09/24/2025
At a time when political leaders engage in divisive rhetoric, our spiritual traditions offer another perspective. In this morning's Gloucester Daily Times, we shared an important message with the community, "Let Us Remember: We Are One."
To the Editor:
As clergy and ministers on Cape Ann, we write to our community out of loving concern for our country. We recall the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” In 1858, President Lincoln echoed these words, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
The scourge of gun violence has taken the lives of too many Americans of every political persuasion, culture, and religion. This year alone, nearly 11,000 people have been murdered in the United States. Worshippers - including children - have been gunned down in our synagogues and churches. Students have been shot in their classrooms. Political leaders across the spectrum have been targeted and killed - including Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and her husband, both Democrats. The assassination of activist Charlie Kirk is part of an epidemic of gun violence and divisiveness that affects the whole of society.
We are troubled by responses to Mr. Kirk’s murder that inflame partisan tensions, creating an impression that the single cause of gun violence are political opponents. In our view, some have distorted and exploited this horrific event for political gain and as a means to silence critics. To pit Americans against other Americans puts us on a dangerous path that does not serve the common good.
Our civic and faith traditions recognize that our strength as a people necessitates freedom of speech. As Americans and people of faith, we value the right we have to speak as our conscience dictates. Wherever we fall on the political spectrum, we ought not live in fear that something we say might make us a target for retribution or violence.
The truth that we cling to is that we are “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Here on Cape Ann we are a community of neighbors helping neighbors. When someone is in trouble, we don’t ask about political commitments. We help. The Torah teaches in Genesis 1:27 that each and every one of us is created b’tzelem Elohim (in God’s image). As online algorithms lead us into siloed echo chambers, let us remember what our lived experience tells us and what our spiritual traditions affirm: we are one.
Rev. Jim Achadinha, Pastor, Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport
Rev. Dr. Tess Baumberger, Minister, First Universalist Church, Essex
Rev. Dr. Norma Brettell, Pastor, Trinity Congregational Church, UCC, Gloucester
Rev. Marya DeCarlen, Priest, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Gloucester
Rev. Mike Duda, Retired UCC Pastor, Rockport
Rev. Alice W. Erickson, United Church of Christ
Rev. ElizaBeth Emery, Pastoral Associate, Annisquam Village Church
Brother Patrick Garvey, Diocesan Hermit, Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport
Rabbi Naomi Gurt Lind, Temple Ahavat Achim, Gloucester
Rev. Sue Koehler-Arsenault, Pastor, Annisquam Village Church
Elsa Marshall Tranfaglia, CMCE, CMYM, retired minister, United Church of Christ
Rev. Janet Parsons, Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church
Rev. David Prentice, Priest, Saint Mary's Episcopal Church, Rockport
The Rev.s Printince and Valerie Roberts-Toler, United Methodist: Retired
Rev. Katherine A. Schofield, Pastor, First Parish Church, Congregational, MBTS
Rev. Rona Tyndall, Pastor, West Gloucester Trinitarian Congregational Church, UCC
Rev. Derek van Gulden, Pastor, The First Congregational Church of Rockport, UCC
(Photo credit: RawPixel/Shutterstock license 295512171)
