Greater Laconia Ministerial Association: Healing comes from conversations between offender and those offended

To The Daily Sun,

We of the Greater Laconia Ministerial Association stand together against anti-Semitism, racism, and all other forms of bigotry. Laconia State Rep. Dawn Johnson’s ill-advised and harmful posting on social media of an article from a notorious neo-Nazi website has hurt and angered many of her constituents, particularly those who are Jewish and African American. Rep. Johnson has said that she was unaware of the hurtful meaning of the material she posted. Nevertheless, we believe all of us, and especially our public leaders, have an obligation to understand material we forward and from whom we received it, and all of us, including Rep. Johnson, bear the responsibility for the intended and unintended consequences of our actions.

Each of our faith traditions call on us to acknowledge harm we have caused, to communicate with those we have hurt, to listen and learn, and then to take restorative action. In the spirit of that common tenet, we strongly urge Rep. Johnson to meet with people from Temple B’nai Israel and the Laconia Human Relations Committee. In these conversations she can learn how her actions have hurt those she represents and discuss what constructive action she can take toward healing that hurt.

Rev. Cathryn Turrentine, The Rev. James Shook, Rev. Michael Graham, Rev. Neil Wilson, Ira Keltz, Leonard Campbell, Rev. Dr. Victoria Wood Parrish, Lama Naomh Tomas OCBM, Mike Clifford, Rev. Dr. Judith E. Wright, and Dan Kusch

Members, Greater Laconia Ministerial Association