Peace Between the Religions

[Fish and Bread]

Last night the deacon at the parish I was visiting held up a picture very similar to the one below (Maybe it even was the one below), with a Jewish boy and a Muslim boy with arms wrapped around each other.

It reminded of the old quote from Father Hans Kung:

“No peace among the nations
without peace among the religions.

No peace among the religions
without dialogue between the religions

No dialogue between the religions
without investigation of the foundation of the religions.”

I see that picture, and it makes me think good thoughts about the future, which is hard to do relative to the situation in region some call Israel and others call Palestinian, especially with the recent news that Trump may move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jersualem and withdraw American support for a two-state solution, which will set any progress towards peace back decades. The US under Obama just abstained from a UN Resolution asking Israel to stop building new settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, but Trump immediately tweeted (Yes, apparently the President-elect now announces international policy via Twitter) that things would change on January 20th when he takes office (i.e. He favors new settlements, or at least would vote against a resolution condemning them). Trump's actions here are, as he would put it, "Sad".

However, it's not just the US and other nations that are keeping this conflict going. The Israeli people keep electing Benjamin Netanyahu as their leader, and he behaves very aggressively, to say the least. The Palestinians in Gaza elected a Hamas-led government, which is obviously problematical (The West Bank has a more moderate government).

I just kind of wonder, was there a photo like this 20 years ago, too? How about 30 years ago? And, if so, are the two children in it still friends, or is one bombing schools with the Israeli defense force and the other sneaking through tunnels to knife random Israelis? I am not one to look at childhood through rose colored glasses- children can hate, unfortunately, sometimes more readily than adults. However, one kind of feels like if these children weren't learning this specific hatred from their parents, this conflict might fade into the sands of history and there might really be peace. But they pass it on, generation after generation, on both sides.

An odd post for Christmas, but, remember, Christmas is all about "Peace on earth and good will towards men". How do we bring that aspect of the divine closer to earth so that it's reflected in international relations and in tense situations like in Israel? Especially poignant when Bethlehem itself, where Jesus was born, is in the Arab part of that country. This is going on where Jesus first came to bring peace.

 

[Hank77]

When asking Jews and Muslims, living in the West Bank, pointed questions about Jesus, about each others religion, and about Christianity the answers were sometimes surprising to me.
One Jewish man said that Jews and Muslims worship the same God but Christians don't. So those two religions are more alike than with Christianity.
Several Palestinians said that Jesus (Issa) is alive in heaven with God and He will come back to destroy evil and bring peace to the world.
Jews were more diverse in their view of Jesus, traitor, nobody, prophet, good man. Not Messiah that will come.
Biggest problem that both Jews and Muslims have with Christianity is the Trinity. They see us as worshiping more than the One God.

So what I am saying is that I used to think that all the trouble was mostly about religion but I don't anymore. It's about power and greed. The extremists, of all ilks, only use religion as an excuse.

 

[Genersis]

Completely agree your OP, Fish and Bread.
Unfortunately, it is a difficult and complex situation, and I can't pretend I have answers.
Even in political terms, a two state solution isn't a simple solution after years of settling; maybe it isn't a solution on it's own.

All I can do is hope people much smarter than I find their way to the right positions of power and direct the situation down a path towards peace.
I really don't know how realistic such is, especially in the short term; but losing hope is even less productive...