Bainbridge Island/North Kitsap
INTERFAITH Council 

View the Dec. 8 letter of response from the Dept. of Natural Resources HERE

April, 2010
Resolution for a Future Free of Nuclear Weapons

Approaching both the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day and the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, the Bainbridge Island / North Kitsap Interfaith Council declares that 

WHEREAS the very presence of nuclear weapons represents an increasing and unacceptable threat to the entire Earth, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT

• We add our interfaith voices to the encouraging momentum for international negotiation to abolish such weapons; and

• We especially honor and support our friend and interfaith leader, Senji Kanaeda (of the local Nipponzan-Myōhōji Buddhist Temple), who is currently on a three-month Peace Walk for a Nuclear-Free Future, beginning in Oak Ridge, TN, and arriving at the United Nations in NYC in time for the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in early May; and

• We further urge the City of Bainbridge Island to actively stand with the United States Conference of Mayors, which in 2009 voted unanimously for a resolution Affirming the Role of Cities in Achievement of a Peaceful World Free of Nuclear Weapons.

Adopted by Interfaith Council action this day, April 8, 2010.  —Olga Ruys, Secretary

Related, Helpful Internet REFERENCES:

Upon receipt of our IFC Resolution, the Bainbridge Island City Council responded by drafting and approving a parallel and impressive “Proclamation for a Future Free of Nuclear Weapons,” dated April 21, 2010, which can be seen at www.ci.bainbridge-isl.wa.us/proclamations.aspx OR HERE.

See more about the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), to be held at the United Nations:  www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010

Bainbridge Island Japanese American Memorial

(April 30, 2008) The U.S. House passed the long debated Wild Sky Wilderness proposal, which protects more than 106 thousand acres from logging in the Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest. It also called for an 8–acre memorial on Bainbridge Island to mark the internment of Japanese–Americans during World War 2. The Bainbridge Island families were the first of nearly 120 thousand people sent to internment camps across the country. KUOW's Derek Wang spoke with Clarence Moriwaki about the development. Moriwaki is an island resident who heads the Japanese American Memorial Committee.  Click here to listen to the interview.

BACKGROUND: On March 30, 1942, 227 men, women and children from Bainbridge Island were assembled and escorted by armed U.S. Army soldiers to the Eagledale ferry landing. Only allowed to bring what they could carry or wear, they passed military cordons before boarding a ferry, leaving their island home. They sailed to Seattle, where they were loaded onto trains for a three-day journey that would take them to the Manzanar concentration camp in California’s Mojave Desert. The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Memorial marks the sailing spot. The Interfaith Council of Bainbridge Island/North Kitsap is proud to be part of the history in the creation of this important memorial.  Click here for more information.

February, 2008
Religious Vandalism at Blakely Elementary School 

An Open Letter

To:  Mayor Darlene Kordonowy; Bainbridge Island City Council; Dr. Ken Crawford, Superintendent, Bainbridge Island School District; School Board, Bainbridge Island School District

February 26, 2008 

The recent act of vandalism at Blakely Elementary School is of great concern to us.  It contained not only ugly smears of school employees, but antisemitic slurs as well – “Kike,” “Jesus Hates Jews,” a figure labeled “Jew” hanging from a hangman’s noose.

The school staff and the Bainbridge Police Department responded quickly and sensitively, and we are very grateful to them for having done so.

But we remain concerned.  This was not a one-time event, but rather the latest in a series of incidents of bigotry and prejudice that have occurred on the Island in recent years.  In August, 2001, vandals desecrated tombstones at Port Blakely Cemetery; there has been racist graffiti at the Filipino-American Hall; developmentally disabled students in our schools have had to endure taunts and harassment.  Additionally, our community still bears the all-too-recent memory of watching hundred of local Japanese-Americans being deported from the Island at bayonet-point during World War II.

We know, of course, that the majority of our fellow Bainbridge residents find these acts abhorrent.  But bigotry continues to raise its ugly head here, anyway.  No longer can we dismiss these events as isolated incidents or as mere childhood pranks.   There is clearly a pattern of hurtful prejudice here, and it is time that we begin taking it seriously.

Of course, there is no easy fix to such ugly behavior.  But the fact that the problems are complex is no excuse to ignore them.  We call upon the Bainbridge community – particularly, but not only, its schools – to take positive and purposeful action on behalf of cultural and religious diversity on Bainbridge Island, and on behalf of respect for the various groups whose presence so deeply enriches our community.  Such steps might include community-wide diversity activities, diversity-awareness programs in our schools, and other activities, too. We are eager to work in partnership with you in implementing these initiatives.

Again, we know that most of us on the Island treasure the diversity of our community and abhor incidents such as the recent one at Blakely Elementary school.  But this most recent event should remind us that values such as respect and dignity don’t prevail on their own – we need to work to make them real. We call upon you to undertake this noble task, and we pledge to work with you to achieve it.

We thank you in advance or your efforts on behalf of respect and diversity on Bainbridge Island.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Mark Glickman, Congregation Kol Shalom

Eileen Hershberg, President, Congregation Kol Shalom,

Rev. Dr. Dee Eisenhauer, Eagle Harbor Congregational Church

Janette Ahrndt, President, Bainbridge Island/North Kitsap Interfaith Council

Bishop Brad Hepworth, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Bainbridge Island Ward

Other Organizations and Leaders

Periodically, the InterFaith Council discusses and decides to make a collective statement on a situation of note. Those messages are recorded here, leading with the most recent.

April, 2008
Info on the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Memorial

February, 2008
Religious Vandalism at Blakely Elementary School