MY TURN: 'We stand in support of you'

As a pastor and member of this community, I am saddened by the harassment of students from the Coeur d'Alene Tribe in McEuen Park this past Wednesday.

As a father, my heart goes out to the families impacted by these troubling events. My own children play in McEuen Park. It is a beautiful space in our community where all should feel safe regardless of race, gender or religious belief. To hear that this experience was compromised by the cowardly actions of a group of individuals blinded by bigotry is a reminder that as members of this community we have a responsibility to do better. We may not be responsible for the actions of the few, but we are responsible for our response to their actions.

In light of this responsibility, I want to communicate to all our neighbors of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds that we stand in support of you. You are not alone. I say this as both a member of this community and as a Christian. In scripture, we are reminded that as Jesus Christ hung from the cross, he also was a victim of slurs and verbal abuse. In Jesus, we find a God who has experienced intimidation from those seeking to instill fear in others. Indeed, fear is a tactic as old as the Roman Empire, and it will always remain a weapon of those who desperately cling to the hatred of a broken world.

To the Christian faith community of Coeur d’Alene: I challenge you to take seriously your calling to be a witness to God’s care for the people in our community. Some will seek to deny this call by suggesting that these events are trivial or overstated. They will seize the opportunity to paint these issues as “fake news.” We must be clear: Racism is not a political issue; it is a part of our world that we reject as followers of Jesus. To politicize these events in an attempt to trivialize the pain and hurt experienced by our neighbors is to deny the God who stands with them. For Christians, this is not an option.

The writer of 1 John notes that “the true light is already shining.” While acts of hatred are dark, the light of love we are encouraged to share with one another is like a lamp that cannot be extinguished. It overwhelms the darkness. It goes before us as an invitation to participate in abundant life — life marked by a love for our neighbors. As we seek to build a community that welcomes and cares for all its members, my prayer is that we would shine this true light through our love and support of one another regardless of the walls of division others seek to raise. In doing so, we serve the One who has done the same.

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Rev. McLane Stone is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Coeur d’Alene.