{"id":1162,"date":"2017-05-24T03:54:19","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T03:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=1162"},"modified":"2025-03-14T18:18:27","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T18:18:27","slug":"death-in-manchester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/death-in-manchester\/","title":{"rendered":"Death in Manchester"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
\n(From European Press Agency , via BBC News, used w\/o permission.)<\/span>
\n(“Thousands attended a vigil in Manchester earlier”
\n(BBC News)<\/p>\n

Manchester is England’s second-largest urban center, in terms of population.<\/p>\n

At around 10:30 Monday night, something like 21,000 folks \u2014 preteens, teenagers, adults \u2014 were leaving a music concert at the Manchester Arena. Someone with a bomb set it off in or near the arena’s foyer.<\/p>\n

He’s dead. So are more than 20 other folks.<\/p>\n

Except for the chap who killed them, the dead had been enjoying an Ariana Grande concert. The youngest victims I’ve read about were eight years old.<\/p>\n

Quite a few others are injured. Some are missing.<\/p>\n

I am not happy about this, putting it mildly.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Some Guy With a Bomb<\/h4>\n

<\/a>The UK’s government raised their terror threat level to “critical,” the highest it’ll go.<\/p>\n

That’s apparently because they can’t be sure that last night’s attack was a one-man show.<\/p>\n

Under the circumstances, that seems reasonable.<\/p>\n

It looks like the bomber had been born in Manchester, went to the city’s Salford University<\/a>, supported Manchester United football team, and worked in a bakery. He’s Libyan, in the sense that his ancestors lived in Libya.<\/p>\n

A trustee of the Manchester Islamic Centre said the bomber probably had been there. That’d hardly be surprising, since that’s where his father goes.<\/p>\n

The trustee also pointed out that his mosque was, as BBC news put it, “a moderate, modern, liberal mosque, and he is a member of an organisation liaising with police, the Independent Advisory Group.”<\/p>\n

Based on what’s in the news, I do not think that England should lock up all bakery workers, outlaw universities, and banish folks with Libyan ancestry.<\/p>\n

My guess is that many or most most Libyans and Muslims living in England are as upset about what the now-dead ex-student did, as I was back when the IRA was giving “Irish” a bad name.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Manchester, 1996: IRA Bombing<\/h4>\n

<\/a>I’m a Norwegian-Irish-Scots-American. My ancestors don’t define me, but without them I wouldn’t be here.<\/p>\n

The point of that reminiscence is that news from the UK had a personal angle for me a few decades back. I was disgusted by what some folks were doing to my ancestral homeland’s reputation.<\/p>\n

On June 15, 1996, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, or IRA, set off a truck bomb in Manchester.<\/p>\n

Nobody was killed; thanks partly to the IRA telephoning ahead with a warning, and partly because the powers that be helped with an evacuation of about 75,000 folks.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The IRA wasn’t always that careful. Or lucky. In any case, although I am not happy about what English monarchs have done to my ancestral homeland, I don’t think bombing English cities is a reasonable response.<\/p>\n

That sort of thing is not even close to matching the criteria for legitimate defense. I’ve talked about that before. (September 20, 2016<\/a>; September 11, 2016<\/a>)<\/p>\n

<\/a>Love and Justice<\/h4>\n

<\/a>I don’t know anyone in Manchester, and I’m not an Ariana Grande fan. I have nothing against her music: I simply don’t know much about it, or her.<\/p>\n

Why should I care?<\/p>\n

I’m a Christian, and a Catholic. Part of my job as a citizen is contributing “to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom.” (Catechism, 2239<\/a>)<\/p>\n

My country and people, like the UK, are part of a big world. We are one of the places folks try to reach, when they flee death and poverty. I don’t mind. I’ll be worried if folks ever stop<\/strong> trying to come here.<\/p>\n

Like I said, I’m a Christian and a Catholic.<\/p>\n

Since I take our Lord seriously, I think loving God, loving my neighbor, and seeing everybody as my neighbor, makes sense. (Matthew 22:36<\/a>–40<\/a>, Mark 12:28<\/a>–31<\/a>; Matthew 5:43<\/a>–44<\/a>; Mark 12:28<\/a>–31<\/a>; Luke 10:25<\/a>–30<\/a>; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1825<\/a>)<\/p>\n

“Everybody” means everybody.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I keep saying this: I think human beings are people, all human beings. Each of us has equal dignity: no matter where we are, who we are, or how we act. (Catechism, 360<\/a>, 1700<\/a>–1706<\/a>, 1929<\/a>, 1932<\/a>–1933<\/a>, 1935<\/a>, 2334<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Since I think respecting the “transcendent dignity” of humanity makes sense, I must work for justice \u2014 “as far as possible.” (Catechism, 1915<\/a>, 1929<\/a>–1933<\/a>, 2820<\/a>)<\/p>\n

In my case, that’s pretty much limited to writing these posts, and suggesting that justice should not<\/strong> be all about “just us.”<\/p>\n

And that’s another topic, for another day.<\/p>\n

More, mostly about acting like love matters:<\/p>\n