Like most everyone I woke up on Wednesday to the shocking news of the violent attack the day before on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya and the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, a Foreign Service consular official and two members of the consulate’s security team. The destruction of the consulate and the killing of the Ambassador and members of his staff occurred on the anniversary of the attacks in New York and Washington DC on September 11, 2001. The pretext for the murderous attack against our consulate in Libya, as well as the storming of the US Embassy in Cairo and various other places in the Middle East, were apparently provoked by Muslim outrage at a film produced in the United States maligning the character of the Prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam.
I am mindful of all this as our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, travels to Lebanon this weekend for an apostolic visit to sign the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, the result of a Synod of Bishops for the Middle East. In preparation for this Synod, various questions and insights were discussed. “What does it mean to love one’s enemy? How is this to be lived? How can one overcome evil with good? Christians need to be encouraged to participate in public life with the light, force and gentle character of their faith. Given the many divisions arising from religion, family and political clans, … people have to be trained to go beyond these barriers and internal hostilities to see the face of God in every person, so as to work together and build an all-inclusive, shared civic order.”
As these events are unfolding in our world, efforts here in Juneau will highlight the necessary work toward peace in our community and our world. Plans are in place for the dedication of a Peace Park downtown on the corner of Third and Seward Streets next to the Dimond Courthouse. In 2009, the Juneau Veterans for Peace proposed to the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly that a new downtown park be named after Bishop Michael Kenny. The “Bishop Michael H. Kenny Memorial Peace Park”, citing Bishop Kenny’s dedication to peace and reconciliation, will be dedicated on Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 at 5 p.m. City officials and representatives of Juneau Veterans for Peace will offer remarks with the Juneau Youth Choir in attendance.
Allow me to draw your attention to the date of the dedication. Since 1982, Sept. 21st has been observed as the International Day of Peace. This day coincides with the opening of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The goal of the United Nations is to promote peace and understanding between nations, so as, in the words of the preamble of the U.N. Charter, “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,… live together in peace with one another as good neighbors… and maintain international peace and security.”
Although we live in an imperfect and at times violent and dangerous world, it is imperative that we never stop hoping, working and praying for peace. The International Day of Peace is a reminder to all of us that every person and every government is obliged to work for the avoidance of war. Even in those situations where recourse to armed violence is necessary and just, the bloodshed and other unavoidable evils and injustices that accompany war are always a defeat for humanity.
As Pope Benedict XVI continues his apostolic visit to Lebanon, I am mindful of the words he offered in 2007 for the World Day of Peace, “There is an urgent need, even within the framework of current international difficulties and tensions, for a commitment to a human ecology that can favor the growth of the “tree of peace”. For this to happen, we must be guided by a vision of the person untainted by ideological and cultural prejudices or by political and economic interests which can instill hatred and violence. It is understandable that visions of man will vary from culture to culture. Yet what cannot be admitted is the cultivation of anthropological conceptions that contain the seeds of hostility and violence. Equally unacceptable are conceptions of God that would encourage intolerance and recourse to violence against others. This is a point which must be clearly reaffirmed: war in God’s name is never acceptable! When a certain notion of God is at the origin of criminal acts, it is a sign that that notion has already become an ideology.”
From my perspective, hatred, rage and vile productions/commentaries are byproducts of evil. Peace is attainable when words and actions are coupled with expressions of justice and charity. As this community marks Sept. 21, 2012 with the dedication of the Bishop Michael H. Kenny Peace Park, let us strive to work and pray for peace in our lives and in our world.
• Burns is the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Juneau and Southeast Alaska.
Comments (12)
Add commentgood
Bishop Burns, peace will never be attained in the middle east because those living there are mostly uneducated followers of a corrupted (by their imams)religion. With that in mind peace thru strength is that regions only hope. & our POS, POTUS is fiddling while the world burns. Too sad
The world can never be
The world can never be peaceful as long as we have all kinds of people believing all kinds of ... things. This is in every country.
Probably one of the reasons why certain people in history want to conquer the world.... once under the rule of one, you can force whatever you want on people ...
Sounds familiar ..?
@islandhopper
Who are you to say someones religion is corrupt? One could say that your belief or religion is corrupt.
Moo Shu Pork
I remember the last time I had supper with Bishop Kenny. He ordered the main entree and got a kick out of explaining to me how to assemble the pancake-like wraps. He said it was his favorite dish.
We talked a lot that evening. I was a Catholic back then and the pope's new book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, had been part of our discussion; he hadn't read it. We eventually closed the place down, being asked to leave (non-verbally) as the restaurant clean-up crew closed in around us.
I remember him telling me how he was reprimanded by the papal nuncio for an article he had written. I also remember, and this is my opinion, his lamenting that it was no coincidence that he had been relocated to the smallest diocese in the country. A sort of "we will put you where you can't cause too much trouble with all of your peace activism" is how I interpreted his explanation.
