On Sept. 13, two days after an attack in Libya killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued a joint intelligence bulletin warning that the risk of violence could increase in reaction to an anti-Islam video posted to YouTube.
The bulletin urged officials and the public — including faith-based organizations — to be on the lookout for threats and suspicious activity. But that was not the first warning they had received that churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship can become targets for violence.
While security threats and terrorist attacks have changed the way airports, schools and concerts screen crowds of people, many religious institutions struggle to incorporate security measures into their open-doors philosophies.
In recent years, as churches and other religious institutions in Maryland have faced theft, vandalism and even violence, many are developing strategies to ensure the people who come through their doors for help are, as much as possible, kept safe.
‘Door to God’
On Aug. 5, a man walked into a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., shortly before services started. He shot and killed six worshipers in an attack apparently motivated by ethnic prejudice before killing himself.
Arvinder Uppal, chairman of the Guru Nanak Foundation of America, a Sikh place of worship in Silver Spring, heard about the attack a few hours after it happened, just after GNFA finished its services. She said her first thought was a defensive stance.
“I wanted increased security right away,” she said. “I know at GNFA we have had several hate incidents.”
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, people threw stones at the building and broke windows, Uppal said. In addition, two senior citizens were assaulted near the building about two years ago. Now a police officer is stationed outside the foundation during its largest weekly service.
Although extra police patrols are encouraging, Uppal said there is a limit to how much security GNFA can add. To include such protection as metal detectors and security checks would violate Sikh beliefs, she said.
Sikh places of worship are called gurdwaras, which, roughly translated, means “door to God,” Uppal said. Larger gurdwaras in India have multiple doors that are open to anyone at all hours of the day.
“How do you close the doors of the most open community in the world? We will not do that,” Uppal said. “We will not change the basic tenets of Sikhism because of one person’s mistake.”
In North Potomac, Bhai Gurdarshan Singh, head granthi of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, said he thinks the area’s diverse international community helps keep religious minorities safe.
His gurdwara has a security camera in one corner, although the doors remain unlocked from early morning until late evening so people can come in, bow and read the scripture verse of the day.
“Traditionally, people, before they go to work . . . just come and bow and go,” he said, saying that many stop by on the way home from work as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment