Editor’s note: This commentary is signed by a group of Vermont faith leaders whose names are listed below.
It’s one thing to disagree.
It’s one thing to voice one’s concerns over potential wrongdoing.
It’s one thing to protest against an injustice.
It’s one thing to hold and to share frustration over a perceived or real offense.
It’s another thing to threaten the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office saying those who oversaw the 2020 election process should be executed by firing squad.
We could shake our heads and wring our hands in disbelief that these kinds of threats have made their way into our state, yet we are all submerged in Twitter storms fomenting fear, unrest, and misinformation.
Believing that silence is complicity, we believe that it is time.
It is time that leaders from all sectors of our shared Vermont community speak clearly and unequivocally against the perpetuation of unfounded claims of fraud.
It is time for voices to condemn any acts of violence, verbal or physical, threatened or enacted.
It is time that our nation’s leaders stop developing and perpetuating conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being anything but fair and trustworthy.
It is time, because this rhetoric continues to tear the fabric of our democracy, including jeopardizing the health and well-being of those who provide for our electoral processes.
It is time to say, “Enough is enough!”
It’s also time to say, “Thank you:”
to everyone from volunteers at election polling places to town and city clerks (and their staffs) who made clear and transparent elections possible, in addition to putting their own health at risk during this pandemic to keep democracy going;
to all those who work for and with the Secretary of State’s Office;
to all who provide public safety for the act of voting;
to all who participate in the holy act of engaging in our democratic process and who respect its outcomes.
This last summer of 2020, Colleen Couture, a recent Spaulding High School graduate, developed a graphic and wording for our state of Vermont with this caption, “Our Little State Has No Room for Hate.” Can we join together to decrease space for hate in our state?
For it’s not only time to love our neighbors but to put that love into practice. It’s time to stop the noise and hate and start the hard work of truly listening to each other’s hopes and fears. It’s time not only to resist hate, it’s also time to love our enemies, no matter where we or they land on the political spectrum. For our hope, especially in this season of our nation’s life, is that life for all people, equally created, can flourish in our free society. Until that hope becomes reality, let’s keep up the hard work of democracy.
In Faith and Purpose,
Rev. Deadra Bachorik Ashton, Tunbridge
Nancy Fowler, Co-pastor, Berlin Congregational Church
Rev. Rachel Fraumann, Hedding United Methodist Church, Barre
Rev. Carl Hilton VanOsdall, First Presbyterian Church of Barre
Rev. Joan Javier Duval, Unitarian Church of Montpelier
Rev. Dr. Lawrence Jones, Bristol
Theresa Lever, Co-pastor, Berlin Congregational Church
Deacon Beth Ann Maier, Christ Church, Episcopal, Montpelier
Rev. Leigh G. McCaffrey, Barre Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
Rev. Deborah McKinley, East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church
Rev. Amy Pitton, Bethany United Church of Christ, Montpelier
David Sanguinetti, Lay Leader, First Church Universalist, Barre
