In New Letter, 140+ Global Christian Leaders Call for Permanent Gaza Ceasefire, Halt of Arms Sales to Israel

In a new letter released during Holy Week ahead of Easter, more than 140 Bishops and executive leaders from churches, denominations, and church-based organizations in the US and around the world call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, urge the US and other world powers to halt additional arms sales to Israel, and make clear that Israel, the US, and all countries must abide by Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The letters’ signers include a US Catholic Bishop, a Catholic Cardinal, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, an Anglican Dean, and many other notable figures from a wide range of churches, including Catholic, Lutheran, Mennonite, Quaker, and Evangelical leaders.

March 26, 2024

As Christians around the world prepare to commemorate the final suffering in the earthly life of Jesus Christ during Holy Week, we stand in solidarity with all in the Holy Land who suffer. During Passion Week, Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox alike engage in prayer, reflection, and repentance. We repent of the ways we have not stood alongside our Palestinian siblings in faithful witness in the midst of their grief, agony, and sorrow. Christian witness and engagement with the world must be marked by faithfulness to God, love of neighbor, and mercy toward those who are suffering and in need. For the Holy Scriptures teach, “Uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.” (Psalm 82:3).

As the ongoing devastation, bombing, and ground invasion in Gaza continue into their sixth month, Palestinians, including our Palestinian Christian siblings, cry out to the world, asking, “Where are you?” World leaders have responded with empty rhetoric and political volleying about addressing the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza while ignoring the direct causes of the catastrophe. Those causes are the daily bombing and ground invasion by the Israeli military, in addition to the shutting off of basic life-sustaining services to more than two million people who are suffering the consequences of crimes not their own.

As of March 25, 2024, at least 32,333 people in Gaza have been killed, and more than 74,694 have been injured, the vast majority of them women and children. Gaza has been declared one of the most dangerous places in the world to live, where “no place is safe” according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the situation as desperate, as children are dying from hunger and dehydration. The WHO reports that 15 percent of children under the age of two in northern Gaza show signs of wasting, suggesting a serious and rapid decline over just a few months, which is unprecedented globally. The horrific actions Hamas committed on October 7th in no way justify the massive deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military.

The average number of people killed every day in Gaza is just under two hundred people a day, with roughly one person dying every eight minutes. The slaughter continues every day even as more and more men, women, and children are pulled out from underneath the rubble, and more than 1.8 million people remain displaced. As of late January, reports indicate more than half of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed. All of this compounds the devastation that Palestinians have experienced during Israel’s 16+ year blockade of Gaza and the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza since 1967.

Palestinians, South Africans, and experts around the world have said what is happening in Gaza is nothing less than a genocide. South Africa asserted that the Israeli government engaged in action with “genocidal intent” in its complaint at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ’s preliminary ruling found it “plausible that Israel’s acts [in Gaza] could amount to genocide” and issued provisional measures to seek to prevent further deaths. By the end of February, human rights groups around the world asserted Israel had already violated the ICJ ruling by intentionally limiting humanitarian assistance to Gaza. The global church—and world—cannot be silent as people continue to die in Gaza by military assault, lack of adequate medical care, hunger, and disease.

The U.S., the U.K., Israel, and other countries must uphold their responsibility as signatories to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The United States and other nations’ further militarization of the conflict makes no one safer and instead prolongs suffering and causes more death and destruction. We call on the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and France to join the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, and Japan to halt additional military support and arms to Israel and not be complicit in the ongoing military campaign that is having such devastating effects on civilians in Gaza.

We say, “Enough killing!” and together demand a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire. 

On October 7th, Hamas attacked southern Israel and killed approximately 1,200 Israelis and internationals, and took more than 240 people hostage in Gaza. We have been clear in our condemnation of these actions of Hamas, which were an atrocious crime. It is believed 100 hostages or more could still be held captive in Gaza. We have consistently called for the remaining hostages to be returned home to their families.

