Responding to a Broken and Fearful World: A Statement on Anti-Asian Hate

March 17, 2021

“Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

-Galatians 6:2

Dear Ones,

It is with heavy hearts that we write to you today knowing that again our Nation has been visited by extreme violence, this most recent violence was against members of our AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community. Anti-Asian hate has been growing in our Nation throughout this pandemic.

We are all one in Christ, and as such we acknowledge and lament with our Asian siblings the race-based violence and terrorism going on now, and in the past. Last year in Los Angeles County incidents of anti-Asian crimes rose 144%. Beyond this statistic, we know there are countless incidents of hate that do not rise to the level of a crime. Just last week Senator Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii introduced a bill titled “The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act.” Saying: “We’ve seen the horrifying consequences of racist language as AAPI communities across our country experience hate crimes and violence related to the pandemic.”

As people of Faith, we remember the words of Galatians 3:28 “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Understanding these words of unity in Christ means that crimes and terrorism against the Asian American community is unacceptable as are crimes and terrorism against our Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, Immigrant and any community. 

The Confessions of the Church teach us that: 

“In each time and place, there are particular problems and crises through which God calls the church to act. The church, guided by the Spirit, humbled by its own complicity and instructed by all attainable knowledge, seeks to discern the will of God and learn how to obey in these concrete situations.”

– Confession on 1967, 9.43

As we seek to discern and obey the will of God today, we remember that there have been and will continue to be efforts to divide us and encourage hate among God’s children. In the Presbytery of the Pacific we stand against hate in all forms. 

In response to racism, and in an effort to address our own racism, our Presbytery formed an Anti-Racism Task force which includes a broad section of our Presbytery including members of the Asian American Community. This task force will begin its work this year.

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness issued a statement earlier this month decrying the recent rise in violence against our Asian American sisters and brothers, I commend it to you. 

Understanding the truth expressed in the “Brief Statement of Faith:”

“In a broken and fearful world
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in Church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.”

We faithfully respond by listening to one another, and by working for justice, freedom and peace for all in our churches and in our streets. 

In Solidarity,

Rev. Dr. Amanda Adams Riley

Moderator, Presbytery of the Pacific

Rev. Linda Culbertson

General Presbyter | Pacific Presbytery

Rev. Neema Cyrus-Franklin

Stated Clerk/Communications Director | Pacific Presbytery

Resources:

• LA County: Dial 211 a hotline for individuals who have been victims or witnesses to acts of bullying or incidents motivated by hate or discrimination.
   

Stop AAPI Hate: A National Reporting hotline for Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate.