When Hate Attacks, Love Protects

Reactions and Responses to Violence

The Rev. Darin Johnson, Agape San Diego Campus Pastor and Executive Director

On Monday two lost boys of San Diego attacked the Islamic Center, taking the lives of three men who instinctively put their own bodies between the attackers and the school children. At last night’s vigil, Imam Taha Hassane gathered about 5000 of us to nearby Lindbergh Park. His gracious welcome and prayerful leadership guided us transform this tragedy from pain and loss through reflection, compassionate listening, and renewal of our resolve to oppose bigotry and diligently build peace with all our neighbors. These good neighbors remain faithful even in the face of terrorism intended to divide and destroy.

We of the Agape community grieve along with our Muslim neighbors and reject all anti-Muslim speech and discrimination that directly leads to such violence. We also join with our Muslim neighbors in partnership to repair and prevent these breaches in our community that endanger us all. That includes insisting that all our public officials consistently reflect an inclusive welcome, speech, and actions that equitably serve all our neighbors.

We honor the heroic members of the Islamic Center who each immediately reacted to protect children and teachers with their own bodies. May the memory of Amin Abdullah, Monsour Kaziha, and Nader Awad endure as a blessing and a light to show us the way out of this present darkness of anti-Muslim fear, hate, and violence. As you choose whom to trust with leadership or public office, please consider Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” [1 Cor. 12.26] Faithful leadership shares power and fosters deep solidarity, not division.

We remain deeply grateful for Imam Taha’s friendship, collaboration, and trusted leadership that have made the Islamic Center of San Diego a beacon of hope, healing, and peace. If you feel suspicion or fear of your Muslim neighbors here or far away, I plead with you not to believe any messaging that would isolate us. Our mutual safety depends on mutual care and respect, and we cannot love those whom we do not know. Each of us has to work to replace fear and ignorance with humility and curiosity to learn. And, we need to join with our neighbors to become “repairers of the breach and restorers of streets to live in” [Isaiah 58.12]

I am grateful to share the perspective of Greg Tuttle, Agape’s assisting campus minister:

“In moments of tragedy, the call to stand alongside our interfaith siblings and campus ministry partners becomes both sacred and necessary. On college campuses, where students already bear academic and economic pressures and uncertainty about the future, acts of violence can shake our basic needs to feel safe and to belong. In these moments, solidarity matters deeply. 

“On Tuesday we created a space for private and communal prayer at The UCSD Center for Ethics and Spirituality. Gathering across varied traditions to pray, mourn, listen, and simply be present reminds students that they are not alone in their grief or fear. Through these relationships we bear witness to the dignity of every human life and affirm our shared commitment to compassion, peace, and hope even in the midst of heartbreak.

“Agape campus ministry creates space where emotions do not need to be hidden or rushed away. Instead, students are invited into honest conversations, prayerful reflection, and communities of care where lament and hope can exist side by side. By showing up consistently for one another and refusing to become numb to violence, we help nurture a generation that knows healing is communal work and that love of neighbor calls us toward courage, advocacy, and peace.”

Thank you, Greg, for faithfully supporting the Agape community in so many ways that demonstrate Agape’s commitment to respecting, welcoming, and serving all our neighbors, especially across religious differences that we celebrate as gifts rather than walls.

God bless Imam Taha and the Islamic Center community with peace, healing, and the restoration of safe neighborhoods all over San Diego and beyond.