Even in our pain we must be the first to stand against anti-Muslim hate: SL Christians

Apr 25, 2019 (LBO) – Over 500 Sri Lankan Catholics and Christians responding to the Easter Sunday Attacks urged everyone to stand with Muslim brothers and sisters, and against the spread of anti-Muslim hate in the country. The group said that they are deeply dismayed by certain attempts to blame the attacks on the entire Muslim community. “We cannot and must not blame an entire community for the acts of a few,” the group said in a statement. “Even in our pain and fear we must be the first to stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters, and against the spread of anti-Muslim hate – online and offline, among friends and family, in our offices and in our communities.” Full Statement We write today as a group of Sri Lankan Catholics and Christians, deeply saddened by the attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. We grieve with the families of all victims – whether they are Catholic, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or non-religious. We cannot understand what could motivate such acts of violence against innocent men, women and children. We call on the authorities to ensure that all those who planned, resourced, enabled and executed these attacks are held responsible and that no further violence takes place. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks. We are deeply troubled that a small group of Muslims in our country became so radicalized that they were willing to carry out such violence against their fellow citizens. But we are also deeply dismayed by attempts to blame these attacks on the entire Muslim community – many of whom are horrified by what has happened. We cannot and must not blame an entire community for the acts of a few. On Easter Sunday we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. This day reminds us of how the God of the Bible ultimately dealt with evil. He came to earth as one of us, suffered as we do, took the worst of our evil onto himself, and defeated it through self-sacrificial love. If we believe the truth of the Resurrection, then we must live it out in this crucial moment. Just as Jesus did, we have experienced terrible evil in the last few days. We are grieving. But, empowered by God’s Spirit, we must never allow evil to become an excuse for revenge and hate. Even in our pain and fear we must be the first to stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters, and against the spread of anti-Muslim hate – online and offline, among friends and family, in our offices and in our communities. It is these acts that will witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God - a visible demonstration of our conviction that Jesus defeated sin on the Cross, and that sin, evil and death will not have the last word in Sri Lanka, or in our world. List of Signatories 1. A. Jayalath 2. A.N. Gunewardena 3. A.V. Senatatne 4. Aaron Prashanth 5. Adin Mathitharan (St. Paul’s Church, Milagiriya) 6. Adisha Fernando 7. Agnes Olai 8. Akshina Palihawadana 9. Alan Ludowyke 10. Alison Lee 11. Aloka Abeysirigunawardana - Gonawala Baptist Church 12. Aloma Gunesekera 13. Amal Kumarage 14. Amalan Premkumar 15. Amanda Vedanayagam 16. Amila Gunasena - St Francis of