And so I am a bit disgusted, though not surprised, that this peace park in his name is going to have Church representation. If I had any say, I'd let it be a community-focused dedication, not an ecclesiastical affair and yet another opportunity for the Church to trumpet some goofy concept that they alone are the true arbiters of peace and justice in the world.
My kudos to the Juneau veterans who proposed this idea in the first place. I hope they actually get a chance to speak. Bishop Kenny was a neat guy. Let the Church contingency keep their mouths silent and be spectators only; perhaps they'll learn something. If it will help, those clerics in attendance can think of Moo shhhhhhhhhh pork.
Mike
Weak appeal
This appeal can be approached in one of two ways: (1) call for peace alongside other political and non-political bodies that want to realize non-violent solutions & resolutions; or (2) a bold admonishment from the Body of Christ to all who employ violence as a solution. Instead, with all due respect Bishop, you chose a half-route.
Engaging in the political arena diminishes the spiritual authority of the Church. What's more, Christianity should not acquiesce to a seat assigned alongside monolithic religions, simply because Christians believe Christ is the only way. In short, Christianity is either another religion, or it is not a religion at all because it is the truth.
I imagine muslims think the same way about islam, but they also think this is still islam vs the crusaders. We see it as a political powderkeg. Either way, they are letting their religious convictions drive their actions. We are not.
Yes, I agree: "Peace is attainable when words and actions are coupled with expressions of justice and charity." But like life itself, peace in the here and now is a temporary proposition, enforced by justice and bandaged by charity. This is where we see eye to eye. Justice must be enforced, and charity is always welcome. Unless you are willing to identify the driving force of islamic hate and discontent as evil, I suggest we leave Christ out of it.
one
could if I practiced/ participated in one. I however will submit a call for a nations (or individuals) destruction based on no more than they don't believe the way I do, is corrupt. & these imams do that to Muslims too if they are not from their sect.
View of a cultural anthropologist
All societies or groups of people have a "culture" that includes economics, technology, knowledge, population, an environment, social system, languages, beliefs, values, and most, have a religion. These elements all affect each of the other parts.As one part changes other elements have to adjust to these changes.
The major religions of the world - Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism all began at a point in time within a particular culture, in particular historic circumstances.Most seem to have adopted a particular cultural format that has become interwoven into the fabric of their religion. For example, the idea that men are superior to women and society must be male dominated, that people must dress in specific ways, that only some foods are acceptable.
For centuries religions have undergone change and some have adjusted to changes in population, knowledge, social systems. In other cases they have remained bound and restrained by historical and traditional ways. They are locked into a historic view long after times have changed.
In the past, some religions have been the driving force behind conquest, wars and domination.
In the past hundred years there have been dramatic changes in knowledge, economics, technology, social organization and world population never before experienced in human history.
Religions have to now go back to examine exactly what are their core beliefs, what are the principles they can never set aside and be open to change those parts that are simply cultural patterns, secondary to their core beliefs.
With a world population now around seven billion, with more humans on planet earth than have ever lived here at one time, with globalization of economics, with advances in knowledge and immediate-worldwide communications, and weapons that can kill millions of people, humans on earth may not survive as a biological species if every religion demands that "our way," "our traditions" "our way of doing things" is the only way that all others must accept.
Perhaps if Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus were to decide what are their core, basic values and teachings and what are simply cultural and traditional ways of doing things, they may find that they have much more in common than they have in differences. They may learn to accept social-cultural variations, and respect the basic human rights of all people. If so, we may have peace on planet earth. If not - who knows what kind of world the children today will find fifty years from now?
That's just my opinion.
Rotten Apples
Prof. Olson, I need to point out that there is an assumption, a bias, in your otherwise interesting viewpoint about religion. You are assuming that core beliefs are laudable!
Slavery is a beautiful, wholesome and a divinely sanctioned practice by Jesus. So is beating your wife for disobedience according to Allah. And forget wrangling over gay marriage, Yahweh orders his followers to kill them!
Prof. Olson, I submit that any core belief you find acceptable (probably a variation of the Golden Rule) exists not because of religion but rather in spite of religion. Scandinavia has figured this out and the rest of the world is slowly figuring it out too. Religion does not own the copyright to morality and, as such, is an overpriced dongle for the game of life.
Mike
He's kidding right?
Given the long and storied history of the Roman Catholic Church, the only thing more laughable would be A Jew petitioning for peace in the Middle East.
corrupt
was the wrong word, perverted is probably better
Perhaps the bishop....
should begin by not using the words "enemy" and "evil" - - illustrating that he is just as guilty of the "my way or the highway" belief inherent in all religions, which is one of the core problems with religion in general.
peace... and religion?
As long as faith-based decisions are made in this world, peace will never be obtained. Religion does not provide for the acceptance of other religions. Open the doors to the possibility of another religion's authenticity and it brings into question the authenticity of one's own. Religion is the enemy... not people.