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Orthodox Abbot Attacked in Anti-Trump Incident
Abbot Tryphon, a monk leading the All-Merciful Saviour Orthodox Monastery on Vashon Island, WA, was assaulted at at a gas station Tuesday. The abbot is a popular speaker, writer, and hosts the podcast “The Morning Offering.”
In a Wednesday interview with his podcasting network, Abbot Tryphon said that he was targeted by a man who was apparently angry about Donald Trump. The abbot is not politically affiliated, a fact he regularly mentions in his writing and podcasts.
He was filling up his vehicle in Burien, WA, at about 11:30 a.m. “I saw a man come up to me and he said ‘How’s Trump?’” Abbot Tryphon said in the interview. “I was kind of startled … and I said, ‘well, I have no idea.’”
“The next thing I know, as I turned to look back at the pump, he sucker-punched me in the side of the face,” the Abbot said. “He did it with such force that I immediately lost my equilibrium, I reached out to grab onto the car, and I slid to my knees and onto my back.”
As the assailant left, the monk traveling with Abbot Tryphon and several bystanders rushed to his aid. The monk noted that the attacker “zeroed in on the cross and that’s when his anger turned to rage.”
“In my mind I assumed he was approaching me with a request for money, or wanting to know what I was,” the abbot wrote on his Facebook page. “Since I try, with God’s help, to be kind to everyone, even trying to bring a smile on a stranger’s face by saying something self-effacing in an attempt to put them at ease, I was totally caught off guard by what he did to me.”
Abbot Tryphon said that he has some hearing loss, headaches, and general body pain. Local police are investigating the incident and have released surveillance photos of the suspect.
If apprehended, the abbot would like to meet his attacker. “I want to go to the jail,” he said, “and tell the man that I forgive him and that God loves him.”
Published in Policing, Politics, Religion & Philosophy
Precisely.
Good standard joke, and:
There’s a distinct lack of evidence that Christ’s executioners asked His forgiveness before He said, “Father, forgive them.”
Of course he’s speaking for himself. He was the one that was attacked. No one cut in line in front of you, or attacked you. He’s the one that has to decide whether he’ll harbor resentment, or hatred his whole life, or whether he’ll love his enemy.
That doesn’t mean the attacker faces no consequence. For the attacker’s own good, and the safety of everyone around him, there’s still punishment.
But hey, don’t listen to me. Just go on blaming the victim for “destabilizing our country and society.” That sounds like a sensible option, as well.
Forgiveness is not done for the sake of the person being forgiven, it is done for our own sake that we may not be embittered by every slight perpetrated against us. Without forgiving others, we would become boastful and proud…the type of person that takes pride in being victimized and joy in hurting others out of a sense of entitlement. You know, the type of person the thinks punching Nazis is a good thing and that a Nazi is anyone that they would like to punch.
No, there is no irony. Forgiveness of someone who hurts you does not mean they should not receive appropriate criminal justice. It means you do not hate them. Where in the world would you get the idea that forgiveness means not holding someone liable for their actions?
He didn’t attack the man, he attacked a person he believed supports Trump.
Of course he has the right to forgive the man for attacking ‘him’. He doesn’t have the right to forgive someone on others behalf. And it’s this aspect I’m addressing.
I would hope that he would expect this man to resolve to correct his behavior before professing his forgiveness. Maybe seek psychological help or something. Admit that it’s wrong to punch an innocent old man?
Personally, I believe that informing someone like this of “God’s love” for him is a complete waste of energy without adequate contrition.
You can forgive someone without seeking them out and telling them personally. But hey, maybe I haven’t read enough religious dogma on that subject….
There are a lot of angry leftists out there who desperately need psychological help.
Same thought crossed my mind. The relevant reference to Luke 23:33-34 here.
Again, not a theologian, but he asked God to forgive them. He didn’t say “ I forgive you”. Now, I’m a bit confused since Jesus was the son of God and maybe he was just calling on family connections. I would think Jesus had enough status to simply forgive them directly.
Wouldn’t God’s forgiveness be automatic, if he was, you know, a kind and loving God? But it could have been lost in the translation too. I mean, from Greek to Hebrew to English and revised several times, with a couple different versions.
See, this is why I can’t be a theologian. Too many questions!
That’s not how any of this works.
He was modeling how to be human.
Color me totally confused. The attacker attacked the monk; correct? He attacked him because he believed the monk supports Trump; correct? Yet he still attacked the monk; correct? Therefore, he did attack the man/monk; did he not? If that’s not what happened, what am I missing?
Where did he say he was forgiving the attacker on the behalf of others? Serious question, The few (very few) articles I’ve read about the incident haven’t quoted him as saying anything like that – nothing that I’ve taken in that vein, anyway.
Your second bolding simply refers to the fact that the monk does not have the power to forgive the perpetrators potential consequences with the criminal justice system. That acts on behalf of the people, the ‘others’ in question.
