Athens area faith organizations have joined together to host a March of Faith in Resistance to Mass Deportation on Sunday, September 21st. Marchers will gather at 595 Prince Avenue (across the street from the School District) at 2 pm and, at around 2:30, march to the federal courthouse (downtown post office) where brief remarks will be given, and then march back to the starting point.
“Religious leaders will speak on moral calls to support immigrant neighbors, to oppose mass deportation, and to end family separation,” commented Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens and co-chair of the Interfaith Clergy Partnership of Greater Athens (ICPGA), which voted unanimously to cosponsor and participate in the march.
“This is not a political event, it is an expression of our faith,” said Greg Davis, chair of the Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition (ISC), cosponsor of the march. “We are called to stand in moral opposition to the repression and intimidation of our immigrant friends and neighbors.”
Planners of the march include leaders in Unitarian Universalist, Methodist, Quaker, Episcopal, Catholic, Jewish, Bahá’í, and Baptist congregations.
“We come together to uphold the inherent value and agency of every human being,” said Tim Johnson of the Athens Friends Meeting (Quakers). “Our faith calls us to work for a world where dignity and rights are upheld regardless of migration status and not on the basis of citizenship or perceived deservedness. ‘Love thy neighbor’ includes all our neighbors.”
Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition (ISC) is a faith-based group drawn from a cross-section of congregations dedicated to offering hospitality, safety, and opportunities for all immigrants, regardless of status. It is affiliated with the Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition.
The Interfaith Clergy Partnership of Greater Athens (ICPGA) includes scores of faith leaders from diverse traditions who believe that we are strengthened by religious and cultural diversity. ICPGA works to build and nurture relationships amongst religious leaders in the Greater Athens area, fostering partnerships, and pursuing initiatives to help strengthen our community.