Wednesday, July 19, 2006
The Hezbollah-Hamas-Israel Mess
So what is theologians to make of war in the Middle East (alas, again)
I have taken a few days off from blogging because I wanted to take in the whole events of the last week before commenting. Personally, I fully expected by this time (Day 8) of the offensive (longer if you go back to the Hamas incursions), that Israel would have invaded Southern Lebanon and bombed Syria. So far, they have not. Yesterday (7-18), Russian President Vlad Putin (Vlad the Liar as he ought to be called), started the chant that has caught on now worldwide…
“Israel’s attacks are disproportional, and should stop.”
People often ask me, as a theologian, if I am a pacifists. After all, Jesus does say to turn the other cheek. Paul says to repay evil with blessing and in so doing bring burning coals down upon their heads. So, isn’t the correct response to ask Israel to stop, and, as the old phrase go, “Give peace a chance?”
I have written on this before, primarily with response to the Iraq war. However, I will say again that this is why we must read the whole of Scripture, not simply abstracting single verses that support our cause (after all, when was the last time you told someone to go and hang themselves, ala Judas).
Yes both Jesus and Saint Paul give what are seeming pacifists statements. Jesus also says in Luke 22:
36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.” 38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.” “That is enough,” he replied.
So, please don’t tell me that Jesus is opposed to violence in the service of justice and righteousness (do I need to bring up the scene of Jesus overturning the tables in the Temple?). Likewise, Saint Paul had no tolerance for injustice.
Israel has made mistakes over the years. I have been a vocal critic of Israel’s interactions with Palestinians (standing firm with the Palestinians and their earnest desire to have their own country and live in peace, with access to drinking water). I have dropped my support for the Palestinians since 2001, since the second Intifada, and specifically since the election of Hamas. Big reminder…while Hamas did indeed win the election last year they did not win a majority of the votes. That is key. But Hamas, armed with their own militia began to copy the program that Adolph Hitler did once he gained a plurality in Germany.
Likewise, Lebanon is being held hostage by the Hezbollah 20% of the electorate (which, as I understand it, you do not vote against Hezbollah in their controlled areas if you would like to live). Hezbollah has its own private army. It attacked Israel. This is not a new venture.
And, here is the key, no where, in all the earth, have Muslims voted for an Islamicists government. Even in Iran, the majority of the anti-Shah movement was not Islamicists. However, like Hitler’s “coalition partners” in 1933, they quickly found that they were swallowed by an even greater evil
So, be it Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Iranian Republic, each of these regimes is holding hostage millions, people who simply want the chance to raise their families, make a good living, and have a good life. Thousands upon thousands have gone to their death without charge or due-process, and this is, out and out, injustice. While I am still a critic of Israel, I think we must realize that all of humanity can hope for nothing less that in the end these despotic organizations are defanged militarily and then must participate in the electoral process without the advantage of guns and brute power. Then, lets see if their ideas really have any sway on the people.
Let us be in prayer for the Lebanese, Israeli Arabs and the Jews that they would be safe and come through this venture with as little damge as possible. For Hamas, Hezbollah and their Syrian and Iranian backers, let us pray that they will repent of violence and turn towards justice and goodness, mercy and forgiveness, and then maybe…maybe there will be peace.
As a theologian I must never hold the present “good” captive to the ultimate “perfect” that is the coming Kingdom. In the Kingdom of God there will be no death, no tears, no injustice. Too many (and yes, they predominate on the Left) Christians are trying to, in human power, bring the perfect Kingdom of God. I want to work for the best, and realize that ultimate Peace (wholeness) awaits a day that no human (Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Kofi Annan, or Condi Rice included) can bring.
Let us pray for Peace AND Justice AND the Liberation of all the Middle East.
The Roving Theologian
