope that the temptation to retaliate would be resisted was the first to be dashed. The United States and other countries, including Canada, went to war in Afghanistan within a month of 9/11. A year and a half later, a second war was launched in Iraq, a country that had no connection to the terrorist attacks. The destruction and misery caused by these wars — hundreds of thousands dead, millions driven from their homes — have dwarfed the toll taken by 9/11 itself. Other wars continue to take thousands of lives elsewhere in the world, while famine and disease cause thousands more deaths that could be prevented with a concerted international effort. The hope that the shock of 9/11 would be the catalyst for a more sustained international initiative to address these problems has not been realized. Those who “because of their religion, ethnicity or outward appearance are vulnerable targets” have continued to be viewed with suspicion by many belonging to the majority cultures of North America and Europe. The shock of 9/11 faded, but issues of religious and cultural diversity have remained contentious throughout the Western world. Often, these issues have been the occasion for suspicion and misunderstanding, and intolerant voices have been disproportionately prominent. Questions raised in relation to the use of shari‘a in family arbitration in Ontario, the wearing of the niqab in Quebec and the distribution of Gideon Bibles in public schools in Waterloo Region and elsewhere are significant Canadian examples. Two recent reports — one Canadian, one American — indicate some of the challenges still to be faced. In a report entitled Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America, the Center for American Progress profiles the network of foundations, think tanks, commentators and media outlets in the United States that “appear to have helped create a world view ... that sees Islam as at war with the West and the West needing to be defended.” The report refers to the members of this network as “misinformation experts” who bear considerable responsibility for the negative views many Americans have of Islam. Meanwhile, a Statistics Canada study of police-reported hate crimes in Canada in 2009 found that the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo census metropolitan area (CMA) had the highest rate of such crimes, 17.9 per 100,000 population, of any CMA in Canada. The 93 hate crimes committed in the region in that year represented a 200 per cent jump over 2008. These numbers are disturbing, even if they may represent a higher rate of reporting in Waterloo Region rather than more crimes. It is IGR’s belief that hate crimes do not occur in isolation, but reflect a broader climate in which suspicion and negative stereotypes of certain groups are widespread. Against this background, some of the successes that IGR has enjoyed need to be highlighted. Its members, who continue to represent a diverse (though not yet comprehensive) array of religious, social and ethnic groups, have met monthly for ten years and discussed issues — often challenging ones — of common interest to their varied faiths. IGR has made clear to its members and the public that terrorism and violence are abhorrent to all faith groups. It has fostered an increased level of interfaith activity in Waterloo Region. It has served as a voice for diversity and understanding in the school system, the media and other institutions. Through IGR, warm personal relationships have developed across religious lines. Over the last ten years, North Americans belonging to the majority religion and culture have needed to adapt to living in a more diverse society. Others who belong to groups that are relatively new to North America have needed to adapt to living in a very different context from those of their respective countries of origin. These challenges have often proved difficult on both sides; yet pockets of understanding and respect have evolved. Interfaith Grand River is one such pocket, but far from the only one. On this tenth anniversary of 9/11, it is time to celebrate these pockets of understanding and respect, and to seek ways of actively encouraging their continued evolution as the dominant trend in our society over the next ten years.
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