on Canon Michael Ainsworth by Muslim youths in east London. Comments by me are in brackets.
Wife of vicar beaten for ‘being a Christian’ by Asian yobs speaks of shock at faith hate attack
The wife of a clergyman beaten up in his churchyard in a suspected “faith hate crime” has spoken of the shock felt by his congregation.
Canon Michael Ainsworth, 57, was set upon by three Asian youths shouting anti-Christian abuse when he confronted them for rowdy behaviour outside St George-in-the-East church in Shadwell, leaving him with two black eyes and cuts and bruises.
His wife, Janina Ainsworth, 56, took Palm Sunday services yesterday after Canon Ainsworth was re-admitted to hospital for his injuries. She said: “It is obvious that it does contain a religious element.
“Quite clearly, there are mindless individuals in every community under the influence of drink and drugs who will engage in random acts of violence. But we’re very shocked.” [So the attack was motivated by religion, yet it is also “random.”]
She said her husband was expected home to the rectory next to the church in Cannon Street Road tonight.
“We do know that churchyards have been quite vulnerable places so we are going to be working with the church, the police and the local council to look at security,” she added.
Wife Jan insists her husband feared publicity over the attack could lead to racial tension. [Muslims have physically mauled him in his churchyard in a deliberate Muslim attack on a Christian, but there shouldn’t be public discussion of this religiously motivated attack, because that could lead to “tensions.”]
“Normally community relations here are very good. We have had very strong messages of support from the East London Mosque and Tower Hamlets Mosque with whom we’ve got good relations.
“Clearly the Muslim community is very shocked. These individuals were under the influence and this was a random act.”
The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, said clergymen who were part of the community were “vulnerable” to attacks.
“Over the years we’ve had murders, we’ve had assaults on clergy,” he said. “Therefore we have over the past few years been beefing up our security and operations.
“But of course if you go out into the streets, if you belong to the community, if you’re a part of it, then you are vulnerable.” [Translation: Christian clergymen operating visibly in a Muslim community are vulnerable to physical attacks by Muslims. This has happened before, it’s a known problem, and they’ve even been increasing security to handle it. Yet Canon Ainsworth’s parishioner are “shocked” by the attack, and Mrs. Ainsworth says the attack is “random,” and they all insist that community relations are good.]
Mrs Ainsworth faced a fearful congregation yesterday who said rising tensions in the area had led up to the attack on 5 March, the second time the church has been targeted after a Good Friday attack last year in which youths threw bricks through the windows.
Gravestones in nearby St Dunstan’s Church in Stepney are also regularly vandalised and locals say drink and drugs problems, combined with religious differences, fuel the attacks. [Muslims are regularly vandalizing Christian gravestones, but the attack on Ainsworth was “random.”]
Parishioner Susan Crocker said: “It is not out of the blue, they broke the glass last Easter—it’s a recurrent problem.”
Toni Davey, 43, said: “To be honest something like this was going to happen sooner or later—it is the area and the times we are living in. There is a tension in the area with the Muslims.” [Muslims are regularly physically attacking Christian churches and Christian clergymen, but what’s causing the attacks is not Muslims, but “a tension in the area with the Muslims.” The “tension”—presumptively shared equally by Christian and Muslims—is the agent in the attacks, not the Muslims who are actually doing the attacks. To complete the argument, maybe the attacks should be attributed to “random tensions.” Meanwhile, the attack, which was caused by “tensions,” shouldn’t be publicized, because that could lead to “tensions.”]
Father-of-four Mr Ainsworth officiated last year at the wedding of Coronation Street star Andy Whyment, who plays Kirk Sutherland.
Canon Ainsworth asked three Asian youths to quiten down when he was attacked in the grounds of St George-in-the-East
He moved with his family from Manchester last summer and was said to be working hard to connect with the large Bangladeshi community in the area.
Michael Saward, 75, said: “I saw Michael about 10 days ago and he looked very frail and fragile with two large black eyes. Obviously we’re all very shocked.”
Police have confirmed the case is being treated as a faith-hate crime and no arrests have been made.
The Rev Alan Green, area dean for Tower Hamlets and chairman of the Tower Hamlets Inter-Faith Forum, said: “Any incident that involves an element of abusive faith-related language should be handled in this way.
“An important part of the work of the Tower Hamlets Inter Faith Forum is to bring together representatives from our local faith communities, the borough council and the Metropolitan Police to monitor and respond to all reported faith-hate incidents.
“This ensures that we protect people of all faiths or none and maintain the good relations that exist locally between our diverse population.” [Translation: Even as the Muslims become more numerous and aggressive and begin to use physical assaults and intimidation to scare Christian out of the area, the Christians devote their energies to maintaining “good relations” with the Muslims. The logical culmination of these “good relations” is the complete Muslim takeover of Britain and the reduction of the British population to dhimmitude.]
My comments above are an expansion on Anthony Damato’s remarks which he sent along with the article:
I was going to blog about this but I see you got there first and said most of what I was going to say.
It’s harder and harder for me to sympathize with people like the Ainsworths. As an individual Mr. Ainsworth is as entitled as anyone to live in denial about the reality of aggressive Islam, if he wants to believe it touches him only in the guise of “random” violence from ordinary yobs. But as a clergyman he is in a position of responsibility: directly, for his church and congregation, and indirectly, for his neighborhood and country. In opting out of reality, he is failing in his responsibility toward all those others.
If his congregation is “fearful,” as the newspaper account has it, isn’t it down to him to speak out on their behalf, for their safety as well as his, instead of acting as though not publicizing the situation will make it go away? If the truth is that his patch has been the scene of murders and assaults on the clergy, as the Bishop of London acknowledges, shouldn’t his conscience require him to stand for the sanctity of life and liberty, even if his ideology insists that what is happening shouldn’t be happening in a vibrant multi-culti paradise?
“Clearly the Muslim community is very shocked,” he says. “These individuals were under the influence and this was a random act.” Excuse me, Canon, but how do you know the Muslim community was “very shocked”? Have large numbers of people from the Muslim community been in touch to express their shock? I rather doubt it, since if that had happened I expect you would have eagerly mentioned it.
But nothing seems to get through to people like this; you get the feeling the “Asians” could burn his church down and he’d be (once again) shocked and call for another community outreach meeting.