Bearing Witness

I have been privileged to have some powerful conversations with colleagues this week about how to respond to white supremacist provocation in San Francisco this weekend. There has been passionate conversation in particular about whether or not clergy should be present at Crissy Field, where the white nationalist rally will be held. One colleague asked, "What would being there accomplish? What would you hope to achieve?

My response is "nothing." This is not a situation in which there are winners. There is only the brutality of hate and the ongoing suffering of victims of centuries-old racism. The people of God will be at Crissy Field in all their beauty and in all their brokenness. Clergy will be there as a visible sign that the faith community is there too, at the place of greatest contradiction between the reality of evil and the reality of beloved community. We are not there to solve a problem, but to bear witness to that Love which transcends our differences and heals our wounds.

Clergy will be there, not as leaders, but to offer prayerful, nonviolent support to our community. We are there to bear witness. We will not abandon our sisters and brothers who are most vulnerable, nor ignore those who have demeaned their own inherent dignity in their espousal of racist rhetoric, intimidation, and violence. We must offer hope and healing to the vulnerable, judgment and mercy to sinners, at Crissy Field and everywhere else where the people of God gather.

I respect that others will choose to bear witness at other places in San Francisco. That is as it should be. Let us hold each other in prayer and love wherever we may be.