Asking the Clergy: What is your greatest fear for humanity?

This year’s Halloween revels will be shadowed by domestic and international crises. This week’s clergy discuss both their fears and their belief in God’s mercy, in the season that also includes All Saint’s Day, All Souls’ Day and Dia de los Muertos.

Rabbi Josh Franklin

Jewish Center of the Hamptons, East Hampton

One of my biggest fears seems to have come into fruition: humanity’s moral compass has lost its true north. The constant evolution of ideologies, divisive narratives and shifting values destabilizes the ethical framework that has traditionally united societies. In the wake of a terror attack against Israel on Oct. 7, some of our country’s brightest individuals proved to the world that intelligence cannot decipher moral clarity. The initial response after a group of Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,000 innocent unarmed Israeli civilians — including children, babies and Americans — was for student groups at Harvard University to victim blame by pointing the finger at the Israeli government. They were hardly the only voices to promote such a morally askew narrative. Great leadership requires the ability to distinguish right and wrong when the world offers shades of ambiguity. King Solomon, appointed King of Israel in the Bible, asks God to grant him the ability to “distinguish between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9). Now more than ever we see a dearth of leadership committed to calling out evil in fear that in standing up for what’s right offends others. I fear that the world is spiraling into a state where moral relativism clouds our ability to understand the difference between right and wrong.

The Rev. Henrietta Scott Fullard

Presiding elder (retired), Long Island District, African Methodist Episcopal Churches

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Jesus came that we might remember the essence of love that was played out from Eternity’s realm to the Old Rugged Cross on a hill called Calvary. Love’s boundaries were summed up on that cross. Its intent was to release us from the pressures of this world, from the sins that so easily beset us and from fears and worries about life. Now, if we put love first and remember the promises of our Father, which were sealed by his blood, then the love of God will supply all of our needs. With love, today’s anxieties and fears become tomorrow’s strength. It’s time to refresh our covenant love with God and reap humanity’s benefits of kingdom blessings. This love is active in everything we do. Our Father knows what we need and will supply all of our needs according to his riches in glory. To us who believe, the love of God was given for all eternity. This love gives humanity hope, faith and charity. The greatest of which is love, not fear.

The Rev. Msgr. Francis J. Maniscalco

Retired Pastor, St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, West Hempstead

As a Christian who believes humanity’s future is in God’s merciful hands, I do not fear for its ultimate future. However, in the short term, my greatest fear is that despite all the reasons humanity has to work together — especially the dramatic changes in our natural environment — we will still allow differences, such as race, religion, nationality and language, to rationalize mutual hatred. After the bloody first half of the 20th century, with two world wars and the development of weapons of mass destruction, there was some realization that we must live in peace or inflict horrible and perhaps irreversible damage on the human race. The worldwide celebration of the new millennium seemed to unite humanity in hope, which soon yielded to the horror of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and the wars it initiated. Just when it seemed that war in Europe and the Middle East was a thing of the past, it resurfaced with the invasion of Ukraine and the terrorist attack on Israel with its subsequent hostilities. My greatest fear is best expressed in the question, “Will we never learn from our past?” and the answer, “It seems all too likely that we can’t.”