Prayers for Orlando Massacre

Our church sends it’s heartfelt prayers and meditations to the dead of  the horrific Orlando Massacre, and to their loved ones, families and friends.  
We send special prayers to all the first responders, medical staffs, counselors and those dealing firsthand with this tragedy. 

It seems that our nation is waking up to the reality, that our society has a malignant cancer.  A cancer of hatred abetted, by a poor diet of hate radio and economic hardship, which is spreading much faster than we can control it.   Massacres are the boils; but the cancer is deep, flaring up in unpredictable places.  It makes hearts heavy with recognition.  The sadness deepens. 
We can heal this.
We can make a better world.
As UU’s we will step up our efforts..
Both Unitarians and Universalists have beat back the cancers of anti-gay hate, racism and religious intolerance in the past.  
It’s time to sound the alarms to gather ourselves once again.

UUA President the Rev. Peter Morales issued this statement in response to the tragic night club shooting in Orlando, FL:

Like people everywhere, I am horrified and distraught at the news of the killings at an Orlando gay night club. What is even more distressing is that this is but the latest in a long line of mass shootings. Our thoughts go to the victims, both the dead and the survivors, and the people close to them. May they find comfort and strength.

Unfortunately, this is the kind of violence that is predictable when hatred and fear are aroused by demagogues and when firearms are easily available. There are about 100 gun deaths per day in the United States. Only mass shootings are newsworthy. This is madness.

May all people of good will, people of all faiths and no faith, renew our determination to end racism, end demonization of those of other faiths, end homophobia, and create a society where access to lethal weapons has some rational control. Otherwise we will wait helplessly for the next atrocity.