In an act of defiance against the horrific massacre that has shaken San Bernardino and the rest of the country, members of the Islamic, Jewish and Christian faiths came together in San Diego’s North County to condemn the use of violence in the name of religion.
The Jewish Collaborative of San Diego, the North County Islamic Foundation and Christ Presbyterian Church of Carlsbad collaborated to host a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening for the 14 killed and 21 injured in last week's shooting rampage.
About 100 people gathered at the corner of La Costa Avenue and El Camino Real for the interfaith event. Presbyterian Pastor Greg Bostrom said the group represents efforts to build bridges between faiths across the country.
“They might not get as much press as those who are using religion to divide, but there are a lot of good people doing a lot of good things together among faiths to make a difference in the world,” said Bostrom.
Last Wednesday, married couple Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire inside a conference room at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino – an act that President Barack Obama called an act of terrorism. The FBI said the couple had been radicalized for some time before carrying out the attack.
Muslim leaders attending Tuesday's vigil said they are just as offended as the rest of the country by what people do in the name of their religion.
Khalid Abudiwas, a teenage member of the North County Islamic Foundation, shared a poem with the crowd to express how he feels in the shooting’s aftermath.
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“Muslim Americans are in no way different from any other American,” said Abudiwas. “We are proud to be here; we are proud to help this country, proud to contribute to this country, and we love this country like anyone else.”
Demonstrators held up signs reading "terrorism has no religion.” Individuals prayed for all the victims and their families as they cope with the tragedy.
Together, the crowd united around a collective goal.
“It’s beautiful to see people from all faiths come together and say, ‘Enough violence, enough hatred, enough prejudice,” said participant Scott Silk.
This was the first such interfaith demonstration involving these three North County groups, but organizers said they have collaboratively worked on many community service projects in the past.
