Locals mourn tragedy

Various faiths held religious services to give their congregations an opportunity to reflect.

By: Nick D’Amore
   Various faiths held religious services Friday to give their congregations an opportunity to reflect on last week’s tragic events.
   Parishioners of St. Cecilia’s R.C. Church heeded President George W. Bush’s call for a National Day of Mourning and filled up the church. The Islamic Society of Central Jersey also tied the attack on America into its Friday prayer service.
   During the mass at St. Cecilia’s, the Rev. Joseph Desmond, pastor of the church, urged the audience to remember the events of Sept. 11, while still going on with their lives.
   "The impact of these events will pale into the background of our lives. The memory is what God reminds us to keep alive," he said.
   Father Desmond also reminded the congregation to trust in God and not man, recalling the story of the Tower of Babel.
   "They thought they were so powerful and put their trust in man. All our power comes from God, he is the ultimate trust," he said.
   He said the recent tragic events should remind people that their life is not only finite, but also something to be cherished .
   "This is a lesson is to see how precious life is and how easily we take it for granted," said Father Desmond.
   He also encouraged the parishioners not to be daunted by the extreme hate that caused the tragedies to happen.
   "We cannot let hatred and anger — everything that brought this destruction — destroy us," he said.
   During the prayer service at the Islamic Society, Imam Hamad Ahmad Chebli told two stories about being a good Muslim and a good person.
   He also asserted Muslim teaching and the religion’s position regarding the events to a mixed crowd of Muslims and non-Muslims.
   "We have to stand united in diversity," he said.
   "If anyone in this mosque, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, doubts that the color of blood in the U.S. is different than the blood in any other country, this country is not yours," said Imam Chebli.
   "If someone kills one person, it is as if they’ve killed all mankind," he said.
   The society held a press conference afterward to answer any questions regarding Islam and last week’s events.
   Present was Tanseem Shamim, who was on call as an eye doctor at St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick at the time of the attacks on the World Trade Center.
   Ms. Shamim said she has lived in the United States since she was 17 and was originally from India. She said she was worried about backlashes against people of Middle Eastern descent.
   "The first day, I worried about who I knew that worked at the World Trade Center. The second day, I thought about treating the victims and the third day, I realized that some people are against me," she said.
   Though there have been some incidents nationwide of harassment and violence against people of Middle Eastern descent, the society said it has not received any sort of harassment since the incidents Sept. 11.
   Statewide, 33 bias incidents have occurred since Sept. 11, with 26 of those involving criminal activity, according to Emily Hornaday, spokeswoman for state Division of Criminal Justice, which oversees the state Office of Bias Crime and Human Relations.
   Ms. Hornaday said there was one incident of simple assault in West Deptford in Camden County where a man punched his Lebanese co-worker, shouting ethnic slurs.
   She said such an offense would normally be considered a disorderly persons offense, but since it was a bias incident, the crime is elevated to simple assault.
   "The bulk of the incidents were criminal mischief, verbal harassment and terroristic threats," she said.
   The other seven incidents were of a biased nature, but were not necessarily criminal offenses.