Kinnamon to address Times Square rally opposing King hearings

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

>Kinnamon to speak at Times Square Rally
>opposing Peter King hearings on Islam

New York, March 4, 2010 -- the general secretary of the National Council of  
Churches will be among the religious leaders addressing a 2 p.m. rally in  
Times Square Sunday to protest Congressional hearings aimed at investigatin g 
Muslims in the United States.
 
The hearings are organized by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), chair of the House  
Homeland Security committee. Critics say the hearings on Islam are reminisc ent 
of McCarthyism and will tend to "demonize" Muslims.
 
The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary, has been at the foref 
ront of activities supporting the freedom of religion for all U.S. resident s, 
including Muslims who have been targets of anti-Islam discrimination and  open 
attacks for years, especially in the decade following the terror atta cks of 
September 11, 2001.
 
Last year Kinnamon defended the building of the Cordoba Community Center an d 
Mosque in downtown Manhattan, and helped organize an interfaith summit to  
protest a threat by a Florida church to burn the Quran.
 
In earlier statements, Kinnamon has strongly affirmed religious liberty and  
tolerance for all groups. "We are made richer and deeper in our Christian  
community by our relationship with Muslim and Jewish groups."
 
The March 6 rally, meeting under the banner, "I Am a Muslim, Too," is expec ted 
to be attended by more than 75 interfaith, nonprofit, governmental and  civil 
liberties groups. The invitation to address the rally came from Imam  Feisal 
Abdul Rauf, known for his association with Cordoba House, and the Am erican 
Society for Muslim Advancement. Also participating in the rally is m usician 
Russell Simons, who explained its purpose this way: "As invested Am ericans, we 
acknowledge the important work of the Congressional Committee o n Homeland 
Security. However, we're concerned the hearings will send the wr ong message 
and alienate American Muslims instead of partnering with them,  potentially 
putting their lives at risk by inciting fear and enmity."
 
Last year, Kinnamon said the chain of prejudice in the U.S. needs to be bro 
ken. 

"The alternative ... is to engage in a bigotry that will scar our generatio n 
in the same way as bigotry scarred our forebears," he said in comments su 
pporting the building of Cordoba House. 

"Three-hundred years ago, European settlers came to these shores with a det 
ermination to conquer and settle at the expense of millions of indigenous p 
eoples who were regarded as sub-human savages. Today, we can't look back on  
that history without painful contrition.

"One-hundred and fifty years ago, white Americans subjugated black Africans  in 
a cruel slavery that was justified with Bible proof-texts and a belief  that 
blacks were inferior to whites. Today, we look back on that history wi th 
agonized disbelief.

"Sixty years ago, in a time of war and great fear, tens of thousands of Jap 
anese-Americans were deprived of their property and forced into detention c 
amps because our grandparents feared everyone of Japanese ancestry. Today t hat 
decision is universally regarded as an unconscionable mistake and a blo t on 
American history.

"Today, millions of Muslims are subjected to thoughtless generalizations, o pen 
discrimination and outright hostility because of the actions of a tiny  
minority whose violent acts defy the teachings of Mohammed.

"How will we explain our ignorance and our compliance to our grandchildren?"

>---

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ  in 
the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among C 
hristians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member communions -- from a wi de 
spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic Africa n 
American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more  than 
100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 ( 
cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org