Peter was a native of Alaska, and was only a young man when he was brutally martyred (eviscerated) by the Roman Catholic authorities of San Francisco for not renouncing his Orthodox faith.
We often see in hagiography the brutality of martyrdom, a Christian endures at the hands of a non-Christian. What makes this so shocking is that Peter’s death was at the hands of another Christian. Today we see all around us the growing ferocity of intolerance, “fundamentalism” in all its forms is a sin, because it is by its very nature, extreme, and lacking in any thoughfulness. This is not a new teaching – indeed as early as the fourth century Christian writers warned against the dangers of extremism.
Our actions toward one another can only be viewed in light of our relationship with Christ (Mt. 10.40-42; 25.31-46). The failure of extremists to recognise the humanity of the other, or in the case of Peter the Aleut, the common Christianity of the other, has horrific consequences.
How then, does our own extremism affect our relationships with other indie folk?
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