From the Bishop: No More Silence on Horrors in the Holy Land
We Can No Longer Be Silent About Horrors in the Holy Land
In the Sacrament of Holy Baptism we make promises to live and act in particular ways, knowing that we can only do so because of God’s help.
Our baptismal promises are the foundation for every other promise we make. When we ordain clergy, for example, we acknowledge that the particular order to which the person is called is an icon for ministry that belongs to us all. This means that each of us ought to cultivate gifts that reflect those of the diaconate, looking for Christ in every person, and being ready to help and serve others; that each of us, in the way priests promise, must endeavor to live so that the reconciling love of Christ is known and received; and that each of us, like bishops vow, will be merciful to all, show compassion to the poor and strangers, and defend those who have no helper.
Dear friends in Christ, the Palestinian people need a helper. Images of unspeakable violence in the West Bank, and especially in Gaza, cause us to lament, echoing the Prophet Isaiah, “How long, O Lord?”
What’s happening now is no longer about a just war between Israel and Hamas. In the Israeli government’s continued justification to deny food and water to the innocents in Gaza, along with increased violence against people living in the West Bank, we see before our eyes the destruction of an entire society.
The Episcopal Church in Maine can no longer maintain that we’re defending those who have no helper unless we say emphatically, what is happening to people or in the name of people—Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike—is wrong. Saying so does not demonize the Jewish people, and is not anti-semitic. It does call out international leaders for failing to require the Israeli government to, at the very least, permit humanitarian aid—basics of food, water, and medical treatment—to be delivered to Gazans.
Many of us feel powerless to do anything about this heinous situation, and for fear that our support for Palestinians will hurt our Jewish neighbors and friends, we remain silent. We cannot continue in silence because without a clear renunciation of the horrific treatment of our fellow human beings—like us, children of God—we become accomplices.
I ask you and every one of our faith communities to continue to pray for all those who are suffering and grieving, and for this war to end. I have no illusion that the United States, or the 11,000 Episcopalians in Maine, can effect a lasting peace in Israel-Palestine, but I am committed, and urge you to join me and one another, to do everything we can to support Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders in working for a lasting peace in the Holy Land.
Yours in Christ,
The Right Reverend Thomas J. Brown
Tenth Bishop of Maine