Assisi 17. Amila Weerasinghe (Baptist church ) 18. Amrith Senaratne 19. Amritha Enduruwa 20. Anarkalee Perera 21. Angel Ragunathan (St.Pauls Milagiriya ) 22. Angela E. Seneviratne-Church of the Good Shepherd 23. Angelo Arulchelvam St John's Evangelist Hook, Hampshire, UK 24. Angus Edirisinghe - Kitulampitiya St. Anne's Church 25. Anithra Varia 26. Anjalie Fernando 27. Ann Jenita Kinoshan 28. Ann Perera 29. Anna Appathurai 30. Annesley Ranasinghe 31. Annouchka Wijesinghe 32. Anouk De Silva 33. Anthony Benjamin 34. Anton Claudio Egodawatta 35. Antony Peter 36. Anusha Thangakone Sathiyaseelan 37. Anushke Guneratne 38. Anushri Dharmaraj 39. Aravind Anthony 40. Arul Anketell Methodist Church Mt Lavinia 41. Asela Wickremesooriya 42. Ashley Fernando 43. Ashok Alles 44. Asoka Obeyesekere 45. Averil Ludowyke 46. Avvayar De Mel 47. Ayanka Goonetilleke 48. Ayushka Nugaliyadda 49. B D P Perera 50. B M Gayani Rodrigo - Methodist Church Wellawatta 51. Benjamin J Benedict 52. Bimduli De Alwis ( St. Paul’s Church ) 53. BKA Mendis 54. Blessing Sarangapany 55. Brincly Rodrigo 56. C Basnayake 57. Camille De Alwis KRC 58. Canute Franklin 59. Carmen Wickramagamage 60. Caroline Lurthunayaham 61. Catherine Mack St Theresas Thimbirigasyaya 62. Cedric Rodrigo Evangelical Wesleyan Church 63. Chamathka U Gamage 64. Chameli Ranasinghe 65. Channa Dayaratne, Kollupitiya Methodist Church, Sri Lanka 66. Charmaine Thampapillai KMC 67. Chehastha Gurusinha 68. Chesha Wettasinha 69. Chetan Perera 70. Chirathu Fonseka 71. Chrishanth Ajitkumar - Kollupitiya Methodist church 72. Chrishanthi Rajasooriyar 73. Chrishmie Stephens - Cinnamon Gardens Baptist Church 74. Chrisjit Xavier 75. Chrisso Handy 76. Christina ahilathas 77. Christine Ratnam Solomon 78. Christine Vishvabaratha 79. Claudette Almeida 80. Coomerene Rodrigo 81. Cynthia Rodrigo 82. D.C. Nathaniel, Our lady of Guadolope church, Negombo. 83. Danushka Fernando 84. Daphne Pinto 85. Darren Hakel 86. David B.S.Jeyaraj 87. Deborah Philip 88. Deborah Thavarajasingham - KMC 89. Deeksha Perera 90. Deepthi Weerakoon 91. Devaka Weerasinghe, Nugegoda Methodist Church 92. Devika Ukwatte 93. Dhanushi Wijeyakulasuriya, Catholic 94. Dharmantha Jayewardene - Union Church Welisara 95. Dhashma Karunaratne People's Church Assembly of God 96. Dhishan Wickramaratne 97. Dhivya Nathaniel - St. Francis Xavier church in Kurana, Negombo 98. Dhushy Jayawardena - St. Paul’s Milagiriya 99. Diana Fernando 100. Dilan Fernando (people’s church) 101. Dilani Nathaniel 102. Dileni Gunewardena 103. Dilkie de Silva 104. Dilshan Laksith Jinadasa - Kollupitiya Methodist Church 105. Dilshan Stephen Sonnadara 106. Dilukshini Tennekoon 107. Dinali Alles 108. Dinesha Samararatne 109. Dinith Senavirathna 110. Dinith Teran AOG kandy 111. Dinusha De Silva Raghaven 112. Dinushka De Silva 113. Don Kumaraperu from South Eastern Christian Church Melbourne 114. Dr Auguestine Manuel 115. Dr Gnani Somasundaram 116. Druki Martenstyn - PCAG 117. Dulanchani Sivakumar 118. Dumidu Dayaratna 119. Dushy Rajeswaran 120. Dushyanthi Daniel 121. Ebenezer Seevaratnam 122. Emmanuella Muoneke, St. Paul's Kandy. 