Faith leaders ask for peace amid heated election rhetoric

(The Center Square) – Faith leaders from across Pennsylvania met at the Capitol to encourage politicians, and the people supporting them, to approach their differences with civility.

Choices and Voices for Peace, a statement signed by more than 330 religious leaders, asks people of faith to “commit to courageous peacebuilding” ahead of November’s hotly contentious election.

Those gathered reflected a broad spectrum of religious perspectives. Led by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or ECLA, leaders created a visual display of unity across a backdrop of differing beliefs. The group included rabbis with yarmulkes, leaders in plain clothes, a Palestinian keffiyeh and collared clergy – including some with rainbow pride stoles.

The specifics of the political climate went largely unmentioned, with speakers opting to focus on the goal of unity rather than divisive issues.

“Unity is the bond of hope that we have for this nation,” said the Rev. Dr. Larry Pickens, speaking for the Pennsylvania Council of Churches. He reminded listeners that “reconciliation and hope take place through an attitude of humility.”

Rabbi Ariana Capptauber of Beth El Temple in Harrisburg called upon the community to “aspire to that day when we shall beat our swords into plowshares.”

She referenced the prophet Isaiah envisioning a world in which “we shall not know war, not assassination, nor insurrection, nor political violence, nor hate crimes anymore.”

“We acknowledge that we as people of various religions and world views are not immune to division,” reads the statement. “We confess our histories with political and societal violence – acts of omission, commission, compliance, and collaboration. We struggle still.”

ECLA Rev. Christopher deForest asked those of faith to remember that central to each of the major religions there represented was the command to “love God and love your neighbor.”

“The teachings of love, compassion, and justice are central to our faith,” said Rev. Dr. Dale B. Snyder, Sr., Senior Pastor of Bethel AME Church in Pittsburgh. “When indifference and intolerance dominate the headlines, it becomes even more critical for us to live out these principles.”

The document calls upon other faith leaders to “prioritize compassion over vindication” and “knowing the very real and sometimes deadly harm that comes from spreading falsehoods to be trustworthy in all we share.”

It also addresses politicians as they vie for control of the nation’s future, often using division to their advantage.

“We call on our civic leaders to exercise responsibility in their rhetoric to reject all calls for violence to forge a brighter vision rather than fanning the flames of fear,” the statement adds.

The gathering closed with a prayer from the Imam Fatih Akdemir of Respect Graduate School Masjid in Bethlehem, Pa.

“Please look with compassion on the whole of the human family,” Akdemir said. “Take away the controversial teachings of arrogance, divisions, and hatreds which have badly infected our hearts; break down the walls that separate us and reunite us in the bonds of love.”