世貿廢墟上:信仰和懷疑 2

Interview Monsignor Lorenzo Albeceta
Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete is a Catholic theologian, author, and lecturer. He is a former president of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico.

[What have been the challenges to you as a priest?]
作為牧師的你,911的挑戰有什麽?
From the first moment I looked into that horror on Sept. 11, into that fireball, into that explosion of horror, I knew it. I knew it before anything was said about those who did it or why. I recognized an old companion. I recognized religion. Look, I am a priest for over 30 years. Religion is my life, it's my vocation, it's my existence. I'd give my life for it; I hope to have the courage. Therefore, I know it.
在我看到911的恐怖情形,火球, 爆炸的一刻, 我就知道了. 我在未知誰,為什麽幹了這事的時候就知道了. 我認出了一位老夥伴. 我看到了宗教. 看, 我做了30多年牧師. 宗教是我的生活, 職業, 經曆. 我會為她而死; 希望我有那樣的勇氣. 所以, 我知道.
And I know, and recognized that day, that the same force, energy, sense, instinct, whatever, passion -- because religion can be a passion -- the same passion that motivates religious people to do great things is the same one that that day brought all that destruction. When they said that the people who did it did it in the name of God, I wasn't the slightest bit surprised. It only confirmed what I knew. I recognized it.
那一天, 我知道,認出了同樣的力量, 活力, 意義, 本能, 激情 --- 宗教可以是一種激情 --- 同樣的激情激勵人們做出偉大的事跡, 也能在那一天(911)帶來巨大的破壞. 當他們說幹那事的那些人是以上帝的名義做的, 我沒有絲毫的驚訝. 這隻是證實了我已經知道的. 我認出了它.
I recognized this thirst, this demand for the absolute. Because if you don't hang on to the unchanging, to the absolute, to that which cannot disappear, you might disappear. I recognized that this thirst for the never-ending, the permanent, the wonders of all things, this intolerance or fear of diversity, that which is different -- these are characteristics of religion. And I knew that that force could take you to do great things. But I knew that there was no greater and more destructive force on the surface of this earth than the religious passion.
我認出了這熱望, 這對絕對的要求. 因為如果你不依附於那不變的, 那絕對的, 那不消失的, 你可能會消失. 我認出了這種熱望: 對那永不停止的, 那永久的, 那所有事物的奇跡的熱望, 這對多樣性的, 對不同的東西的恐懼和不寬容 --- 這些是宗教的特點. 我知道這力量可以帶你實現偉大的東西. 但我知道在這地球表麵上, 沒有力量能比宗教激情更大, 更有破壞力.