帕特里克·唐斯和杰西卡·肯斯基, 唐斯之后, 带着假刀片跑步, 他于4月18日完成了波士顿马拉松比赛, 2016. (麦迪·迈耶/盖蒂图片社)
Scripture advises us that we should turn the other cheek to violence. 然而, my Jesuit training has taught me that in addition to nonviolent resistance we should hit back with love.
My beautiful, loving wife, Jessica, and I were blown up in the name of God. Our bodies were torn apart and our psyches shattered in the name of religion. 我们是宗教战争的受害者. 至少我们是这么被灌输的.
这似乎是简化论, but most of the great religions have three central tenets: love of God, 自爱, 还有对邻居的爱. This is true for Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and yes, Islam as well. 最终, 宗教信仰关乎爱, as so well evidenced by the simple message of Jesus in the Gospels. 我们可能都有不同的习俗, 语言, 符号, 或故事, 但最终我们都在谈论爱. 所以若有人行事没有爱心, and certainly if they act with hatred and evil in the name of God, 他们的行为并不是真正的宗教行为. 期. 不管他们祈祷多少, 以上帝之名起誓, 或者同意做上帝的管家, 如果他们心怀恶意，他们就不是那种人.
事实上, 这是我从临床心理学训练中学到的, we may even describe someone who says that they act in the name of God, 但却什么都没做, 因为有伟大的妄想. Somehow their minds have been deceived into assuming that if they really believe that hatred for some others is God’s will, 这样，他们才会得救. If this view seems hypocritical, perverted, or disconnected from reality, it’s because it is. 它是亵渎而不是宗教的.
All truly religious leaders have attempted to unite people—bringing them together for a common good and to inspire hope through words and deeds. 这尤其包括耶稣、摩西和穆罕默德. 他们的目的是和平，而不是战争和暴力. We still speak of them and carry forward their message because of their everlasting example of love. As their religious followers, we too hope to be remembered for our love.
恐怖主义是绝望. 这是对关注和合法性的绝望追求. But these terrorist attempts will never accomplish their end goal. Terrorists may colonize some people’s social conscience from time to time, 但他们的信息永远不会最终取得胜利. 这是因为恐怖主义试图分裂我们. It is the antithesis of unification and love, and of any religion that claims to promote peace.
We, 作为一个分裂世界的公民, must have the wisdom to know the difference between true religion and terrorism, 爱与恨. 这不是一个容易维持的区别, 但是一旦我们掌握了这些知识, we have an obligation to one another to be loving—to demonstrate for the world a love that is pure, 真正的, 为了更大的利益.
在马拉松爆炸案之后，我亲身体验了这种爱. While the world saw the attack through a lens of “radical Islamic terror,，有些人充满了愤怒和绝望，这是可以理解的, 我所能看到和经历的都是爱. 在我恢复意识的那段时间里, a city had coalesced with a communal determination to spread compassion, 慷慨, 和团结. For me the message was clear: loving and peaceful societies and people will prevail over hate.
WATCH: A brief video excerpt from the Ignatian 社会's inaugural AMDG lecture, 由帕特里克·唐斯于3月交付. AMDG,上帝的荣耀, is the motto of the Jesuits; translated from Latin, it means "for the greater glory of God."
In my eight years of Jesuit education 在太阳城网赌平台 High School and 太阳城网赌平台, 并在耶稣会学校或服务项目工作两年, I learned that my faith is only as good as how I put it into practice. 我的练习只有在它所传达的爱的基础上才算好. My best mentors—Jesuit or layperson—practice way more than they preach, 用每一个行动来传播爱. 当他们布道时, they do so with the intent of practice of a living faith: serving as catalysts for goodness and love.
Scripture advises us that we should turn the other cheek to violence. 然而, my Jesuit training has taught me that in addition to nonviolent resistance we should hit back with love. Violence, in all of its forms, is meant to separate us and instill fear in our hearts. 最有效的解药是爱. It cannot just be about the absence of evil; it must be about the omnipresence of love.
从2013年4月那个决定命运的下午开始, 杰西卡和我的使命就是用爱来回应. We have attempted to sow compassion by advocating for people with disabilities and using our family’s experience to care for others who have been scarred by physical and psychological trauma. 关心他人一直是我们身份的一部分, but now it is essential to our daily existence and our way forward together. We choose to respond this way because that’s how we were raised and educated in our faith. 这也是我们看到世界最美好的一面的方式. We encounter life this way because it is how countless individuals responded to our tragedy—with love.
VIDEO TRAILER: 杰西卡Kensky and Patrick Downes discuss their new book 救援 & 杰西卡:改变一生的友谊, 庆祝肯斯基和她的服务犬的关系, and which they hope will help to demystify disabilities for children.
而仇恨花了几个月的时间来计划, and caused so much pain and suffering in the lives of those it sought to destroy, 爱在瞬间做出了回应. 完全陌生的, 受人类本能的驱使, became our lifelines and took responsibility for our welfare as if we were one of their own. If that is not a true indication of the power of the human spirit, then I do not know what is. No longer do we have to wonder what it means to be my brother’s and sister’s keeper.
太阳城网赌平台教会我，爱永远会战胜恨. 我希望在我的余生中铭记这一教训.
Patrick Downes is a graduate of the Lynch School of Education and recently received his doctorate in psychology. 帕特里克和他的妻子, 杰西卡Kensky, were severely injured in the Boston Marathon bombings and helped to raise more than $250-thousand to endow the BC Strong Scholarship, 哪个学校支持有身体残疾的学生. 这篇文章最初是为 C21资源, 出版 21世纪中心的教堂 在太阳城网赌平台.