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We express our deepest grief and solidarity with our Jewish friends around the world after the heinous violence perpetrated against congregants of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. It is our constant prayer that God will heal and protect those affected by such tragic events. When the security and religious freedom of our Jewish brothers and sisters is violated, we all suffer. Houses of worship should be safe, inviolate places for people of all faiths to join in sacred fellowship and seek communion with God.
We condemn the environment of hate-filled rhetoric that has become so prevalent. Anti-Semitism has no place in our society. It is the responsibility of good people everywhere to speak out and stand up for each other’s rights to worship and live peacefully.
Statements like this are good but…what is the Church going to do to protect members & visitors in our own congregations? Quote:We condemn the environment of hate-filled rhetoric that has become so prevalent. Anti-Semitism has no place in our society. It is the responsibility of good people everywhere to speak out and stand up for each other’s rights to worship and live peacefully.
Yes, Yes, Yes!
Excellent statement. Thanks. Good statement. I found it interesting that a muslim group helped with a funding project to help the families of the victims, and raised over $100k in good faith.
It is a good thing to do. Such a sad situation.
Minyan Man wrote:
Statements like this are good but…what is the Church going to do to protect members & visitors in our own congregations?
I have been thinking about this issue a lot. Obviously, it is an issue, because we saw LDS members being attacked in a shootout in a chapel a few months ago. I don’t know what the solution is.
The Church recently made this statement regarding security at General Conference: This doesn’t make me feel “warm & fuzzy” when I attend Sacrament meeting. I don’t see any improvements coming soon for our
local meetings.
The global church itself can’t do anything to protect us locally, except issue guidelines. True safety would require bullet-proof, shatter-resistant windows and locking the building once church started – with an armed guard stationed at the main entrance to let people in once they pass through a metal detector – and whatever else would guarantee safety. At this point, we have to play the numbers game and realize how small the likelihood is that we will be where a gunman decides to ac – and have a safety plan in place in case we are the unlucky ones. That is cold comfort to those who have been attacked and to those worried about an attack, but it is all we can do at this point.
Old Timer wrote:
The global church itself can’t do anything to protect us locally, except issue guidelines. True safety would require bullet-proof, shatter-resistant windows and locking the building once church started – with an armed guard stationed at the main entrance to let people in once they pass through a metal detector – and whatever else would guarantee safety.At this point, we have to play the numbers game and realize how small the likelihood is that we will be where a gunman decides to ac – and have a safety plan in place in case we are the unlucky ones. That is cold comfort to those who have been attacked and to those worried about an attack, but it is all we can do at this point.
There are ways and means. I don’t mean having armed guards on the doors, but more basic precautions. Ushers act as a kind of guard. Obviously, they won’t stop people from using a gun, but they can raise the alarm so that more people can hide or escape from such an incident.
We have had to eject one or two people from our chapel, and I’ve been called into help. One of them is an aggressive alcoholic who stands up and shouts four letter words in the middle of sacrament meetings and has groped women; another is just purely aggressive and has hit and threatened church members on numerous occasions and may have tried to burn down church buildings. In both cases, the individuals concerned have psychiatric issues, and there are people I know who’ve tried to help them, but they also constitute a physical threat to other members.
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