Dear POWER family,
In the aftermath of the violence at the Islamic Center of San Diego, many of us are still sitting with a deep sense of sorrow and disbelief.
Lives were taken inside a place meant for prayer, reflection, and community. Families are now carrying unbearable loss. Children and elders alike were forced to experience terror in a space that should have offered peace. And across the country, Muslim communities are once again being reminded that even their sacred spaces aren’t always safe from hate.
POWER Interfaith grieves alongside the people of San Diego, and with our Muslim siblings. We are praying for the families whose lives have been forever changed, and are standing firmly with Muslim communities everywhere who are exhausted from having to mourn, defend themselves, and keep going all at once.
We also have to tell the truth about moments like this. Violence doesn’t appear in a vacuum, but grows when people are demonized because of who they are, how they worship, where they come from, or what they believe. It grows when fear is rewarded, when division becomes political currency, and when entire communities are treated as suspicious instead of sacred.
As an interfaith movement, our communities are deeply connected. An attack rooted in anti-Muslim hate wounds all of us. When one faith community is targeted, every community that believes in human dignity and collective belonging feels the impact.
But even in grief, we have seen something powerful emerge. Neighbors protecting neighbors. Faith leaders reaching across traditions to care for one another. Ordinary people refusing to let hatred have the final word. That kind of solidarity matters. It is how communities survive moments designed to break them apart.
Now is not the time for shallow statements or selective outrage. This country needs moral courage. We need leaders willing to confront the normalization of hate before more lives are lost. We need deeper relationships across lines of faith and background. And we need to build communities where people can gather, pray, and exist without fear.
We hold the victims, survivors, and the entire San Diego Muslim community in our hearts. And we recommit ourselves to the work of building a world where every person’s humanity is protected and every sacred space is treated as worthy of safety, dignity, and peace.
In faith and solidarity,
Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards
Executive Director, POWER Interfaith
