Daryl Byler, executive director of Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, wrote this open letter to his former law school colleague, Jerry Falwell Jr. that was first published in the Dec. 14, 2015 op-ed section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
While we attended law school together at the University of Virginia in the late-1980s, our lives have taken us down very different paths.
We both ended up only an hour’s drive away from our alma mater – you as president of Liberty University, the largest Christian university in the country, and me as executive director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, a small Christian university in the Shenandoah Valley.
Like you, I condemn last week’s mass murder of 14 people at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, and grieve with the families who lost loved ones. I was touched by your offer of scholarship assistance to families affected by the violence.
But just days later, I was alarmed by your call for students at your university to apply for permits to carry concealed weapons so that they can “end those Muslims before they walked in” or “teach them a lesson if they ever show up here.”
I fail to see how this call contributes to your university’s stated mission to develop “Christ-centered men and women with the values, knowledge, and skills essential to impact the world.” Or how it is consistent with your commitment to “contribute to a knowledge and understanding of other cultures and of international events.”
Our university also seeks to be Christ-centered – attentive to the teachings and example of Jesus. This is precisely what pushes us to “welcome the stranger”– including those who come from other faith traditions.
We are privileged to host a number of Muslim students at our center. Our program is stronger because of their presence. We have lessons to learn from each other.
Muslim students have helped us to be more self-reflective about how U.S. Christians are viewed around the world. In them, we witness justice and peacebuilding values that are deeply rooted in their own faith tradition. From them, we learn the importance of prayer, compassion and giving. With them, we commit to building a more just and sustainable world.
We live in troubled times. The rise in acts of terrorism is unsettling. Having lived in the Middle East for six years before coming to my current role – and having experienced gracious hospitality in many Muslim homes – I am aware that the horrific shooting in San Bernardino last week and the senseless killing of dozens in Paris several weeks ago must be seen in the context of other acts of terrorism that also deserve our attention.
The U.S.-led war in Iraq has unleashed chaotic conditions that threaten the stability of the entire region and make life difficult for families who are trying to not only survive but to stay together. While not intentionally targeting civilians, U.S. drone strikes frequently inflict terror on Middle Eastern families. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, was tortured in a U.S.-run prison in Iraq – an experience that most certainly contributed to his extremism.
Two weeks ago, I visited one of our Muslim graduates in northern Iraq. She laments the ongoing chaos in her country.
But she also has hope. She reflected that during her time at our center, she felt respected and valued as a human being. And she learned that it was possible to create a close-knit community with persons who hold very different perspectives from her own. It gives her hope that peace is possible in Iraq. “I know it’s possible,” she said, “because I’ve seen it modeled.” As we parted, she handed me a gift of $1,000 for the work of our center.
Jerry, let us agree to work together to end all acts of violence and build a safer world.
That will not happen by calling our students to arms. It will come by having the courage to create spaces where persons from different faiths, nationalities and races feel respected and safe enough to risk seeing the humanity in the other. It will come by being humble enough to recognize our own contributions to the world’s conflicts. It will come by training our students with analytical tools and skills to address the root causes of violence.
Let us offer hope to the world, instead of more reasons for others to hate us.
Read a related statement by EMU President Loren Swartzendruber.
Thanks, Daryl, for this personal response and for modeling respectful dialogue while also calling for accountability.
Thanks, Daryl. I couldn’t have said it better. I admire your letter and your humility.
Thanks Daryl, for your courage, and for modeling what it means to be Christ-like. You are an inspiration to many!
Great words, and I’m so glad the Richmond Times published them.
Hello Mr. Daryl…
I have listened to President Falwell’s address and in no way do I believe he suggested Muslims were not welcomed at Liberty. From my understanding there are in fact Muslim students attending Liberty.
Once his address was taken out of context by the media, President Falwell specifically clarified he intended to say Radical or Extremist Muslims.
I certainly don’t think that EMU should be “welcoming the stranger” which President Falwell was talking about in his address. That “stranger” should not be welcomed on any college campus.
Does EMU have a proactive plan to protect the students and facility in an active shooter situation?
I understand that peace and love is what we should all strive for in being children of God. In today’s world, as we strive for peace, what are you suggesting we do in a split second when confronted with acts of violence like those in Paris and CA?
Thanks.
In response to your question about a “proactive plan to protect the students and faculty in an active shooter situation”:
A Crisis Preparedness Management Team (CMPT) meets regularly at EMU and strives to comply with federal and state guidelines and best practices for emergency preparedness. We work closely with local law enforcement agencies to schedule “table top” exercises and simulation drills according to FEMA guidelines. –President Loren Swartzendruber
Thanks so much for your response and and it is relieving to know EMU works with local law enforcement in planning for hopefully something we will never see. Frankly, President Swartzendruber’s and Mr. Byler’s comments and their non aggressive and extremely passive statements in criticizing President Falwell’s address to the LU students made me wonder what EMU would do if faced with a shooter situation. Though it may not be acceptable for facility and students to be armed on EMU’s campus, it is comforting to know law enforcement – with weapons – will be called in to protect, defend, and neutralize. In this light, EMU position isn’t that much different than Liberty’s position …. A good guy with a gun will hopefully neutralize a bad guy with a gun.
And with that I end with Matthew 5:9 – “Blessed are the Peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Our law enforcement officers and first responders are truly “peacemakers”.
Dear Sir, Liberty University is situated in the United States, where our Constitution affirms and guarantees God-given rights. Among them is the right to arms for self-defense. I presume your university has fire extinguishers in its buildings in advance of any fire breaking out. I believe in peace and mutual respect, but not everyone does, and often aggressors have the advantage of choosing time and place and weaker victims than themselves. They sneer at passivism and celebrate the easy victory. Under a certain circumstance, Jesus said he who had no sword should sell his cloak and buy one. When it was obvious to the Jews at Masada that they could not endure the siege and would be taken by the Romans for slavery and torture, they fell on their own swords. Free men and women own weapons. They are not the threat. I hope to see responsible adults acknowledged as such. Peace is greatly to be desired, but not at the risk of a senseless and meaningless death.