Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - "We can get along. We're not as far apart as you see on the news."
Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein from Congregation Shir Shalom in Amherst is joining with other religious and community leaders in encouraging respect for differing viewpoints and opinions, and rejecting political violence as the election nears.
"We're at the point where people are not willing to have conversations at all. They're so afraid of the word politics. It shuts down all conversation," Klein told WBEN.
Klein said we need to come to terms with the fact that it's ok to disagree.
"We don't need to agree on every point. I can still be friends with you, or love you," he added.
A bipartisan, interfaith rally will be held next Monday, Nov. 4 at 12 p.m. ET outside the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site in Buffalo to make a plea against political violence.
"Two years ago, in advance of this election, I was getting really nervous.
I saw our country and my community breaking apart before my eyes," explained Klein. "I was really worried about this moment that we're in right now. But because of the work that I've been doing over the past two years, I have a lot of hope. I think in general, in this region, we're a place of good neighbors. People do want to work together. The messages that we're getting are not completely accurate."
In planning Monday's unity rally, local leaders have been working with a group called Resetting the Table, a national organization that encourages people to have difficult conversations.
Klein says the group has been on the ground here for the last couple of years, building coalitions and bringing people together.
"People that weren't my friends before, are now. It has taken time. It's not easy. It's incredibly scary, in fact, one of the scariest projects I've ever worked on," he said.