We, as global Christian leaders, stand with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Palestine and around the world and say the killing must stop, and the violence must be brought to an end. We ask world leaders to exercise strong moral courage to bring an immediate end to the violence and to open a pathway toward peace and an end to the conflict. We call for a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire where all combatants lay down their weapons and Israeli hostages and Palestinian political prisoners held without the due process of law are released. Immediate and adequate humanitarian assistance must be provided for the more than two million Palestinian people in Gaza who have such desperate needs. We support efforts toward a negotiated settlement that addresses the core causes of the current crisis and brings an end to the decades-long violations of the rights of the Palestinian people in accordance with international law, such solutions must advance security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians. As we prepare for Holy Week, we lament and pray for comfort for all who have lost loved ones over the past months in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Israel. We know that Jesus himself was among those who suffered, and he comforted the brokenhearted. We say, “Enough atrocities in Gaza; enough violence, death, and destruction! May love triumph over hate.” We hold onto the hope that peace is possible even in the midst of this darkest hour. 

Between March 24 (Palm Sunday) and March 29 (Good Friday), when Christians around the world remember the crucifixion of Jesus, followers of Jesus and friends will walk 20 miles (almost the length from Gaza City to Rafah), approximately four miles per day; observing the ‘Stations of the Cross’ on each day. Walking from The Liberty Bell to Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons contractor, participants will reflect on Jesus’ Passion and Death and our nation’s complicity in decades of bombings in Gaza, including the current carnage. The Philadelphia pilgrimage is part of the global ‘Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage’ movement.

At Lockheed Martin, Philadelphia-based and national theologians and activists, including Shane Claiborne, Lisa Sharon Harper, Ariel Gold, Linda Sarsour, Rev. Mark Thompson, and others will, filled with the spirit of God and an unflinching commitment to nonviolence, engage in prayerful direct action calling on God to stop the flow of machines of death from the U.S. to the world. This spiritual act of resistance aims to send a message urging the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire and stop or condition weapons exports to Israel being used to kill and maim civilians and violate human rights.

We call for: 

An immediate and permanent ceasefire
Unfettered and robust entry of humanitarian aid
The immediate release of all hostages
An end to Israel’s systems of occupation and apartheid
The elimination/restriction of U.S. military assistance to Israel such that it does not fund violations of human rights, including collective punishment and the targeting of civilians

When: Sunday, March 24 (Palm Sunday) through Friday, March 29 (Good Friday)

Where: From the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, PA to Lockheed Martin headquarters in King of Prussia, PA

Convened by: Red Letter Christians, Freedom Road, Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Society for Faith and Justice, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and more.

Core Convictions of the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, Philadelphia (in alignment with The International Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage):

We oppose all forms of hatred, racism, and discrimination, including antisemitism, anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and homo and trans-phobia. We affirm the truth that all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, or nationality are created in the image of God. “Our battle is not against flesh and blood” but against the Powers of domination, oppression, and violence.

We believe in and adhere to nonviolence in strategy, principle, and philosophy. As communicated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who got his inspiration from Jesus Christ and his techniques from Mohandas K. Gandhi:

Principle one: Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is active nonviolent resistance to evil. It is aggressive spiritually, mentally and emotionally.

Principle two: Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. The result of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation. The purpose of nonviolence is the creation of the Beloved Community.

Principle three: Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. Nonviolence recognizes that evildoers are also victims and are not evil people. The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil, not people.

Principle four: Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform. Nonviolence accepts suffering without retaliation. Unearned suffering is redemptive and has tremendous educational and transforming possibilities.

Principle five: Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as the body. Nonviolent love is spontaneous, unmotivated, unselfish, and creative.

Principle six: Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice. The nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win. Nonviolence believes that God is a God of justice.”

