Monk Who Respected Other Religions Brutally Murdered

Brother Roger, a 90 year old monk who founded a community where Christians of all denominations and indeed any people of faith were respected and welcomed was brutally murdered by an apparently mad woman. A tragic loss -- Brother Roger was famous among Christians the world over, at least those who thought they should admire and honor the religious paths of other people, those who emphasized love and compassion instead of punishment and fear.

But his brutal slaying is somehow appropriate, somehow indicative of the world today, where intolerance and hatred is held as the highest ideal by the fundamentalists in so many religions, from many in my Catholic Church to the Protestants in America to the Episcopalians in Africa and Asia to the Muslims in the Middle East.

Brother Roger had little in common with people who denounced and belittled and put down others. Heck, the New Yorker details how even Billy Graham is seen as an apostate by fundamentalist Christians for reaching out to others with love (his son Franklin is a lot more intolerant and so a lot more to their liking). Yes, Brother Roger was too kind and loving for their taste. So, I believe, was Jesus.