Pray for victims, but work to stop shootings

Let’s take action to ensure safety of our children

As faith leaders, we profess the profound benefit of prayer in bringing comfort in times of tragedy. We pray for the families and friends of the victims gone from this world too soon. But prayer alone is not enough. Our respective teachings and the moral compass of humanity compel us to speak out and call upon us all to immediately curb the use of weapons of war on innocent children. Our young people in schools across the country have demanded a safe place to learn. We hear them. And we must support them.

Fourteen children and three teachers lost their lives in the violent shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. Countless others who survived have had their lives changed forever.

As members of the Coalition for Mutual Respect, a group of religious leaders who come together under the auspices of the Anti-Defamation League to promote interfaith understanding and speak out with a unified voice on matters of importance to us, we plead that our elected representatives end the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our country.

What should be a sincere expression of comfort has become a shield from accountability.

We applaud Mayor Sylvester Turner on the newly created Commission to End Gun Violence and are eager to see meaningful and measurable outcomes from our city. We also hope that our state legislators will follow suit and support local initiatives. Now is the time for our civic leaders to enact strong, effective and sensible gun violence prevention measures at all levels of government — from City Hall

to Capitol Hill. The myth that weapons should be met with more weapons is unfounded and dangerous. Guns have no place in our schools. They only negatively impact educational environments, and there is no evidence to suggest they make classrooms safer.

We support comprehensive background checks as well as curbs on the use of assault rifles and other weapons of war. We encourage firearm safety training and the removal of prohibitions, championed by pro-gun lobbyists, on researching and collecting data on gun violence.

While we will continue to pray for our elected officials to heed the call — we can no longer wait. As a community, we must find strength not only in prayer, but in action. We encourage our faith leaders to come together to create safe spaces for our children and families, whether in our houses of worship, movie theaters, parks or schools. We must speak out on this issue from the pulpit and in prayer circles. We must encourage our congregations to discuss the issue of gun violence.

This is a message that must be heard not just in our state capitals and in Washington, D.C., but in the pews. Gun violence isn’t just affecting classrooms. Houses of worship, shopping malls and concerts are all vulnerable.

This is a conversation for everyone. With one voice, we call on Houstonians of all faiths and people of good will to come together to provide for the safety and wellbeing of our children and our city.

We believe most Houstonians agree with the Coalition for Mutual Respect and ADL. Now is the time to add your voice to this issue and demand that the value of human life come before special interests and weapons of war. Fiorenza, Karff and Lawson are members of the Anti-Defamation League’s Coalition for Mutual Respect, founded as a vehicle for community and religious leaders to counteract bigotry and promote respect and understanding.