Love All Your Neighbors, Ocean Co. Prosecutor, Faith Leaders Urge

TOMS RIVER, NJ – It had been a trend that was troubling to Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato.
An increase in racial and religious bias incidents. An increase in hateful rhetoric on social media and face-to-face.

"It is time to take a stand against hate," Coronato said Thursday as the prosecutor’s office launched its "Love Thy Neighbor" campaign, a joint effort of the prosecutor's office and faith leaders from across the Ocean County to address a growing issue, which has included anti-Semitic fliers spread around, hate-filled graffiti and confrontations.

"This is about basic humanity. When you have swastikas painted on a monument, there's a problem," he said, referring to an incident in March wherea swastika and anti-Semitic graffiti were spray-painted at a Lakewood synagogue, the second incident at that synagogue in less than a year. Bias claims also are underpinning a dispute over a recent rezoning of two pieces of property in Toms River.

Coronato and leaders of several religious faiths in Ocean County met and crafted a 10-minute message that will be delivered Memorial Day weekend at more than 30 houses of worship — churches, temples, and mosques — urging residents to spread peace and tolerance instead of hate.

"We have got to get the message across to get people to take a moment and learn about each other and respect each other as human beings," he said. "We can’t let ourselves lose our humanity."

Coronato said the effort to produce a video similar to efforts in its "Right Turns" series for teens was in the works, but an incident that drew a great deal of attention on social media and on regional news networks prompted him to move up the effort.

"We read about a lawyer in New York screaming at people because they're speaking Spanish and you have to ask what is going on here," Coronato said, referring to the video of attorney Aaron Schlossberg, who threatened to call ICE solely because an employee and customer at a quick-service restaurant were speaking Spanish to each other. "New York is a melting pot; this is crazy."

"We have to respect people’s culture and respect everything that people have gone through," he said. "We are asking people to reach out and learn about each other. We are all human beings, and we need to remember that."

Video messages from faith leaders are being shared on social media and with multiple news organizations in an effort to encourage people step back from the hate-filled comments and try to learn about other cultures and each other.

Though the messages from the pulpit are being delivered this weekend, Coronato said Memorial Day weekend should be just the beginning of those efforts, not the end of them.

"We have to understand people's cultures," he said.

"We all share common values that are in service to peace," Rev. John Bambarch of St. Aloysius Church in Jackson says in one video. "We look different we sound different, we move in different circles, but we are all the children of one Father."

"Let us seek to find the best in our neighbor find a cause to spread love for our neighbor," he says.

"Love your neighbor; it is the way we want to be here at the Jersey Shore," is the message at the end of each video. Take a look below.

Love Thy Neighbor ribbon, photo via Ocean County Prosecutor's Office