September 11: A Day for Unity and Peace

September 11 was a tragedy that struck Americans of all religions.  On that terrible day nine years ago, we were united by grief, and our losses have made the day a solemn and even a sacred one.  Now a Florida pastor named Terry Jones has desecrated that memory by planning to burn Korans on September 11, seeking to turn grief into intolerance.

As people of many faiths working together for peace and justice, we deplore the distortion of Christianity from a message of love to hate.  We know that Islam's very name comes from the root "peace" and that it is as unjust to judge all Muslims by the terrible acts of a few as it would be to judge all Christians by Dr. Jones's ignorance.  We honor the dead on September 11 by working for a world where the beautiful variety of human religion no longer divides us, but brings us peace and joy, and we urge everyone in our community to do the same through acts of service, justice and education.
 
We hope that all who share our vision will join us for a day of Interfaith Witness for Peace on September 19, at Heritage Park and St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto.  Instead of burning each other's sacred books, we will walk through a World Peace Village, learn from other faiths, lift our voices together in an interfaith service, and celebrate our shared hopes.