Belief and the Middle East Conflict
Most persons who call themselves Christians or Jews tend not to accept Biblical statements as being true in their simple, direct meaning. Your humble blogger finds himself in this camp. The problem, for those of us raised and educated in the West, is that reason almost always trumps belief in our acceptance (or lack thereof) that what is written in scripture is direct from the Big Guy. The proper name for persons who believe that scripture is the literal truth is "orthodox." It is impossible to argue points of scripture with those who believe that it is the immutable word of God. A more disparaging label for these folks is "fundamentalist", and it is all too easy to find those who claim to believe that which common sense dictates can not be (and, frankly, need not be) true.
However, both faiths have a long tradition of exegesis (Jews might refer to this as midrash or dvarim) in order to provide a post-Englightenment spin on what those oft-harsh words in the Bible actually mean. The classic is the promise made repeatedly in the Books of Genesis, Exodus*, and Numbers of all of Samaria and Judea to the descendants of Jacob. That's Jacob as in the patriarchal line of descent from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob, and then on to the twelve tribes of Israel. Left out from this inheritance, specifically by name, are the progeny of Ishmael, the putative patriarch of the Arabs.
Well, as they say, this is all just one theory...unless you're a believer. Of course, if your Book has a different story, also allegedly dictated by God, well, one of you is either confused or lying. Since, until the Big Guy comes down (or back, depending on your theological inclination) and says, "listen up, dudes, this is what I meant...", we are left to our own devices to decide who should get this land.
My reason and my faith's exegesis both tell me that those who build up the land most deserve it; else we Americans need to give ours all back to the natives, who in turn need to give it back to Mother Earth, since they, too were immigrants across the Bering Straits. The Brits need to decide who is descended from their aboriginal tribes and give it all back to them, kicking out those pesky Franks, Normans, Norsemen, Romans, Gaels, etc. etc. In short, this is just not going to happen and at this point in history would not be rational, so how to decide?
Simple: Who builds, wins. Who destroys, loses. And one guess as to who the builders and destroyers are respectively in the Middle East.
*e.g. from the KJV, Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel [Jacob], thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
Most persons who call themselves Christians or Jews tend not to accept Biblical statements as being true in their simple, direct meaning. Your humble blogger finds himself in this camp. The problem, for those of us raised and educated in the West, is that reason almost always trumps belief in our acceptance (or lack thereof) that what is written in scripture is direct from the Big Guy. The proper name for persons who believe that scripture is the literal truth is "orthodox." It is impossible to argue points of scripture with those who believe that it is the immutable word of God. A more disparaging label for these folks is "fundamentalist", and it is all too easy to find those who claim to believe that which common sense dictates can not be (and, frankly, need not be) true.
However, both faiths have a long tradition of exegesis (Jews might refer to this as midrash or dvarim) in order to provide a post-Englightenment spin on what those oft-harsh words in the Bible actually mean. The classic is the promise made repeatedly in the Books of Genesis, Exodus*, and Numbers of all of Samaria and Judea to the descendants of Jacob. That's Jacob as in the patriarchal line of descent from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob, and then on to the twelve tribes of Israel. Left out from this inheritance, specifically by name, are the progeny of Ishmael, the putative patriarch of the Arabs.
Well, as they say, this is all just one theory...unless you're a believer. Of course, if your Book has a different story, also allegedly dictated by God, well, one of you is either confused or lying. Since, until the Big Guy comes down (or back, depending on your theological inclination) and says, "listen up, dudes, this is what I meant...", we are left to our own devices to decide who should get this land.
My reason and my faith's exegesis both tell me that those who build up the land most deserve it; else we Americans need to give ours all back to the natives, who in turn need to give it back to Mother Earth, since they, too were immigrants across the Bering Straits. The Brits need to decide who is descended from their aboriginal tribes and give it all back to them, kicking out those pesky Franks, Normans, Norsemen, Romans, Gaels, etc. etc. In short, this is just not going to happen and at this point in history would not be rational, so how to decide?
Simple: Who builds, wins. Who destroys, loses. And one guess as to who the builders and destroyers are respectively in the Middle East.
*e.g. from the KJV, Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel [Jacob], thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home