123. Enoka Loganathan 124. Erandi Narangoda, Methodist Church 125. Erinee Devchandra 126. Eru Karunaratne (Fathima Church,Maradanna) 127. Evan Ekanayake 128. Evangella Siromani (Union Church Welisara) 129. Evanjalin Dhamirah Arulpragasam 130. Fabian Ananth - Bethel Church 131. Faith Culas 132. Felicia McShane, PCAG 133. Gamini Liyanage St. Paul's Church Liyanwala Padukka 134. Ganashiam Nadarasa 135. Gayan Phillips 136. Gayathri Hannan 137. Gayathri Mahadiulwewa Premaratna 138. Gertrude Scynthya Nirukshan 139. Githanjali Algama-Church of the Good Shepherd, Thimbirigasyaya 140. Giyan Senapthiratne 141. Gizelle Warnacula 142. Glenn Sathi 143. Godfrey Yogarajah, Methodist Church. 144. Godridge Samuel Kollupitiya Methodist Church 145. Gracian Balendran, Colombo Gospel Tabernacle 146. Hannah Benedict 147. Harim Peiris 148. Harin Corea 149. Harin Dharmanandan 150. Harlan Gray 151. Harris Ratnayake 152. Hasinee Anuththara Kasthurirathne 153. Hasith Pathirage 154. Heather Martel 155. Helene de Rosayro, CRC Regent Street 156. Heshani van der Ploeg (Assembly of God church ) 157. Heshara Silva - Calvery Church Moratuwa 158. Hilary Wirasinha - Diocese of Colombo 159. Himali Jayasekera 160. Himashini De Silva 161. Hiran de Mel 162. Hiranya Fernando, St. Francis of Assisi 163. Hiruni Dasanayake 164. I A H Liyanage (Thoppuwa church, thoppuwa parish) 165. Ida Eric 166. Indrani Gurusinghe our Lady & St Edwards Fulwood Preston 167. Indrani hema Rodrgo wikkramatilleke ( NHOPSL.Inc) 168. Ingrid Heffernan - Coast and Vines Church, SA, Australia 169. Isuru Perera - Bopitiya St. Nicholas Church 170. J Vanderstraaten 171. J.A.K. Mascranghe 172. J.M. Joseph Jeyaseelan (RC) 173. Jabez Joseph Methodist Church Mount Lavinia 174. Jacquelyn Diaz 175. Jadon Wijendra - Canberra, Australia 176. Jane Manthahini Bogahawatta 177. Janice Hakel-Ranasinghe, St.Josephs's Church, Nugegoda 178. Jashan Jegasothy 179. Jayana Fernando 180. Jayantha Thambar 181. Jennifer Aturupane 182. Jeremy Ravi 183. Jeremy Vathsala Jayanathan 184. Jeshani Srikumar 185. Jessica David,St.Josephs Nugegoda church 186. Jessie Jayamanne 187. Jessie Jayamanne - Calvary Church 188. Jeuela Jegasothy 189. Joanna Atkinson 190. Joanna Gray (PCAG) 191. Joanna Satcunan 192. Joanne Amarasinghe 193. Joel Daniel 194. Joel Jebaraj 195. Joel Tamling 196. Johan Megeeth Perera 197. Jonathan Cruse 198. Jonathan Jesudason 199. Joseph Jeevanantham - Christ Church Galkissa 200. Joseph Thayanandan 201. Joshua A. Isaiah - Lanka Bible College & Seminary 202. Joshua Ferdinandusz - Kollupitiya Methodist Church 203. Joshua Pranjeevan Kulasingham 204. Joshua Stephens - Cinnamon Gardens Baptist Church 205. Joshua Vittachi - People's Church 206. Jyosika Arjun - People's Church Assembly God 207. Kapil Vasudevan 208. Karen Tennekoon 209. Kashmeera Seenivasagam (People's church) 210. Kathleen Noyahr (calvary church Kapuwatte) 211. Kavindu Dissanayake 212. Kavitha Arasanayagam 213. Keshala Perera 214. Keshini Hapugoda 215. Kirk Berenger - St. Anthony’s Church, Noble Park, Australia. 216. Kishani Hallock 217. Kithmini Fernando 218. Kolitha Dissanayake 219. Koshala Mayan 220. Krijah Sivakumar 221. Krishani Sumuda 222. Kumar Fernando 223. Kumar Sinniah 224. Kumudini Samuel 225. Kushan Meemanage 226. L. De Silva 227. Lakshitha Fernando 228. Larry Marshall 229. Lasantha Wijesinghe 230. Lavanya de Mel 231. Leela Thayanandan 232. Leelakanthi Jesudas 233. Lilanthi Fernando 234. Lionel Peiris SSF (Anglican Franciscan) 235. Lorraine d’Silva, Uniting Church, Melbourne 236. Lorraine de Kretser St. Mary's Church 237. Loyella Dissanayake, St. John's Church, Getambe 238. Lydia Goonetilleke - St Paul's Milagiriya 239. M A Sumanthiran 240. M.D.D.P Kuweju - Methodist Church Seeduwa. 