“The bishop urged residents to treat neighbors and strangers from different traditions with ‘respect and try to understand the differences.’ ‘If we allow differences to cause suspicion among us, we”re not helping to create a social contract in which people can live together harmoniously.'”
Apparently if only people in the Boston area had put down the video games and treated Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with respect, the Marathon jihad murders would never have happened. Once again a Western leader displays the unconscious paternalism and ethnocentrism that mars so much of the West’s response to Islamic jihad: their assumption is that Muslims are passive, helpless people who can do nothing but react to what the West does or does not do. The idea that Muslims may have ideas of their own, and that some of them may hate us for reasons of their own that are derived from Islamic texts and teachings, and that that hatred cannot be dislodged by any amount of “respect” from non-Muslims, never enters their minds.
1. “My decision to ask Mr. Spencer not to speak at the Men’s Conference resulted from a concern voiced by members of the Islamic community in Massachusetts, a concern that I came to share. That concern was that Mr. Spencer’s talk about extreme, militant Islamists and the atrocities that they have perpetrated globally might undercut the positive achievements that we Catholics have attained in our inter-religious dialogue with devout Muslims and possibly generate suspicion and even fear of people who practice piously the religion of Islam.” — Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, February 8, 2013
2. Two members of the Islamic Society of Boston set off jihad bombs at the Boston Marathon, murdering three, April 16, 2013
“Bishop McManus calls for restraint,” by Shaun Sutner for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, April 21:
WORCESTER “” As the post-Marathon drama unfolded in the Boston area, Central Massachusetts” most prominent religious leader called for tolerance while acknowledging that many Americans” first reaction to Monday”s attacks and their aftermath is one of anger.
“When we encounter these horrific experiences of violence, part of our human reaction is to respond with anger, frustration, and even rage,” said Bishop Robert J. McManus, head of the Worcester Roman Catholic Diocese, said Friday in an interview at his chancery office.
“That might be the first step, but if we remain in the position of anger and revenge, then nothing will ultimately be gained toward achieving the common good for society,” he continued.
Bishop McManus noted that Worcester, like Boston and its surrounding communities, is a multicultural community with many different faiths, cultures and religions.
The 26-year-old suspect killed overnight and his 19-year-old brother “” who is still being sought by police “” are connected to the Chechnya region, a hotbed for Islamic terrorists.
The bishop urged residents to treat neighbors and strangers from different traditions with “respect and try to understand the differences.”
“If we allow differences to cause suspicion among us, we”re not helping to create a social contract in which people can live together harmoniously,” he said.
The bishop decried the prevalence of violent imagery in American culture.
The bishop noted that bullying has been recognized as a nationwide problem and that violent video games and movies captivate youths and adults with no letup in popularity.
“We Americans live in a terribly violent society,” he said. “I”m concerned for our young people because they are becoming immune to violence.