[Magdalen] Prayers for tomorrow, update

[Grace Cangialosi]

The Board of Supervisors is the equivalent of a City or Town Council--nothing nefarious!
Virginia is primarily made up of counties with relatively few incorporated towns or cities.  So we generally identify our location by county, even if there's another name for the area. I live in Ruckersville, but that isn't incorporated, so technically I live in Greene County.

> On Nov 5, 2016, at 11:30 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Wow... what an experience Grace. I am glad you were able to speak your reality to this event. 
> Meanwhile what the heck is the Board of Supervisors? Sounds like something from the book 1984...
> Lynn 
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> www.ichthysdesigns.com
> 
> When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'. attributed to Erma Bombeck
> 
> 
> On Nov 5, 2016, at 6:09 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Update:  (warning, I got carried away, and this is very long!)
> 
> I couldn't go by the event this morning, but when I drove by later I saw a circle of people in the parking lot and hoped maybe it was a group praying and decided to join them. I was very disappointed not to see any of our local clergy or, indeed, anyone I recognized as being from our county, but there were quite a few folks from the Unitarian Church in Charlottesville (including one of my spiritual directees!) as well as a number of Muslim women, some of whom were handing out red roses. The group had a very well-prepared handout and a few signs with messages of love. 
> Some of the Muslim girls decided they were going to go in and sit in the back to listen, and we discussed the fact that people were told to register ahead of time. One of the girls said she had called yesterday and was told that registration was closed, but she should just bring her ID.
> We went in and were stopped at the door to the auditorium and let in one at a time, to sign in and show ID. I had left mine in the car, and when I was asked for mine, I said, "That's ridiculous! Isn't this a public meeting?" "Yes, Ma'am, but we need your ID."  He waved the Sheriff over and indicated that I was to step outside. I stayed in the doorway, and the Sheriff came up to within about 6" of me. I said, "This is ridiculous. You know me. I'm Grace Cangialosi, and I'm the associate at the church up the street!" He waved me in. 
> What I heard and saw was awful. Every passage from the Qu'ran and other Muslim writings that called for violence was being highlighted on a screen, and the speaker explained that the violent passages superseded others that were more peaceful, according to some later teaching or other. I got lost in all the details, but there was no mistaking the tone or the intent. After awhile the group of students I had come in with, most of them Muslim, left, but I decided to try to stay till the end.  But then they started showing a video of beatings and beheadings and burying people, and I had to leave.
> Outside the door I had a fairly surreal conversation with the Sheriff. I asked how he thought this was helpful to our community, and he said it was important to know this stuff, because it's the goal of Islam to conquer the world and put all of it under Sharia law. I said that is a small part of Islam, but why was he sponsoring such a one-sided presentation by non-Muslims. He said it wasn't one-sided, that everything the man said was true. I said I wasn't disputing that; my point was that it wasn't the whole picture of Islam, and why weren't there any Muslims involved in the presentation who could give a balanced view.
> Well, that wasn't going anywhere, so I commented that we Christians have violent passages in our scriptures, too, but they don't define a whole religion. He said that wasn't true, there aren't any passages like that in the Bible. I gave up at that point, but I'm going to send him a list.
> 
> I talked with my colleague at the church later today, and she told me that she and two other clergy met with the Sheriff on Thursday and asked him to cancel the program. Jane said he admitted that he didn't know if we had any Muslims in the county! We do, and I talked with some of them this afternoon. One woman said they are mostly left alone, except for occasional comments, but after this program today, she's afraid.
> I think our entire Sheriff's Dept. was there today, in the lobby or walking around the parking lot. As I was leaving, I stopped two of the deputies and said, "I'm not Muslim, but if I were, after this, I'd be afraid to call on you for help."  They clearly didn't know what to say. I said, "I'm a Christian pastor, but I just thought I'd tell you that." And I left.
> 
> So my next step is to write a letter to the paper. And then to see if I can help some of the folks who would like to present a whole program on Islam and hold it at the same community college venue.  I'm thinking maybe we could make it a real celebratory event, like a fair with food and music and crafts and Muslim speakers.
> 
> But I ramble on...sorry. When I had my little churches across the mountain, I got in trouble for being involved in racial reconciliation work. Now it may happen over this. But here I have to be more careful, because my daughter is on the Board of Supervisors. I assured her that I was very polite to the Sheriff today and also in my email exchange with him a few days ago...
> <sigh>
> 
> Grace
> 
> 
>> 
>> "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."
>> St. Teresa of Calcutta