As we express our solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against settler-colonialism, we are cognizant of and in solidarity with First Nation peoples of the Philadelphia area, the Lenni-Lenape People of Lenapehoking and the Poutaxat (Delaware Bay). We seek the blessing and collaboration of the First Nations Peoples of the land on which we walk and recommit ourselves to the work of healing-justice for all indigenous people.

We engage in the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage as an act of repentance and lamentation for our collective sins of omission by not taking action for Palestinian liberation and our collective sins of commission by allowing ourselves, our houses of worship, and our government to support and contribute to 75 years of oppression of Palestinians and a genocide occurring in real-time in front of our eyes.

We welcome our Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, agnostic, atheist, and other allies. We affirm the interconnectedness of our different faiths as we seek together to eliminate the war, violence, and hatred that are abominations in the eyes of our collective God.

Route:

Day 1: Sunday, March 24, 2 PM – 4 PM, walk from the Liberty Bell to the Philadelphia Zoo – 2.7 miles

Day 2: Monday, March 25, 10 AM – 12 PM, walk from the Philadelphia Zoo to the Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas – 3.3 miles

Day 3: Tuesday, March 26, 10 AM – 12 PM, walk from the Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas to Bryn Mawr Metro Station – 4.3 miles

Day 4: Wednesday, March 27, 10 AM – 12 PM, walk from Bryn Mawr Metro Station to Wayne UMC – 4.2 miles

Day 5: Thursday, March 28, 10 AM – 12 PM, walk from Wayne UMC to Berwyn Station– 3.9 miles

Day 6: Good Friday, March 29, 11 AM – 11:30 AM, walk from the King of Prussia Mall to Lockheed Martin – .6 miles.
Day 6: Good Friday, March 29, 12pm – 1pm, Good Friday service outside Lockheed Martin plant
Day 6: Good Friday, March 29, 1 PM – Prayer outside Lockheed Martin plant

Why Lockheed Martin: 

Lockheed Martin supplies the Israeli government with a wide variety of weapons, including fighter jets, attack helicopters, and missiles. Many of these weapons are given by the U.S. to Israel through the almost $4 billion Israel receives annually in Foreign Military Financing.

Since the 1970s, Lockheed Martin’s F-16 has been the Israeli Air Force’s “most important fighter jet,” taking part in all of Israel’s major military assaults on Gaza. The newer Lockheed Martin F-35 is the most advanced warplane used by the Israeli Air Force.

Between 2004 and 2009, Lockheed Martin supplied Israel with at least 102 F-16 fighter jets. Between 2016 and 2021 they supplied Israel with at least 50 F-35 fighter jets.

Lockheed Martin also provides Israel with its M-270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), a mobile system that fires a torrent of surface-to-surface rockets. The Israeli military used the MLRS to fire cluster munitions during the 2006 Lebanon War in attacks that Human Rights Watch deemed to be of “an indiscriminate and disproportionate character, in violation of international humanitarian law.”

During the 2008–2009 assault, Israeli F-16s were used to target civilians, civilian homes, and refugee camps. The attacks killed numerous Palestinians, including 22 members of a single family, 12 of whom were children under the age of 10.

During Israel’s 2014 attack on Gaza, Lockheed Martin Hellfire missiles were used to kill at least 51 people, including 24 children.

During the 2021 offensive, F-16s—described as the “mainstay of the bombardment”—were documented, for example, bombing Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, as well as residential buildings and the offices of news organizations, including Al Jazeera and the Associated Press.

Israel’s current war on Gaza, which heavily relies on Lockheed Martin weaponry, has killed almost 30,000 people, about a third of which have been children.

In December 2023, as Israel was two months into carrying out genocide in Gaza, the U.S. rushed Israel F-35 weapons capabilities and spare parts to the country. In January 2024, the U.S. and Israel reached a deal to supply Israel with large number of F-35 and F15 fighter jets as well as Apache helicopters.

On February 12, 2024, The Dutch Court of Appeal in the Hague ordered the Netherlands government to stop exporting F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel due to there being “a clear risk that serious violations of humanitarian law of war are committed in the Gaza Strip with Israel’s F-35 fighter planes.”

