R.E.A.L. Remembers September 11, Calls for National Healing
September 11, 2010
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
by Jeffrey Imm
http://www.realhumanrights.com
Hello my name is Jeffrey Imm.
I am with the volunteer human rights group Responsible for Equality And Liberty
(R.E.A.L.).
I want to thank you for coming here today to our community public gathering in
support of freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience.
Before we get started, I would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to those
who lost families, friends, and acquaintances in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
I would like for us all to extend our sympathies, our compassion, and our
prayers to those who died this day, and those who were left to pick up the
shattered pieces of their lives and their dreams. I would like for all of us to
extend our shared remembrance to the brave men and women who gave their lives to
help protect and save others in the terrible attack on September 11, 2001. The
heart and prayers of this nation go out to you this day and every day. We
remember.
I start out most of our talks by saying "it is a good day to be responsible for
equality and liberty." And indeed it is. Even on 9/11, perhaps especially today,
it is always a good day to be responsible for equality and liberty. Across the
nation today, Americans will remember this day as Patriot Day, as designated by
the President of the United States. The Presidential proclamation for Patriot
Day points out that the Americans we lost on 9/11 came from diverse identity
groups. The Presidential proclamation for Patriot Day also points out that the
Americans we lost on 9/11 also came many faiths. We know that included Muslim
Americans.
That is why we are here today. Because those who died on 9/11 lived in an
America that believed in our equality and liberty for each of us, including our
freedom of religion, our freedom of worship, and our freedom of conscience -
without question, without reservation, without exception. That is the America we
love, the land of the free and the home of the brave. That is the America that
we need to reclaim for all Americans - Muslims, non-Muslims, and people of every
faith and identity group.
Just like there were terrorists on 9/11 that have sought to divide America,
there are those extremists that seek to divide us again today. There are those
who seek to spread anti-Islamic hatred across America. There are those who seek
to deny Muslim Americans their Constitutional freedom of religion and freedom of
worship from coast-to-coast in California, Tennessee, Kentucky, New York to
intimidate those who seek freedom of worship. There
are those who protest against mosques in eight states across America today.
There are those who have tried to use pipe-bombs against a mosque in Florida,
those who have sought to vandalize mosques, those involved in arson, and those
today in some parts of America who plan to burn the Qur'an.
But we will not be moved - from the truths that we find self-evident as
Americans. We will not be divided. Starting here, starting today, starting in
this Freedom Plaza in our nation's capital, we will stop the virus of hatred
towards one another, and we will not turn against one another, but we will
remain a UNITED States of America. We will defend the freedom of religion and
worship for Muslim Americans, because it is the AMERICAN thing to do.
We will also not be moved, we will not be divided on the Constitution of the
United States or the law. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion for
all. We will defend the Constitution of the United States of America. United
States federal law also ensures the right of all Americans to practice their
religion without intimidation by oppressive zoning or other restrictions, as we
continue to see growing across America today. We have a petition to President
Obama and Attorney General Holder to call upon them to enforce the Constitution
and to enforce the Religious Land Act to ensure such freedom of religion for
Muslim Americans today. The first step in overcoming our divisions is to
remember that our Constitution and our law applies to all Americans, including
Muslim Americans. We cannot make deals with hate or compromises on
freedom.
On this National Day of Service, we come here together for this community
gathering to serve our nation by seeking to heal the wounds of this growing
national hatred against Muslim Americans. To those who seek hate, I only offer
love. To those who seek to never forgive, I only offer forgiveness. Instead of
an upraised fist, I offer an outstretched hand in healing and hope to all
Americans. We got to this situation together, and we must heal as a nation
together. Enforcing the Constitution and law is only part of the solution to our
national divisions. We must also remember the importance of respecting one
another, and with that respect, trusting one another.
America has seen other crises of intolerance, distrust, and hate before. We
faced such crises together not just with our minds, but most importantly with
our hearts. There was a time in America when many people believed that black
Americans did not have the same rights as white Americans. We challenged that
hate with logic and law. But I saw that struggle against hate with my own eyes,
and I know that America needed more than that.
We have defied the power of hate with the power of love. We must do so once
again. Winning minds without winning hearts will give us no victory over hate.
We must Choose Love, Not Hate - Love Wins.
We can be a UNITED States of America, responsible for equality and liberty, and
respecting freedom of religion and worship for Muslims, non-Muslims, and people
of all beliefs and conscience. But to do so, we must respect one another, we
must find a way to trust one another, and we must open our hearts to love one
another - as fellow Americans and fellow human beings.
In the words of an American folk song which I share with my Muslim American
friends here and around the nation:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
God bless you all and God guide the United States of America.
NYC: Planned World Trade Center 1 and Pentagon Interfaith Chapel Stained Glass Window