241. Mahima Weerasinghe 242. Mailvagsnam Rajkumar Peoples Church 243. Malik De Soysa 244. Malika Fernando- Uniting Church in Capalaba, Queensland 245. Malindu Fernando - Aitkenvale Uniting Church Australia 246. Manjula Mathews, People's Church 247. Mano Emmanuel- Colpetty Methodist Church 248. Manthila Baduaraliyage 249. Marie Hakel-Ranasinghe 250. Marise Adolphus 251. Marishka Thambayah 252. Mary Anne Philip 253. Mayanthi de Silva 254. Mayuri Perera Christ Church Dehiwela 255. Melanie Peries Holy Family Church 256. Merinnage Dasitha Dulanjith De Costa 257. Methlini Hewage 258. Michelle Kappel 259. Michelle Perera 260. Mikhail Hakel-Ranasinghe-Jamaldeen, St. Joseph's Church, Nugegoda 261. Minelli De Kretser 262. Ming-Hua Chang 263. Minoja Kunaratnam 264. Modestus Kurera 265. Moses J Hoole, Grace and Truth Fellowship, Mannar. 266. Muriel Ratnasingam (Kollupitiya Methodist Church) 267. Myrna Berenger 268. N.D.S. Koshala 269. Nadhisha Mendis - Methodist Church Mount Lavinia 270. Nadishka Aloysius 271. Nagulan Nesiah - Anglican 272. Nalin Gunesekera 273. Nalini Rodrigo, Church of the Good Shephard, Jawatte 274. Namali Rodrigo 275. Nancy Brink 276. Naomi Chandrasekharan 277. Naren Dharmanandan 278. Naresh Sathiyaseelan - People’s Church 279. Natalia Payoe 280. Natasha Gunesekera Kollupitiya methodist church 281. Natasha Peter 282. Natasha Weerasinghe 283. Naveen Ariadurai 284. Naveendran.S.M 285. Navneth Mendis- Methodist Church 286. Neelika Murugaser (Calvary Church) 287. Neerajan Rasiah 288. Neluni Tillekeratne 289. Nethmi Lokusuriya 290. Nethmi Yasara 291. Nilani Fernando 292. Nilhan Mendis 293. Nilhan Niles (Kollupitiya Methodist) 294. Nilmini Gnaniah - St. Paul's Milagiriya 295. Nilunthika Ramanayake 296. Nimalan Premkumar 297. Nimalka Fernando - St Michael's Church-Polwatte 298. Nimmi Jayasooriya 299. Nirmalie Karunaratne 300. Nirmani Amarasinghe 301. Nishadi Wickramasinghe (Christ Church, Dehiwala) 302. Nivitha Sivakumar 303. Noel Berman 304. Noeline Prins 305. Nuala Samarasinhe -Kings Revival Church 306. P. Seneviratne 307. Pam Fernando 308. Pam Mendis 309. Peace Kulasingham 310. Perry Brohier 311. Piyumi Kapugeekiyana (Calvary Church) 312. Prakash Rajkumar 313. Praneedi Perera - Follower of Jesus Christ 314. Prasansani Bandaranayake 315. Prashan Handagama 316. Praveen Gomez 317. Preethi Perera 318. Premika Ukwatte Cinnamon Gardens Baptist Church 319. Premila Kumarage, Baptist Church 320. Premini Satcunan 321. Primalie Rambukkange KBF church 322. Prithiviraj Kulasingham 323. Priyadarsheni Jesudason 324. Priyan Dias (St. Paul's Milagiriya) 325. Priyan Ravindra Mendis Seneviratne 326. Priyana Aseervatham - Pannipitiya church 327. Priyangani Mendis Mt Methodist Church 328. Priyanganie Fernando 329. Priyanka Mendis Anglican Church 330. Priyantha Kottage 331. Priyesh Perera 332. Priyeshni Jayawickrama - Methodist Church 333. Pushparani Brown 334. R Miranda 335. R.N.W.A. de Silva 336. Radhika Abeynaike 337. Rajan Rajasingham 338. Rajendra Rohan Prashanth, Faith