From the organizers of the pilgrimage: 

“One of the central convictions of Christianity is that there is a God who is near to the suffering, to the poor, to all those who are victims of violence.  When asked where God is amid the violence in Gaza, Palestinian theologian Munther Isaac responded: “God is under the rubble.”  On Good Friday, Christians around the world remember in a special way that Christ is God’s act of solidarity, as he endured the most horrific violence on the cross, and subverted it with love, forgiveness, and an empty tomb.  It is Christ who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they are the children of God. It is Christ who rebuked his own disciples when they wanted to call down “fire from heaven” on the people of Samaria. And it is Christ, who scolded Peter when he resorted to violence, saying to Peter, “Those who live by the sword, die by the sword… put the sword away.”  As many fellow Christians bless the bombs falling on Gaza, bombs made at Lockheed Martin… we say NO, not in our name, and not in the name of our Savior.  As many Christians try to defend the violence of Israel being done in planes made by Lockheed Martin, we are calling for a ceasefire, and an end to the violence in the name of Christ, the Prince of Peace.”

Over 550 faith leaders call for Mother’s Day to be declared a national day of prayer, mourning, repentance, and contemplation to end violence

Over 550 faith leaders and organizations have signed onto a letter calling on President Biden to declare Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14, 2023, a National Day of Prayer, mourning, repentance, and contemplation on the gun violence crisis and the role Christian nationalism is playing in the obstruction of common-sense gun legislation.

Signatories to the letter include Rev. Jesse Jackson; Bp. Vashti Murphy McKenzie, Interim President of National Council of Churches of Christ, USA; Dr. Cornel West; Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Executive Director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice; Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary Emeritus, Reformed Church in America; Rabbi Jill Jacobs, C.E.O., T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights; Dr. Shane Claiborne, Red Letter Christians; Rev. Hope Christensen, Co-Chair of Faith United to Prevent Gun Violence; Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, President, Sojourners; Rev. Jim Wallis, Archbishop Desmond Tutu Chair, Center on Faith & Justice, Georgetown University.

“Addressing America’s gun violence crisis is a daunting task,” said Fellowship of Reconciliation Executive Director Ariel Gold. “It’s horrifying that gun deaths now are the leading cause of death for children and teens. What is often missed is the high correlation between those who are regarded as Christian nationalists and those who refuse to contemplate any form of gun control. In the wake of mass shootings, the constant refrain from these Christian nationalists is only that Americans need to pray more while acting as though it would be sacrilegious to consider any limitations at all on gun access. We have called on religious leaders to sign on to our Mother’s Day initiative, because this melding of Christian faith and white supremacist violence needs to be called out for what it has always been: a perverse manipulation of faith into a form of control, coercion, and domination.”

The Fellowship of Reconciliation, the oldest interfaith organization in the U.S. and the initiator of the effort, chose Mother’s Day because of the original Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870 by poet and abolitionist Julia Ward Howe. That proclamation, coming after the catastrophic carnage of the Civil War, called for an end to war and bloodshed – “From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: Disarm, Disarm!”  But it doesn’t address the deeper context of white supremacy at the heart of the American experiment since our nation’s founding.

“The worship of the gun, and the terror regarding any form of proposed gun control is directly related to the perceived tyranny of the federal government. The same government that dismantled slavery historically now looks to destroy the remaining advantages of white supremacy that have been embroidered with a racist and hateful perversion of Christianity,” stated FOR-USA Senior Advisor, Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler. The Fellowship of Reconciliation, which organized the faith leader’s letter, seeks to deepen the contextual meaning of the day in an effort to expose the errors of Christian nationalism and the gun violence epidemic and how they are related.

