The claim is often made that all that is needed to end the war on Gaza is for Hamas to lay down its weapons and return the hostages: “If Israel lays down their weapons, there will be war, but if Hamas lays down its weapons, there will be peace.” This statement reflects a profound ignorance of the situation in Israel-Palestine and of the nature of violent reprisals in general. Huckabee’s ignorance Last week, Mike Huckabee, former pastor and now US... Read more
Israel continues its assault on Gaza A few days ago, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that Israeli attacks killed 50 Gazans and wounded more than 150 others in the less than 24 hours. One of the attacks killed three Palestinians when an IDF drone hit a distribution center while Gazans were queuing up for the little available food. At the same time, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was visiting the US. Gvir claimed during his visit... Read more
Virtually everyone today agrees—80 years later—that the Nazi effort to eliminate European Jewry was one of the greatest travesties to face humankind. The few Holocaust deniers out there are rightly silenced. My question is, “Why does it take so long for everyone to agree that a genocide is a genocide?” What if more people spoke up when the Holocaust was happening? Would it have made a difference? Would it have saved lives? What about 80 years from now? What will... Read more
John 8:32: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” As I noted in my last post, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) failed to account for all of the phones from each of the 15 Red Crescent emergency workers they killed in Gaza just under 2 weeks ago. As a result, the IDF’s initial explanation of what happened was a lie. NB: The fact that the IDF attempted to bury the bodies of the 15... Read more
An interviewer asks a medical doctor, “Are children in Gaza being shot by snipers?” His reply was, “Definitively! I have two children who were shot so perfectly in the chest that I couldn’t put my stethoscope over their heart more accurately and directly on the side of the head in the same child. No toddler gets shot in the head by the world’s best sniper. And they were dead-center shots. All of the disasters I’ve seen combined–40 mission trips over... Read more
“Savages,” “Terrorists,” “Human animals,” “Fundamentalists,” “Religious Extremists.” This is the language we use to depict “the other.” Ever wonder what they say of “us”? Dasein ohne Leben In 1942, the Nazis produced a film for German doctors and medical professionals to justify their euthanasia program. That is, the killing of Germans that were deemed “not worthy of living. “The film’s title is Dasein ohne Leben (Existence without Life). I first watched the film in the early 1990’s. To this day,... Read more
In my recent book, Land of Contention, I noted, “An essential feature of Christianity and the kingdom of God is that the people of God are to be fundamentally different from the world. After all, we follow a different King whose kingdom follows a different set of rules. To make our King known entails a call to a radical, self-denying, cross-bearing love for the other. We must love the way Jesus loved. But we must also pursue peace and justice”... Read more
Whether the US is great or not is a debate for another day. One great thing is the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right to free speech. The freedom of speech gives power to the people. The power of dissent. The very nature of free speech is that it protects dissent. After all, every country offers free speech regarding towing the party line. Without dissent, there would be no need for law permitting the freedom of speech. The right to... Read more
Domesticating Jesus As I noted in my previous two posts (post 1 and post 2), my journey of deconstruction/reconstruction goes back years. Two Dimensions to my journey of deconstruction/reconstruction First, over the years, I began to see Jesus and the Gospel of the kingdom in a way that did not conform to what I had been taught. This journey took several steps. As I noted in my last post, my understanding began to shift when I read Yancey’s The Jesus I... Read more
Anticipation grows as the world awaits Trump’s plan for the West Bank. He is expected to reveal his plan sometime next week. It is anticipated that he will green-light Netanyahu’s long-standing desire to annex the Palestinian territories. NB: You may be aware by now of the appalling video revealing Trump’s plan for Gaza. But, isn’t the real question, “How is this Trump’s decision?” Israel asked us to help. But, “Who said it is Israel’s decision?” The West Bank and Gaza... Read more
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