Tabanacle Church, Trincomalle 339. Ramendra Thambayah 340. Ranasinghe arachchige 341. Randima Kularathna 342. Ranjika Warakagoda 343. Ranjini Abeynaike 344. Ranjini Thevarajah Toongabbie Baptist Church, NSW 345. Rasica J Rodrigo 346. Rasika Mendis (Methodist Church) 347. Rayappu Benedict 348. Rebecca Ratnam (Christ Church Galkissa) 349. Reena Mariyanayagam 350. Reginold David - PCAG 351. Renate Rubesh 352. Rev. R.De .S Ekanayake - Margaya Fellowship of Sri Lanka 353. Rev. Bertram Mather, Minister, Uniting church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania 354. Rev. Dev Anandarajan Uniting Church in Australia, Melbourne 355. Rev. Dr. Jayasiri T. Peiris 356. Rev. Dr. Maithrie Dundas-White Belfast Ireland 357. Rev. G A Sathish. Methodist memorial church moors road 358. Rev. M. Jude Sutharshan 359. Rev. Mihiri De Silva. 360. Rev. W. P. Ebenezer Joseph, Methodist Church, Kollupitiya, Colombo 3 361. Rishani Sittampalam Semasinghe 362. Rochelle Hakel-Ranasinghe 363. Rodney Fitch (St. Paul's Church, Milagiriya) 364. Rohan Wickramaratne 365. Rohini Arrowsmith 366. Rohini De Silva 367. Romaine Jayewardene 368. Romanie Fernando , Catholic church 369. Romin Fernando 370. Romola Gnanapragasam 371. Roshan Mendis - Methodist 372. Roshanara de Mel, St Theresa's Church 373. Rosula Fernando- Our lady or of sorrows church Pallansena 374. Royston Faber 375. Rozan Sonnadara 376. Ruha Devanesan 377. Ruki Mather 378. Rukshala Goonetileke 379. Rukshi Fitch (St. Paul's Church, Milagiriya) 380. Rumala Morel 381. Rushira Kulasingham 382. Ruvan Weerasinghe 383. Ruwan Fernando - Kollupitiya Methodist Church 384. S Muralitharan 385. S. Jehan Gunasekara 386. S. P. P. M. Sudasinghe 387. S. T. De Silva 388. S.Daniel Selvakumar 389. S.G.Premkumar - St Paul's Milagiriya. 390. S.R. Jayawardena 391. S.S.Mathiaparanan - Methodist M 392. Saheli Weerasinghe, Nugegoda Methodist Church 393. Sajeevram Thayanandan 394. Sajini Fernando 395. Samanha Pinto 396. Sameera Suvith Paranawithana 397. Sanara Ranatunge 398. Sandunika karunathilaka 399. Sanjana Perera 400. Sanjayan Rajasingham 401. Sanjit Dias 402. Sanka Peiris - Kadalana Methodist Church 403. Sankhitha Gunaratne 404. Sarah Haputantri 405. Sarah Pathmanathan ( St. Paul’s Church, Milagiriya) 406. Sarala Emmanuel 407. Saranga Madusha-People’s Church 408. Sarita de Fonseka 409. Sarojini Dayaratne KMC 410. Sathishka M Shaminda 411. Sathy Kulasingham 412. Sathya Gunawardana 413. Saumya Jayasinghe Wickremesekera 414. Savithri Thevanesam 415. Senal Hewage 416. Senali Kaluthanthri 417. Severina Perera - St.Mary's - Maharagama 418. Shabthika Jeyamanoharan 419. Shaenali Vittachi 420. Shalomi Daniel 421. Shalomi Feroshika Samuel 422. Shalomie Thileepan 423. Shalonica Jeevanantham from Christ Church Dehiwala Gulkisa 424. Shamala Vedanayagam 425. Shamalka Jayatilleke 426. Shamara Rodrigo - Methodist Church Kadalana 427. Shamika Kulasingham - Kollupitiya Methodist Church 428. Shamindri Weerawardane 429. Shane Halpe 430. Shani Samuel 431. Shanil Wijesinha 432. Shannes Perera RC 433. Shantha Fernando 434. Shanthi Corea 435. Shanthi Dias FOCUS 436. Shanthini Gnaniah 437. Sharmaline Vittachi Kings Revival Church 438. Sharmini Sinniah, Union Church Welisara 439. Sharmini Wickramaratne 440. Shechem Sumanthiran (St. Paul's