“You cannot say that you are pro-life and ignore gun violence,” said Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and founder and president of Red Letter Christians.  “Every one of the 40,000 people killed this year by guns is a child of God, made in the image of God.  When people say all we can do is pray — they are wrong.  We can pray, and we must.  But we can also take action.  Faith without works is dead.  When we ask God to move a mountain, sometimes God hands us a shovel.  And when people tell us that it is not a gun problem it is a sin problem…. we can say — it is both, and God heals hearts, but we change laws.  Too often we wait on God to do something that God has given us the power to do.  It’s time to choose to protect children, not guns.”

The letter: 

“From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: Disarm, Disarm!“ – Original Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870, by abolitionist and poet Julia Ward Howe

Dear President Biden,

The epidemic of gun violence has become so dire that nearly 1 in 5 adults in the United States have lost a family member to a gun death. Mass shootings have escalated so much in recent years (23% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic began) that as of April 12, there have already been at least 147 mass shootings so far this year. It is a war taking place in our schools, houses of worship, supermarkets, movie theatres, homes, businesses nightclubs, and more. While some may throw up their arms and say that this is a battle too large to win, we, an interfaith coalition, made up of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and other faith traditions, remember the miracles of ancient times and remain optimistic that this scourge can be overcome.

Do we really believe as a nation that the second amendment and the profits of those who manufacture AR-15-style assault rifles, Hellfire missiles, and other instruments of death should take primacy over our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

We thank you for having last year pushed through Congress the first major gun violence protection legislation in 30 years, for highlighting the issue during this year’s State of the Union, and the executive order you issued last month.

Given the gravity and urgency of this issue, we ask for more. We appeal to you to declare this Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14, 2023, to be a national day of repentance, mourning, prayer, and reflection to address the culture of gun violence that is staining our collective soul.

We ask for our lawmakers and faith institutions to reflect this Mother’s Day on how we are allowing gun manufacturers, the gun lobby, and a culture of gun worship to hold our country hostage.

Mary, a role model for motherhood, stood at the foot of the cross witnessing brutality, inhumanity, and death being inflicted on her child. Today we are all parents looking on as the brutality and death from another mass shooting is inflicted on our children. At the same time, we are painfully aware that gun violence is a racial justice issue. Black Americans are twice as likely as white Americans to die from gun violence.

Esther was counseled by her uncle Mordecai that she was born for such a time as this. For her to go to the King and expose the plots designed to steal the lives of young and old alike. In that same vein, your administration has come into office for such a time as this. Will you squander the demand of this historical time, or go like Esther into the fury to save lives and people?

The Holy Quran, Surah 5 verse 32, teaches: “Whoever kills one person, it is as if they killed all of humanity.” The various holy books teach us that “to save a life is to save the world entire.” We are responsible to one another and responsible to all life.

As faith leaders, we call on you, and on our communities, to manifest our prayers and create a new covenant – a reclaiming of the name of G-d –  committed to honoring and saving lives. We must pray together, not only with our words, but with our feet, and take action, like Esther did, in such a time as this!

In memory of the lives lost in Nashville – Evelyn Diekhaus (9), William Kinney (9), Hallie Scruggs (9), Mike Hill (61), Katherine Koonce (60), Cynthia Peak (61), the lives lost in the Kentucky bank shooting on April 10, and the rest of the nearly 50,000 people that die every year in the United States from guns, we ask you to declare Mother’s Day 2023 a national day to end gun violence and heal our country.

Sincerely,

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Contact:
Ariel Gold | arielgold@forusa.org | (510) 599-5330
Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler | gshagler@verizon.net | (202) 302-0307

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Religion News Service or Religion News Foundation.

Sense cannot be made of the murder of a young man at the hands of five men whose vocation and calling are to protect and serve. This was evil and senseless.

There is a passage from the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah, which is later quoted in Matthew’s Gospel when innocent baby boys are killed by an immoral dictator:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.”
—Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:18

With the murder of Tyre Nichols, another mother, as in the biblical texts, weeps, with the mothers of Emmett Till, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others. A family grieves. A community fears. A nation is ashamed. Like the psalmist in the Bible, something in us cries out, “How long, O Lord, how long?” How long violence, how long cruelty, how long the utter disregard for the dignity and worth of every child of God? How long?

As if this wasn’t enough, there is another horrible dimension to what happened. Tyre Nichols was beaten, kicked, and cursed as if he was not a human being. Then, after he was lying on the ground, having called for his mother, they let him stay there for several minutes without anyone, including the police and EMT who were present, providing medical assistance. Not one Good Samaritan.

Jesus once told a story to teach about what it looks like to love one’s neighbor, which Moses and Jesus both said is a commandment of God. It’s a story about a man beaten nearly to death and left on the side of the road to die by people who knew what Moses taught about love for God and neighbor—and what the prophet Micah taught when he said that God requires three things of us: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Only one person stopped to help the man, and he did so without regard for the fact that they were of different religions, nationalities, ethnic groups, and even different politics. This second man was a Samaritan, and he helped because the man on the road was human. He helped because he was a fellow child of God. He helped because the man lying on the side of the road, regardless of race, class, clan, stripe, or type, was his brother. And the man who helped has been called the Good Samaritan.

The fundamental call and vocation of law enforcement officials, and indeed every one of us, is that of the Good Samaritan.

Here is where there is hope: The Good Samaritan in the parable of Jesus was not the last one.

There are Good Samaritans who are government officials in Memphis who, after assessing what happened, fired the offending officers, charged them with crimes against human life and dignity, and have committed to addressing systemic and cultural issues that created an environment in which this evil was enabled.

There are Good Samaritans doing what is necessary to radically reform the environment and culture of law enforcement—to create an atmosphere in which the dignity and worth of every human being is respected, protected, affirmed, and honored.

There are Good Samaritans in law enforcement, and other first responders, who often work while others sleep, laboring to protect and serve, at times risking their own lives for the neighbor they do not even know.

There are Good Samaritans, people of goodwill and human decency, who are peacefully protesting. There are Good Samaritans who are activists working tirelessly for the realization of communities and countries where there is truly, as the Pledge of Allegiance proclaims, “liberty and justice for all.”

While we grieve, we cannot give in or give up. Just throwing up our hands in despair is not an option lest we leave a brother, a sister, a sibling on the side of the road again. No, let more Good Samaritans arise so that Tyre Nichols’ death will not be in vain.

Please pray for Tyre’s family, the whole Memphis community, this nation, and world. But also pray for people to rise up like the Good Samaritan and work to create change so this never happens again.

And may the soul of Tyre, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercies of God, rest in peace and rise in glory. Amen.

The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

Shane Claiborne’s Acceptance Remarks

“It is a gift to be here tonight with my wife Katie Jo, and her parents, with my mom and dad – my friends, family, mentors and coworkers… the people I pray with, dream with, and go to jail with – tonight we’ve got the inlaws and the outlaws here in Atlanta.

It’s times like these that we are reminded that we are not alone.  We’re reminded that we are not crazy… As Peter Maurin, co-founder of the Catholic worker movement used to say: “If I am crazy, it is because I refuse to be crazy in the same way that the world has gone crazy.”  

So thank you – Dr. King, and Coretta Scott King, and Dr. Bernice King and all the fine folks of the King Center — for reminding us that we are not alone.  You remind us that we are in good company as we get into good trouble.

I think of that time that Dr. King talked about being maladjusted… People used it as an insult – they said he was “maladjusted” –but he took that insult and turned it into a compliment.  He said there are some things we need to be maladjusted to… after all, we live in a world that has become way too adjusted to racism, way too comfortable with other people’s suffering.  We live in a world that has become way too adjusted to violence, way too adjusted to injustice… we need some maladjusted people in the world.  

As I look at each of you tonight, the other folks receiving awards tonight, I can’t help but think – what a distinguished group of maladjusted people.  I am so honored to be among you.

