A Message from Our CEO: Moving Forward in 2026
At times of grief, we as human beings tend to turn inward. At times of fear, communities become more insular. At times of division, we seek out those whose experiences mirror our own.
This is a normal part of our biological make-up, which tells us that we must protect ourselves; we must defend our families; and we must put up walls around our communities. And yet, this insularity tends to lead to more division, more misunderstandings, and can inhibit healing.
Over the last several weeks, we have seen targeted acts of antisemitism in Sydney, Australia, the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by ICE, as well as a host of other acts of violence and depravity that make us continually question how low we can get before we begin to turn this around.
So much our critical work at Interfaith happens not in front of the cameras, but quietly and diligently behind the scenes. This includes:
- Connecting with our Muslim and Jewish siblings for heart-to-heart dialogue about the challenges faced by their communities,
- Working with clergy to address the continued burden placed on faith communities to solve public policy failures related to affordable housing, energy, and food insecurity, as well as
- Confronting the twisting of faith to justify jailing immigrants, eliminating food benefits for children, or preventing access to clean water in rural areas.
As long as faith continues to be used as a means to divide rather than than unite, as a justification for hate instead of a mandate to love, our work at Interfaith will remain necessary. This is critical to keep us from inventing new lows to which we stoop as a community and society.
Our new strategic goals of Protecting Democracy, Protecting True Religious Freedom, and Protecting Marginalized Communities are not mere platitudes or punchlines with which to solicit the next donation. We deeply recognize the dangers we face in giving in to our lesser selves rather than continuing to challenge our base natures in order to care more, to love deeper, and to see connection with those who don’t look like us, walk like us, talk like us, pray like us, or love like us.
We must build bridges rather than walls if we are to confront the root cause of hatred.
We stand together with all those feeling under attack, forgotten, targeted for harm, or left behind. Racism, sexism, anti-Muslim hate, antisemitism, attacking the dignity of the LGBTQ+ community, brutality against our immigrant neighbors, and other evils can never be claimed to be true expressions of faith. In fact, they are indicative of the opposite.
Those who are driving this evil, using tools of hate, fear, and anger, want us to be divided. At Interfaith, we dream of a world where we remain resilient against this division, remain determined to learn from each other, help one another to heal, and become stronger together. However, dreaming alone won’t get us there. As the saying goes:
We must pray with our feet.
At Interfaith, we believe in taking action. We reject mere performative advocacy and remain committed to bringing about real, tangible change. The work of confronting hate, whatever form it takes, does not happen in a silo. We must build bridges rather than walls if we are to confront the root cause of hatred.
Our partners across our network of over two dozen faith traditions remind us that the path forward need not be one that involves choosing winners and losers and is instead one that requires the active pursuit of understanding those from other traditions, cultures, and backgrounds. It is a path built on resisting hatred and instead building joy, understanding, and connection.
In this spirit, we invite you to envision a different way of being together in 2026:
- Stand proudly with those with whom you may not always agree, but that value our shared human dignity,
- Build bridges based on commitment to understanding, rather than walls meant to exclude,
- Learn from others how we can bring a new reality into being, and
- Ensure this 2026 legislative session is one where the “guiding doctrines of policy formation” (as referenced by Chomsky) will be a reflection of our common values and shared humanity.
We invite you to walk with us in these efforts.