WINNING THE WoT:

An act of hate brings faiths together (Nancy Bartley, 8/01/06, Seattle Times)

A gunman's attack on the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle targeted the followers of one religion, but the pain has been felt by all faiths.

Jew and Muslim and Christian — they all gathered Monday at Bellevue's Temple B'nai Torah for the funeral of Pamela Waechter, 58, killed by a man who barged into the federation's Seattle office Friday and randomly opened fire after spewing invectives against Jews and Israel.

A simultaneous service was held in Minneapolis, where Waechter was raised a Lutheran before converting to Judaism.

More than 1,000 mourners dressed in black or deep purple crowded into the Bellevue temple where Waechter had been president and had touched the lives of many with her kindness, generosity and dedication to her faith. Others came not because they knew Waechter, but because they wanted to make a stand against the violence that took her life and injured five other women — a stand not bound by a specific faith or belief.

"The Quran says if you kill an innocent person you've killed the entire world," said Joy Carey, one of many Muslims who attended the funeral. "All lives are sacred."

"I want people here [in the Jewish community] to know they have friends everywhere," said Andy Hoskins, an Episcopalian.

Rabbi James Mirel pointed out that Waechter's funeral brought together Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews, as well as Muslims and Christians and even those without faith.

The Spanish bombings remain the only successful terror attack.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 1, 2006 9:30 AM