智慧人生篇章 第26期:希望—西方文明的基石

More recent and disturbing history will be reviewedthis week by a court in Oslo. While Anders BehringBreivik will present his own warped view of reality,victims and bereaved families will confront againthe terror of what actually happened. To resistsimple vengeance, pursue justice and to relive thepain is a brave thing to do and shows in the words ofthe commentator Libby Purves that "the defaultsetting of Western civilisation is not hatred or fearbut hope".Perhaps, part of that default setting ofhope stems from our Judaeo-Christian history. Thelast steel ingot from the Consett steelworks was made into a cross and is kept at a local RomanCatholic Church. It represents for me the pain of the past but also hope for the future.It istempting to despair for the future of the world, in a time of financial insecurity and mindlessterrorism. Yet history does remind me that human communities of justice and love stilltriumph.

這周奧斯陸法庭將會(huì)翻開(kāi)最近一段紛擾的歷史。盡管Anders Behring Breivik會(huì)繼續(xù)歪曲事實(shí)，受害者和受害者家庭將為還原真實(shí)恐怖事件而戰(zhàn)。不為復(fù)仇，只想討回公道而自揭傷疤，這種行為是勇敢的，用評(píng)論員Libby Purves的話(huà)來(lái)說(shuō)，“西方文明的本質(zhì)不是仇恨或恐懼，而是希望。”可能，這種希望的本質(zhì)部分來(lái)源于猶太-基督歷史。Consett鋼鐵廠(chǎng)最后一塊鋼錠做成了一個(gè)十字架，現(xiàn)存于當(dāng)?shù)氐囊患伊_馬天主教堂里。對(duì)我來(lái)講，這代表了過(guò)去的傷痛和對(duì)未來(lái)的希望。當(dāng)遭遇財(cái)務(wù)危機(jī)或者無(wú)端恐怖事件時(shí)，人們很容易會(huì)對(duì)這世界的未來(lái)失望。但是，歷史告訴我們，公道和愛(ài)終將勝利。