Church, Milagiriya) 441. Shehan Fernando (Kollupitiya Methodist Church) 442. Shehan Semasinghe 443. Shehani Melesha 444. Shenalie Jayatunge (St.Francis of Assisi) 445. Shenaya Daniels - Kollupitiya Methodist Church 446. Shenuka Jesudason 447. Shenuki Gunesekera Ajitkumar - Kollupitiya Methodist church 448. Shereen Jayasinghe PCAG Colombo 5 449. Sherini Mineka Ruvanthi Marambe 450. Shermaya Thenuwara 451. Sheruni Fernando 452. Shervin Hettige 453. Sheshani Srikumar. Kollupity Methodist church 454. Shevaan Dayaratne - Kollupitiya Methodist Church 455. Shika Samarathunga 456. Shikandani Rodrigo 457. Shilanka de Almeida 458. Shilohni Sumanthiran, KMC 459. Shilohni Vishvabaratha 460. Shimaali Fernando Gomez, Peoples Church Assembly of God 461. Shirandi Jayamanne 462. Shirani Chang 463. Shiromi de Silva - Methodist Church, SL 464. Shiromi Dharmadasa 465. Shohani Egodage 466. Shyamika Kurukulasooriya 467. Sidesh Ismath 468. Simon L. Kappel 469. Sindhu Ratnarajan KMC 470. Sinha wickremesekera 471. Sita Jayatilaka. Methodist Church- Nugegoda 472. Sohan M Fernando 473. Solomon Arasaratnam 474. Sonali Ferdinands 475. Sonara Palapathwala 476. Sriya Fernando - Capalaba Uniting Church Brisbane 477. Sriyantha Goonetilleke 478. Stephan Paulraj 479. Stephanie Miller 480. Stephen Amirthan Satchithanandakumar 481. Stephen Blom - Calvary Church Moratuwa 482. Suasha Miriam Aruni Perera 483. Sumali Sumithrarachchi 484. Sumathy Rajasingham, Kollupitiya Methodist Church 485. Sumedha Hewawickrama 486. Surath Jayetileke (KMC) 487. Suren Watson 488. Suresh de Mel, KBF Church 489. Sushanika Suresh 490. Sushmitha Thayanandan 491. Susie Dharmanandan 492. Suven Thambar 493. Suvendrini Dimbulana 494. Suzie Beling - PCAG 495. T. Beniel (Christian Missionary Church, Trincomalee) 496. Taanya Tranchell People’s Church 497. Tabitha Jayanthakumar 498. Tania Fernandez - St. Lawrences church 499. Tarciusthevarajah Jeyadarsan 500. Tasmeen Weerakoon 501. Tayhani Kannangara 502. Ted Rubesh 503. Thabitha Thayalanesan 504. Thanuki Natasha Goonesinghe 505. Tharaka Muthuthanthri 506. Tharindi Fernando 507. Tharini Mahesan 508. Tharsika Thirukumaranathan 509. Tharushi Sera Ayeshcharya Liyanage St. Anne's Church, Kurana, Negombo. 510. Thevuni Halangode 511. Thevuni Halangode 512. Thivya Balendran 513. Thiyesa DeSilva 514. Thushari Fernando, Australia 515. Thushi Fonseka 516. Thushyanthi Peiris, Pearce Catholic Church, Canberra, Australia 517. Tiana Abeysinghe - Every Nation Sri Lanka 518. Timothy De Alwis 519. Tiyan Jacob (St. Paul's church, Milagiriya) 520. Travice Fernando St Anthony’s Church Colombo 3 521. Tuan Azlan 522. Udeshika Dissanayake 523. Vasantha Jayasooriya 524. Vasanthi Thevanesam 525. Ven. Fr. Samuel J Ponniah, Archdeacon of Jaffna 526. Vennila Thevarajah 527. Vihara Liyanage 528. Vineshka Mendis 529. Vinoth Ramachandra 530. Vinuri Weerawardena 531. Vinusha Paulraj 532. Vinushinie Mendis 533. Virginia Silva 534. Vivek Ayesh 535. W S Santharaj 536. W V Chrispin 537. W.L. Chang 538. Wanda. C 539. Y Sajeethara 540. Yamindra Watson Perera 541. Yathushi Phelician 542. Yogaratnam Sajeethara 543. Yohan Abeynaike 544. Yonathan Rommel 545. Yoshan Paulus - Christ Church Mutwal 546. Yoshana Palapathwala (HEC Moratuwa) 547. Yujith Perera - Cinnamon Gardens Baptist Church