As the threat of more attacks lingers in Sri Lanka, the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is calling on all faiths to find peaceful solutions to their problems. As many as 350 people are known to have died in a series of bombings on Easter at three churches and three hotels. Sixty people have been arrested in connection with the attacks.
“We offer our consolation to all who have suffered devastating loss as a result of these most recent acts of violence,” said the Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II. “We call on those in authority to put aside their apparent internal differences and work together to provide comfort for those harmed by these cruel acts and bring to justice the perpetrators.”
In his statement, Nelson said religious leaders need to determine the root causes of the violence.
“We must continually seek to discern what it is at the core of all religious ideology, including our own, that turns certainty of rectitude into feelings of exclusivity and, in far too many cases, motivation for violence against ‘unbelievers,’” he said.
Read the entire statement below:
Our hearts break, yet again, in the wake of the suicide bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, the death toll of which has risen to more than 350 persons.
How long, O Lord? How long will we have to endure such violence and bloodshed, made more heinous because so many of such acts are done in the name of one religious ideology or another. We offer our consolation to all who have suffered devastating loss as a result of these most recent acts of violence. We call on those in authority to put aside their apparent internal differences and work together to provide comfort for those harmed by these cruel acts and bring to justice the perpetrators.
As Christians, we must admit little surprise that claims of religious superiority can lead to such tragedies, since our own history is tarnished by crusades and pogroms that singled out people of other faiths for condemnation. We must continually seek to discern what it is at the core of all religious ideology, including our own, that turns certainty of rectitude into feelings of exclusivity and, in far too many cases, motivation for violence against “unbelievers."
Let us all, as followers of the Prince of Peace, recommit ourselves to the kind of deep commitment to Jesus Christ that empowers us to reach out to all of God’s children, regardless of their commitment to other faiths, or none, and strive to live together peacefully, so that life, not death, will be the mark of our faith.