St. Louis archbishop calls for nonviolent response to racism
October 16, 2014
In the wake of continued protests in Ferguson, Missouri, Archbishop Robert Carlson recently called for prayer and for a nonviolent response to racism.
“The sin of racism in our cities and our nation must be dealt with, but never with violence,” he said. “There are small but vocal groups currently threatening violence. I urge anyone who feels the desire to violently lash out to first pause and consider the potential consequences of their actions: Will violence make the situation right? Will it right the wrongs? Or will it only make things worse? The unrelenting desire for revenge is a poison that seeps into our souls and can become contagious carrying with it a commitment to violence.”
He added:
We need to come together in prayer and dialogue to address the deeper underlying issues – family breakdown, racial profiling, quality education, abuses of authority, lack of gainful employment, fear of one another, mistrust of authority, black on black violence, and white flight.
In God we are all one family and we need to call upon Christ the Prince of Peace in prayer to give us the strength to sit down together as brothers and sisters.
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Posted by: nix898049 -
Oct. 16, 2014 12:17 PM ET USA
One wonders if the bishop charges the committing of this 'sin of racism' to people of any skin tone, or thinks he it is peculiar to only one?
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Posted by: jg23753479 -
Oct. 16, 2014 7:32 AM ET USA
"The sin of racism"? Usually we wait for a trial and the facts before adopting as our own this kind of allegation. I've heard that in both cases in question the police officer was attacked, that in the second one the "victim" fired several shots at the cop. If that's true, it's hardly reasonable to level gratuitously the (nowadays very nebulous) charge of racism against them.
