Say No to Hate Say Yes to Love
Donation protected
Please donate to help us with the cost for the following campaign including yard signs, the ad of the following letter in the local media signed by the clergy/faith leaders, and similar needs.
An Open Letter from High Country Multi-faith Clergy and Leaders to Our Neighbors
Dear High Country Neighbors--
We are blessed to live in a place where we know one another and the web of our relationships is strong. In June 2015, a group of clergy and leaders gathered together after the shootings at Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston. We gathered in the wake of shootings in Orlando in June 2016, after the events in Charlottesville in August 2017, and again, after the shootings at a First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas in November 2017. We gathered with 500 of you last October in the wake of the death and violence unleashed at Tree of Life Synagogue on a Saturday morning as the faithful gathered for worship. We gathered two weeks ago after the shootings at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Center in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Over the last four years, we have gathered as the High Country Multi-faith Clergy and Leaders to mourn and denounce racism, religious and ethnic hatred, and hate of “the other.” We have found strength in our shared grief and power in our shared witness. Each of us speaks rooted and grounded in our own faith tradition, but completely open and respectful of other traditions that are present. We have found common cause with our Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Baha’i brothers and sisters, as well as with those of other faith traditions and with those who claim no faith tradition but are human beings of good will.
In the coming week when Christians mark the depth of God’s solidarity with the suffering of humanity through Jesus’ outstretched arms on the cross and the power of life over death in his resurrection; in this week when Jews mark the Passover and the deep remembrance of God’s liberation of God’s people; in this week when Baha’is celebrate worldwide the First Day of Ridvan (Paradise), their most Holy Day, calling us to remembrance of the oneness of humanity, religion, and our Creator, we come together in the strongest way possible to say NO to hate in all its forms and YES to love. We ask all of you, our beloved neighbors in the High Country, to join us in this witness.
We ask you to help us blanket the High Country in the love that surpasses understanding and to extend that love to our neighbor.
You will see this wording on yard signs and fliers throughout our community:
Say NO to hate
Say YES to love
Love God
Love Your Neighbor
Make a copy of this image, obtain a flier, put up a yard sign--however you are moved to respond--and join us in blanketing the High Country with LOVE. Ask your neighbor, ask a business to put the flier in their window. If you don’t adhere to a faith tradition, but do desire to convey love to your neighbor, we invite you to be creative and create a sign that expresses these sentiments in keeping with your deepest values.
We are a wonderful community with people of goodwill from every perspective. We are small enough and close enough that we can decide what kind of community we want to be. Join us this week, and in all the weeks to come, and help us weave the threads of love that bind us into the beloved community that is our deepest hope and longing.
For more information, contact any of the faith leaders below. Yard signs and fliers are available from your house of worship or from St. Luke’s Episcopal Church--170 Councill Street in Boone (behind Earth Fare). For more information, see the High Country Multi-faith Clergy and Leaders Facebook page.
It is our privilege to serve the High Country. We wish you peace and an abundance of blessing.
An Open Letter from High Country Multi-faith Clergy and Leaders to Our Neighbors
Dear High Country Neighbors--
We are blessed to live in a place where we know one another and the web of our relationships is strong. In June 2015, a group of clergy and leaders gathered together after the shootings at Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston. We gathered in the wake of shootings in Orlando in June 2016, after the events in Charlottesville in August 2017, and again, after the shootings at a First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas in November 2017. We gathered with 500 of you last October in the wake of the death and violence unleashed at Tree of Life Synagogue on a Saturday morning as the faithful gathered for worship. We gathered two weeks ago after the shootings at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Center in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Over the last four years, we have gathered as the High Country Multi-faith Clergy and Leaders to mourn and denounce racism, religious and ethnic hatred, and hate of “the other.” We have found strength in our shared grief and power in our shared witness. Each of us speaks rooted and grounded in our own faith tradition, but completely open and respectful of other traditions that are present. We have found common cause with our Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Baha’i brothers and sisters, as well as with those of other faith traditions and with those who claim no faith tradition but are human beings of good will.
In the coming week when Christians mark the depth of God’s solidarity with the suffering of humanity through Jesus’ outstretched arms on the cross and the power of life over death in his resurrection; in this week when Jews mark the Passover and the deep remembrance of God’s liberation of God’s people; in this week when Baha’is celebrate worldwide the First Day of Ridvan (Paradise), their most Holy Day, calling us to remembrance of the oneness of humanity, religion, and our Creator, we come together in the strongest way possible to say NO to hate in all its forms and YES to love. We ask all of you, our beloved neighbors in the High Country, to join us in this witness.
We ask you to help us blanket the High Country in the love that surpasses understanding and to extend that love to our neighbor.
You will see this wording on yard signs and fliers throughout our community:
Say NO to hate
Say YES to love
Love God
Love Your Neighbor
Make a copy of this image, obtain a flier, put up a yard sign--however you are moved to respond--and join us in blanketing the High Country with LOVE. Ask your neighbor, ask a business to put the flier in their window. If you don’t adhere to a faith tradition, but do desire to convey love to your neighbor, we invite you to be creative and create a sign that expresses these sentiments in keeping with your deepest values.
We are a wonderful community with people of goodwill from every perspective. We are small enough and close enough that we can decide what kind of community we want to be. Join us this week, and in all the weeks to come, and help us weave the threads of love that bind us into the beloved community that is our deepest hope and longing.
For more information, contact any of the faith leaders below. Yard signs and fliers are available from your house of worship or from St. Luke’s Episcopal Church--170 Councill Street in Boone (behind Earth Fare). For more information, see the High Country Multi-faith Clergy and Leaders Facebook page.
It is our privilege to serve the High Country. We wish you peace and an abundance of blessing.
Fundraising team: High Country Multi-faith Clergy & Leaders (5)
Stephen Roberts
Organizer
Boone, NC
William Fioramonti
Beneficiary
Cynthia Banks
Team member
Jonathan Estes
Team member
Tamara Franks
Team member