So he didn’t attack him, he attacked him. Truly, you have a dizzying intellect.
Where did he claim to forgive him on anyone else’s behalf? The statement on his Facebook page, quoted here, says “I forgive him.”
Again, that’s not the Christian model for forgiveness. In the New Testament, both Jesus and Stephen (the first Christian martyr) asked that their killers be forgiven.
The idea is to show him the love of God, by acting toward him in a loving way, instead of being angry. Show the man that forgiveness is possible. A lot of people really don’t believe God would forgive them, so they don’t bother with contrition.
A longer quotation from the Abbot’s Facebook post:
I agree that the monk doesn’t have that power. But according to what I’ve read, the monk isn’t suggesting that he wants to forgive the perpetrator’s potential consequences with the criminal justice system, much less that he’s attempting to do so. Wouldn’t that fact keep that from being “the others” Franco mentioned? Maybe I’ve misunderstood the whole conversation.
Now that is quite an exercise in hair-splitting.
Now you’re asking some real, theological questions. First of all, we can’t comprehend the nature of a being that comprises 3 Persons in 1 Godhead. Add to that, how do the three relate to one another? And then how do things work when one of them decides to be born as a human being?
Do you think being kind and loving means that God must forgive everyone automatically, even if they’ve shown no contrition?
I’ll forgive you for that sarcastic remark…
Not especially loving, but we live in the real world and maybe we aren’t all saints. But picking on an uncredentialed, lower IQ Trumper is punching down, isn’t it?
There were no overt claims on who he was or wasn’t speaking for, but there’s certainly a glaring omission. There was a reason he was attacked, and he seems to avoid this aspect.
Imagine it was the perpetrator was an anti-Semite and thought the victim was a Jew.
Maybe some Jewish folks would have a slight problem with his eager forgiveness.
This is not to equate Trump supporters with modern Jews who are under more attack , however if someone attacked me for looking Jewish, I just feel I could not be the one to forgive him for his anti-semitism. Make sense?
I’m clearly not the only one splitting hairs here.
BTW Have you ever talked to a Catholic theologian about the meaning of papal infallibility?
I won’t question your construct of 3 Persons in one Godhead, you’re welcome to your views. I don’t question Mormons or Seventh Day Adventist’s either.
But you seem to agree with me that someone should show contrition before they should be forgiven, which was one of my points in the original comment.
The sarcastic remark is a film reference, and it never occurred to me I’d need forgiveness for making a witty rejoinder. I think if you look at what you’ve been saying, you’ll find you’ve been a little harsher than I have.
If it helps you, I’m also an uncredentialed Trump supporter. I fear my IQ is not high enough to understand why the abbot can’t forgive someone for attacking him, just because the miscreant mistook him for someone else. If someone attacks me because they thought I was Brad Pitt (a common mistake), need I get Brad’s permission to forgive my attacker?
I think maybe you’re under the impression that the abbot has taken it upon himself to forgive the guy for hating Trump supporters. Is that what you thought he was saying?
As someone pointed out earlier, the victim needs to forgive for his own sake. It’s harmful to him to carry hatred or resentment in his heart. Maybe we can let the abbot have that, even if it means one of our enemies is forgiven.
That is funny. What makes you think the man will be found or charged?
I’ve never encountered a theologian of any stripe, that I recall. How did Catholics get involved in the discussion?
No, I didn’t, but I do wonder why you’re saying that a loving God must forgive unconditionally.
I’m not saying that. I asked it of you.
Say is different than ask. Get your verbs right.
A film reference? I didn’t see it. Witty rejoinder? That’s your opinion. Interesting.
It comes off as a sarcastic comment about my intelligence. But I’m okay with that. I’m not insecure in that regard. I know how deficient I am. The question remains, are you?
But you are a walking saint, so naturally you believe it’s only a “ film reference” … what film? Or was it just a movie? Forgive me for not getting the witty reference
Brad Pitt is not an entire class of people. He’s an individual. So your logic fails. My sympathies that you look like him, by the way.
I look like Jennifer Aniston, and believe me it’s not fun!
I’m not sure about being harsher. What offended you? Did I make some witty film reference to your intelligence?
Because I decided to make the reference.
I have encountered theologians. And you were talking about splitting hairs as I recall, and you cited the Godhead of Three, which I think is a Catholic construct, but I could be wrong. What is your religion? Or do you just spout random dogma?
Are you the arbiter of what concepts can and cannot be introduced?
Fascinating.
Steering back to the actual event and the abbot, he writes an update on his health and reflects on the attacker:
And I didn’t agree, as you inferred, that contrition is required for forgiveness. Not in all cases. God may require us to forgive, even if the other person doesn’t care. That doesn’t mean He’s required to forgive. Unlike us, He needs forgiveness from no one; and unlike us, He always knows whether we are contrite.