wfn.org | Title: UFMCC's Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord: A Call For One Humanity

[UfmccHq@aol.com]

The Universal Fellowship
of Metropolitan Community Churches

A CALL FOR ONE HUMANITY
A Statement By
The Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord
Chief Officer, UFMCC Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Concerns

18 September 2001

Our old ways of being and believing were shattered this past week when 
innocence fell from the sky.

As we witnessed the World Trade Center explode into flames, the debris tore 
through the hearts of many faith groups and many nations. Although the soil 
was American, the people inside those buildings who lost their lives included 
individuals from countries around the globe. They spoke many languages and 
worshipped in many ways.

Tuesday morning they came together in that time and place as citizens with 
shared values and ultimately shared fate.

That morning their differences evaporated. They became simply human.

The stories and images of their humanity are etched into our psyches and our 
souls forever.

We who have survived are staggered with grief and disbelief.

We cry out to God for help -- and for justice.

And now it is we who are in danger. We who have a choice: we can go back to 
seeing the world as a flat map hung on a wall with thick black lines neatly 
dividing up the deserving from all the rest or we can finally understand that 
we are truly in it together as one people clinging to this small orb of 
planet hurtling through the vastness of space. 

As our souls cry out for justice, we must resist the easy temptation to 
demonize. We are irrevocably linked by the One Creator and it is time to 
acknowledge that no religion, race or nation can claim unique ownership of 
Goodness.

It is time for our faith communities and nations to meet the challenge of 
recognizing ourselves as part of a global creation and finally becoming the 
planet of light that addresses the majesty of God through the language of 
each faith speaking for its small piece of a greater whole.

The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches is resolute in 
its determination to stand united with all people of faith who love peace and 
seek justice. We are emboldened to affirm and uphold our Arab American 
neighbors and friends, our Muslim neighbors here and abroad, and all citizens 
of the world who seek to sustain peace and compassion. We further resolve to 
stand for the sanctity of the innocent people of Afghanistan and Pakistan who 
have been brutalized by forces that are far more powerful than they. 

We ask our ecumenical brothers and sisters in Christ and our interfaith 
partners to join with us now on the eve of the Jewish High Holy Days and in 
the days ahead to speak out for the best of all faith traditions such that we 
act as one humanity and so bring honor to those whose deaths have changed our 
lives forever.

(END)

    
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
The Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord, Chief Officer
UFMCC Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Concerns
8704 Santa Monica Boulevard, Second Floor
West Hollywood, CA  90069
Tel. (310) 625-4449
E-Mail:  MCCECUUSA@aol.com
Website: www.ufmcc.com