Carol sat down at the next table, so close we were almost touching. She had been an office worker for Swords Into Ploughshares, now pursued a PhD in theology. She leaned even closer and showed me the circle of black ruffled fabric around her right wrist. “For the Tree of Life victims,” she said.
“I want you to know that, as a Protestant from the mid-west, I am supportive and sympathetic. And I know many people like me who feel the same.”
I thought, Will she feel reassured if I say that if they have to go into synagogues to kill Jews, I am safe?
I thought, Will she find it sympathetic and supportive if I express solidarity with the Christian woman who can not leave prison in Pakistan because too many fanatics want to kill her?
I put my arm around Carol and said, “Thank you.”