The evolutionary history of Earth shows
that every species has its members that use violence to defend their young,
their territory, or a herd of prospective mates. Unfortunately, mankind has
taken this inherent violence to stunning and shocking extremes. Stemming from a
need to protect their home territories, politicians have taken this
psychological nature and turned it into a need to expand those territories.
Every war that has ever been over the eons of mankind’s history has started as
a need to expand someone’s home territory, which inevitably ends up intruding
into someone else’s territory, and, thus, starting the violence that is so
typical of man’s nature. With the inherited biological need that not only we,
but every species on Earth, shares, it would be virtually impossible to totally
erase violence and war on Earth. As much as we may try, there will always be
those times when, whether for defense or retribution for lives taken
senselessly and thoughtlessly, violence is the only way to make a difference
that matters. However, one can try to make that difference before it becomes
necessary to resort to the violence that we all abhor. Unfortunately, there are
situations and places where every attempt to avoid violence has been met with,
not only defiance, but outright rage.
The
situation in the Middle East is a perfect example. The ongoing warring between
Israel and its neighbors is a fight that has been raging for generations.
Looking at the history of the place, it becomes clear why. Both the Christian
and Muslim traditions tell the story of Abraham and his two sons, Ishmael and
Isaac. Ishmael was the firstborn, and would have been his father’s heir, if it
had not been for the fact that Isaac was the favored one of God. Because of
this, Abraham abandoned Ishmael and his mother to die in the desert, and Isaac
became Abraham’s heir. Defying the odds, Ishmael survived to become the
ancestor of the peoples who, in the 1st century after Christ was
born, were converted to the Muslim faith. The descendants of Isaac, on the
other hand, after many trials, founded the land of Israel and continued to
worship in the way of Abraham, what we now call the Jewish faith. So, in
reality, the war in the Middle East is simply a family feud, which, in today’s
world, now involves, not only the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael, but also
all their friends and business partners. Or, in other words, the entire world.
Every attempt at peace has ended with a poorly attempted, and soon broken,
cease fire agreement. And, over the centuries, the hatred has grown to where,
today, it is not only a war for territory, but actually a way of life.
We
do not believe in war, especially when it is egged on by the promptings of
so-called religious leaders, who are obviously more interested in their own
power base than the lives of their followers. While we respect Israel as the
place where Jesus, who we believe to be the Son of God, lived and taught, we
also know that the support that the government of our country has shown Israel
in the past is part of the reason why we are now known as the most hated
country in the world. The Jewish people claim they are only attempting to
regain their homeland, the borders of which are set forth in the Old Testament.
Their neighbors claim they are interlopers in a land that they lost centuries
ago, and that they need to accept this. Whichever side you choose to believe,
the fact is that the Jewish people were forced out of this land in the 7th
century, over 2,000 years ago. Was it fair? No. Did they deserve what they got?
Probably not. But, they did lose it, and they would not be the first people in
the world to have to live with that. Launching rockets at the people living in
that land now is not going to change history, nor is it going to win them any
friends on the international scene. Israel needs to learn to live in the
present, not try to regain the past. And their neighbors need to learn to
accept that, while they may have a different belief system, they are Father
God’s Children too, and deserve to live just as much as anyone else. So, we, as
fellow Children, must take the stand that we do not believe that our government
must support Israel, or any other country in that part of the world, at least
until they have shown that they can make, and stick with, a peace agreement.