Some will say that we are idealists, that we are out of touch with the real world.  They say we are unreasonable.  But the truth is this:  it is unreasonable for 100 people to own the same amount of wealth as half the world.  It is unreasonable to have more guns than people in this country.  It is unreasonable to own bombs 100 times stronger than the one we dropped in Hiroshima.  It is unreasonable — to spend $25,000 per second – 1.5 million dollars per minute — on militarism and war, or that we should have the capacity of 50,000 Hiroshima bombs.  It is unreasonable to invest in prisons instead of schools.  The death penalty – is unreasonable.  The idea that we can kill someone who kills to show that killing is wrong. That is unreasonable. 

It’s good to be maladjusted. 

There is a Scripture that says: “Let us not conform to the patterns of this world, but let us be transformed by the renewing of our mind.”  It is an invitation to not conform, to be maladjusted.  So let’s not stop dreaming.  Let us keep living in ways that don’t compute.  Let’s keep disrupting the status quo, and getting in the way of violence.  Let’s keep interrupting injustice. Let’s keep troubling the waters. And stirring up holy mischief.  Let’s keep getting into good trouble – because we are in good company.  It is truly an honor to be here with you tonight.”

The full video of Shane’s award and acceptance speech will be added below when it becomes available.

Big thanks to Greg and Joey of The Wonder Brothers for producing such a great
introductory video. Learn a little more about Shane, his background, and Red Letter Christians.

January 9, 2023 | Philadelphia, PA – Shane Claiborne, Co-Director of Red Letter Christians, will be recognized by The King Center at their annual Beloved Community Award Ceremony on January 14, 2023 at 7:30pm ET in Atlanta, Georgia.

The awards recognize individuals that exemplify excellence in leadership, pursuit of social justice, and commitment to creating the Beloved Community in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, and have made notable strides toward improving the quality of life for all.

Claiborne will be honored with the Beloved Community Social Justice Award, which recognizes those who have demonstrated a commitment to utilizing influence and power with love to transform unjust systems. 

Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO, The King Center, said of Claiborne,

“From your work with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, your advocacy for the homeless, to your courageous fight to eradicate militarism through the power of love, your life’s work depicts the very essence of this award.  We believe you, Shane Claiborne, represent the courageous, willing, and committed leadership our founder, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, spoke of when she said, the Beloved Community is a ‘goal that can be accomplished through courage and determination and through education and training if enough people are willing to make the necessary commitment.’”

“I’m not big on hype,” said Claiborne. “I’ve often noted that charity wins you awards but justice gets you killed.  Nonetheless, if there’s anyone in the world who has the credibility to validate the sacred work of justice, good trouble, and holy mischief,  it is Rev. Dr. Bernice King and The King Center. It is beyond an honor to receive this award on behalf of all the heroic people I work alongside and on whose shoulders I stand.  I am humbled, delighted, and thrilled about all that lies ahead.  We’re just getting started.”

Shane will receive the award alongside Dolly Parton and a host of other leaders at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, January 14, 2023.

The event will be streamed on the King Center Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and on thekingcenter.org on Monday, January 16, 2023 at 5:30 pm ET.  

Previous recipients of The Beloved Community Awards included Simone Biles, Malala Yousafzai, Rev. William Barber II, Oprah Winfrey, Andrew Young, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Muhammad Ali, Ervin “Magic” Johnson, and Maya Angelou. 

Shane Claiborne is available for interviews. Please contact marygrace@redletterchristians.org for scheduling. 

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Staying true to the foundation of combining Jesus and justice, Red Letter Christians mobilizes individuals into a movement of believers who live out Jesus’ counter-cultural teachings. As a faith-rooted organization dedicated to cultural change and shifting the narrative around faith and politics, Red Letter Christians focuses on civic engagement, direct action, and movement building through storytelling and social justice. RLC amplifies the voices of those on the margins to help counter toxic evangelicalism and to incite transformative social change.