Four days after Richard Spencer told an audience in the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts that he believed in an Aryan state, a group of pastors denounced his ideology, which they deem hateful, and promoted unity.
About 16 representatives of Alachua County churches, which make up the Alachua County Christian Pastors Association, stood outside the Phillips Center at 10 a.m. Monday to issue an official statement regarding Spencer. Leading up to Spencer’s speech on Thursday, about 60 churches participated in the ACCPA’s #prayandstayaway campaign, which urged Christians in the community to pray for the event and avoid the area upon Spencer’s arrival, said Phil Courson, vice president of the ACCPA. Now, the association asks the community to move forward in love, peace and unity.
“We’re here to let the folks know that bigotry, racism, any type of what we would look at as sin issues concerning those things, are directly opposed to scripture, and we stand on the word of God,” Courson said.
The Rev. Karl Anderson said the churches in the county are already doing their part to promote unity and bridge the gap between races and socioeconomic classes. On this year’s National Day of Prayer, members of the ACCPA went to Dignity Village to pray and speak with residents. Members of the various congregations also consistently participate in each other’s events, Anderson said.
Although Courson doesn’t agree with Spencer’s ideology, he is appreciative that UF President Kent Fuchs allowed him to speak on campus.
“Just because you don’t agree with my thoughts or my philosophies or someone else’s thoughts or philosophies doesn’t mean you shut them down just because you consider it hate speech,” he said. “You can’t be the free speech police.”
Courson believes it is an individual’s responsibility to promote peace and unity, and said UF’s campus ministries support that work. He said that the fight to end racism and division will continue long after Spencer’s visit.
“It’s not just going out and protesting when you have a speaker you don’t like, but it’s every day being intentional to go out and talk to somebody and connect with somebody that is totally different than you,” he said.
Cady Boe, a UF elementary education junior, is a member of The Navigators at UF, a christian campus ministry. On the day of Spencer’s speech, The Navigators held a joint prayer event with other campus ministries and a night of worship and discourse about the day’s events.
Boe, 20, feels that denouncing hate is important, but it shouldn’t be the only action taken.
“I don’t necessarily think that the action has to be protesting there, but I do think action needs to happen in order to make a big difference,” she said.
Boe said ignoring hate isn’t an option for the Christian community. Prayer and love are a Christian’s most powerful tools when it comes to fighting hate,” she said.
“I think as Christians we should approach the situation with love and out of love,” she said.
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