Reality checks for pollyannish Christians

“Pollyannish” is a word for people who don’t want to hear the ugly facts of a bad situation.

Since President Obama opened the political doors to Cuba a year ago, few want to hear that it has not helped the Cubans very much.  Or that it has actually hurt those Cubans brave enough to protest the oppressive government.

Here is a reality check from Jeff Jacoby at the Boston Globe.

By the way, I have been to Cuba three times to work with pastors, and all of what Jacoby said rings true.

We are also told by the media fairly consistently that the biggest problem for Palestinians is the oppressive Israeli government.  But Palestinians whispered to my son and me several years ago, when we were hiking through Galilee to do a story for Christianity Today, that their greatest problems came not from the Jewish government but from their Muslim cousins.  Here is a story by a Palestinian reporter on the latest development of that theme.