Modesto vigil aims to support those with post-election fears

A group of Modesto-area faith leaders plans a Solidarity Vigil this weekend to send a message of unity and support to anyone who fears for their future at the dawn of a new presidency.

“There are people in the community who are feeling afraid,” said the Rev. Darcy Baxter of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County. “We want this to be an expression to those who are feeling afraid that you are not alone.”

The vigil will be 2 p.m. Sunday at Tenth Street Plaza in downtown Modesto; all are invited. The short program of music and speakers will focus on “standing up for compassion, hospitality and diversity in Stanislaus County and across the country,” according to a news release.

The ecumenical group behind the vigil – with eight or so members from a variety of religious affiliations – meets regularly to foster communication. Members say they became concerned about heightened fear and anxiety during and since President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign. After his inauguration Friday, they want to reach out to people in the community who feel marginalized by political rhetoric.

The Rev. Joshua Trautmann of Geneva Presbyterian Church in Modesto said the group became concerned by “the tenor in politics right now” from the president-elect. “What does he intend to do in regard to Muslims, what does he plan to do with immigrants? How far are we going down this path?”

Parts of Trump’s presidential campaign involved calls for Muslims to be banned from the U.S. over fears of terrorist attacks as well as deporting illegal immigrants and building a wall between this county and Mexico.

Over the course of the campaign and since Trump’s election, the clergy group also has grown concerned about reports of escalating hate crimes across the country and has become increasingly aware of the fears felt by some in the region.

Rabbi Shalom Bochner of Congregation Beth Shalom in Modesto said he hopes Sunday’s vigil will “show people that they are not alone.”

“If someone is Hispanic and worried about deportation, or Muslim and concerned about being placed on a registry, or LGBT and frightened of losing their rights, this is an opportunity to show each other and everyone that faith leaders will stand with these and other people should their basic rights ever become challenged,” Bochner said in an email.

Trautmann said there are many people who are concerned about what the future holds and “where we’re going politically over the next four years.” He also bemoaned how the recent political tenor has created a sense that it’s OK to “diminish the people we disagree with.”

“We’re seeing disparity played out in the political arena quite clearly,” he said. “We see civility is quite rare.”

Tom Broderick, a “mostly retired” Roman Catholic deacon in the Diocese of Stockton, said in an email that “the most recent words seem to be about the biggest tool the devil has – fear and isolation.”

“Many of us in the group come from the tradition that understands the New Testament words – perfect love casts out fear – there’s a lot of fear out there, so we just need a lot more love,” Broderick said.

Broderick has listened to people in the community from many walks of life during and since the election. “I highly recommend riding a Modesto bus through a complete route for an understanding (of) the medically needy and young and old folks with social and developmental hurdles,” he said.

Bochner said he is not looking to protest the president-elect but to support those who feel marginalized, “an ancient expectation of Judaism and the world’s other religions.”

“To me, the saddest outcome of this election is the deep sense of divide that now clearly exists in our nation,” Bochner said. “People are no longer easily able to reach across the political, religious and ethnic divides of this country. We need more compassionate listening – ‘seek to understand before being understood’ – and much less finger pointing.”

Yet the perception of the vigil being political may be unavoidable. “We try to say this is not political and yet we realize anything you do today is political,” Trautmann said. “When you make any kind of statement, it’s political. We would like our political statement to be one of communication, one of respect.”

Bochner said the group would like to see people of all diversities join in Sunday’s vigil.

“We are hoping that a very wide range of the population of this county attend, to put aside whatever differences they may have,” he said, “to stand together in solidarity and compassion, for anyone in our county and country who may feel marginalized or frightened.”

This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Modesto vigil aims to support those with post-election fears."