Few religious institutions — including those sporting peace poles — have been willing to come right out and insist that people stop being murdered. Somehow, it has become controversial for them to stand by the values they claim to hold.  They’re afraid to ruffle feathers, to create division, as if division is ever something we create rather than unveil.

Throughout my entire life, all I have heard has been how necessary it is to speak up to prevent and to end genocide.

More than 25,000 people in Gaza have been killed by Israel’s military since their offensive began in October. As their military (with U.S. support) keeps killing, we all get no closer to peace, no closer to the return of hostages, no closer to being on the right side of history.

We learn daily that most of those who claimed they would do everything possible to ensure Never Again are keeping silent.

They remain silent because they:

  • don’t think Never Again applies universally
  • think thoughts and prayers alone will solve it
  • lack moral courage

Much of the response or lack of that we are experiencing now is the same shit from 2020’s discourse, just repackaged. Then, there was a fakeness from people who said they would support the statement that Black Lives Matter, except they found certain tactics to be too “divisive.” They claimed, and we know falsely, that they would have supported Black Lives Matter if it weren’t for the graffiti on storefronts.

They played into the “both sides” bit by falsely equating police brutality with posting messages on shops. They said that people would take the cause more seriously if protesters would abide by respectability politics: put on the uniform of democracy, write to legislators, vote, use polite words, and then wait patiently for change that won’t come.

We’re hearing all this same stuff now.

A writer for the Courant has been going after peace activists because some have focused their attention on particular politicians that this reporter does not believe can weigh in on the conflict. This worries me on a few levels, in particular that a political reporter lacks such basic understanding of politics. Our governor might not be able to vote directly on a ceasefire, but he has more access to and influence on those who do than the average resident. Maybe the reporter does know this and thinks that by mocking strategy, he’ll shut down activists.

Other media have zoomed way in on how a few activists have added unsanctioned artwork to buildings, including the use of red paint/fake blood. If they’re this upset about fake blood being spilled, imagine how they’ll feel when they learn about the actual blood being spilled abroad. One politician framed this as not being a form of peaceful protest.

When you believe that might is right and that war can create peace, then it makes sense that you would get it tangled up the difference between non-violent and violent action. When you use your platform to speak out against paint on a bank but not against the murder of thousands of human beings, that tells me everything I need to know about you as a politician and a person. When you are given the mic by reporters and use it not to encourage an end to war, you tell me who you are.

And, when someone in a position of power — someone who is readily given a voice by the media — uses their power to contribute to distraction from the main issue, they tell others that this is even a conversation we need to be having.

The conversation we’ve been trying to have did not begin with paint on a bank. It began with people calling and emailing their senators. It began with signs of solidarity placed on their own private property. It began with letters to the editor and petitions. It began with marches and rallies during which not a blade of grass was trampled, yet the activists got accused of being antisemitic, even when they themselves were Jewish.

So, here’s my challenge to every religious institution and organization that talks about loving one’s neighbor or loving the stranger as oneself. Practice what you all preach. That goes for whether you are a house of worship, a community center, a school, or an interfaith alliance that claims to care about health care and gun violence. Like politicians, you have a microphone whenever you want one. What are you going to do with that power? This is the time to say Never Again. It’s the time to have moral courage. We know you’ve been praying and thinking . . . now, do something more.