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Interfaith leaders to hold ‘Stand Up Sunday’ against religious hate in US
Akshardham BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Temple USA will also be participating in the nationwide initiative on Sept.7.
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Pranavi Sharma - Sat, 30, Aug 2025
- 03:13 EDT
- 23
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The event comes amid a surge in religiously motivated violence. / Appeal of Conscience Foundation
A broad interfaith coalition of religious leaders and houses of worship will take part in “Stand Up Sunday” on Sept.7, a national initiative calling for an end to all faith-based hate. Organized by the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) and the Appeal of Conscience Foundation (ACF), the event is expected to involve more than one million people of faith across the United States.
Participants will include churches of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York and New Jersey, the Diocese of Brooklyn, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Armenian Diocese of America, the National Council of Churches of Christ, and the Akshardham BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Temple USA. Organizers said each house of worship will dedicate its services to raising awareness about the sharp increase in antisemitism and other forms of faith-based hate.
The event comes amid a surge in religiously motivated violence. Earlier this month, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Greenwood in Indiana was vandalized and is under investigation by local authorities. Similar incidents have occurred in recent years at Hindu temples across North America, including BAPS mandirs in Toronto, Long Island, Sacramento, and Los Angeles.
ALSO READ: BAPS holds prayer meet after Greenwood temple vandalism
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s latest annual hate crime statistics report for 2024, Sikhs remain the third most-targeted religious group in the United States, after Jews and Muslims. The FBI recorded 153 anti-Sikh victimizations last year.
While the number marks a slight reduction from 2023, the report shows that Sikhs continue to face disproportionate levels of hate incidents. Overall, hate crimes in the U.S. fell by about 2 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year.
ALSO READ: Sikhs remain third most targeted religious group in US hate crimes: FBI data
“Stand Up Sunday is about raising awareness, inspiring action, and standing together against hate,” said Robert Kraft, founder of FCAS. “By uniting behind the Blue Square, faith leaders are sending a powerful message that antisemitism and all forms of hate have no place in our communities.”
Rabbi Arthur Schneier, president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, said, “Attacking a house of worship hits the jugular vein of every faith community.”
Karen Dresbach, executive vice president of ACF, added, “September 7 is the moment for us to stand shoulder to shoulder as people of faith to say enough is enough. In this concerning time of rising antisemitism and faith-based hate, Stand Up Sunday underscores our core mission to ‘Respect the Other.’”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, also urged unity. “Silence in the face of such evil is not neutrality, it is complicity,” he said. “As people of faith, we must raise our voices, open our doors, and extend our hands in solidarity.”
'Stand Up Sunday' builds on ACF’s long-running Respect the Other campaign, launched in 2001, which promotes mutual respect and religious freedom.
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