LOUISVILLE — A group
of U.S. religious journalists visiting Jordan has condemned
the Nov. 9 bombings of three hotels in Amman.
The group, from the Associated Church Press, checked out of
a hotel across the street from the Radisson Hotel in Amman just
hours before it was bombed.
The group — Jim Rice, managing editor of Sojourners magazine;
Patricia Edwards-Konic, editor of Quaker
Life magazine; Everett
Thomas, editor of The Mennonite; Sherri Wood Emmons, managing
editor of DisciplesWorld, a magazine of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ); and Jim Pitts, chairman, Smyth & Helwys
Publishing — issued the following statement on Nov. 10:
"As Christian journalists visiting Jordan,
we join people of faith and good will around the world in condemning
yesterday’s
terrorist attacks in Amman. We have observed among the gracious,
hospitable people here the same shock and grief many of us
in the U.S. experienced following the attacks on our own country
on 9/11.
We not only decry the cowardly strikes
against innocent people, but we recognize and are saddened
by the connection with the violence that has been brought upon
neighboring Iraq by our own country’s military action.
The terrorists who attacked Amman yesterday seek to instill
fear, not only in their direct victims but also in anyone who
would consider a visit to this breathtakingly beautiful land,
which has been at the very heart of so many of our religious
traditions. Those of us who have walked in the footsteps of our
Biblical forebears and marveled at the magnificent and ancient
wonders of this crossroads of history can testify to the power
of this place to reach the deepest part of our humanity.
We grieve with and pray for our Jordanian
sisters and brothers. We pray that people of faith around the
world will refuse to allow fear to separate us from the people
of Jordan and the Middle East, but will instead reach out and
connect ever more deeply as we move forward in hope."
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