Rabbi David Spinrad was in the early planning stages of an interfaith rally.
Then Paris happened.
More than 130 people died in multiple attacks across the French city.
"The Paris attacks galvanized this effort," said Spinrad of The Temple. "It gave us cause. This was something that was brewing but now has momentum and force behind ."
Spinrad is one of the organizers of the "We Refuse to Be Enemies" Interfaith Rally for Peace, which will be held from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 6 in the Cecil B. Day Hall of Mercer University's Atlanta Campus, 3001 Mercer University Dr. The rally is free and open to the public.
There will be speakers and musicians from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities. Speakers include Spinrad, Soumaya Khalifa, CEO of the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta, and the Rev. Corey Brown, founder of the Bridge Interfaith Alliance.
“The easiest thing to do in the world right now is for us to put up our walls, be afraid and point fingers,” Spinrad said. “We’re going to try to listen to our better angels. We want to have a real interfaith dialogue. Singing “Kumbaya” and “We Shall Overcome” won’t do anything. Getting together and eating hummus doesn’t change anything. We refuse to be enemies and we’re going to find common ground.”
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