British strive to build interfaith bridges amid terrorist attacks

(The Christian Science Monitor) When British prime minister Theresa May responded to the London Bridge terrorist attack this month with the words “enough is enough,” it wasn’t just campaign rhetoric.

The phrase summed up the loss of patience across Western Europe, which has endured more than a dozen major terrorist attacks in the past two and a half years.

Britain had been spared the barrage, much of it inspired by the so-called Islamic State, until it suffered four attacks beginning in March. The first three were perpetrated by extremists in the name of religion, taking the lives of people commuting from work, walking, dancing at concerts, or celebrating. The youngest victim was eight years old. The latest attack was carried out June 18 against Muslims worshiping at a mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, confirming the dread that many have felt amid a fraying of nerves: that “enough is enough” will give way to the most violent forms of Islamophobia.