Wars and Rumors of Wars...

Are you on Israel's side? Or do you stand for justice for the Palestinian peoples? Which is it? Isn't this the "formula" for opinion in today's polarized climate? "Who's side are you on?" is a common, demanding question substituting for debate in our time.

Oh, I could address a long list of polarized topics from the contemporary slate of affairs, but I'll not waste your time, for you know what would be on that list. And in many circles, you had better land in one of the two poles, or people won't listen to you. The truth is, if you DO land in one of the two artificial "poles," only people on "your side" will listen to you. If you don't believe that, then how else do you explain Fox News/MSNBC, NPR/Rush Limbaugh, and the NRA/sane people?

As we walk down memory lane, we recall a time when persons could stand at a party, drink in hand, or in church, hymnal in hand, and discuss controversial social, political, and economic topics with an eye to persuade, compromise, and eventually collaborate in a world filled with complex problems and ideas. That your perspective was very different than mine was not a threat. Why? Because we had the same aims--a better world with equal opportunity for all persons. We weren't trying to make society look just like me or you. While it may not have been a time of racial or cultural diversity, it could be seen as at least a time of "diversity of thought." Worldviews were discussed, debated, and woven into a tapestry of healthy thought and often action. Scorched earth only occurred during wildfires.

Can we clip off a piece of that past and paste it into our time? Could we agree that Israel and Hamas will never see eye-to-eye and work instead for a safe and sane peace? And can we refrain from the viral oversimplification of HIGHLY complex issues that makes everybody with a mouth and/or a microphone an expert? Might it be possible that abortion is much more complicated than just being labeled either "murder" or "choice"? Can we stop saying that, because it is 62 in July in Western Pennsylvania that "Global Warming" is a myth? Or that Climate Change will kill off all life as we know it before our grandchildren reach puberty? Unfortunately, the "X-Files" was right: The truth is still OUT THERE. WAY out there. And we can't reach it with a moon rocket unless we are willing to dial back our rhetoric and begin to talk--with a civil tongue--again.

[I really want to add "gender identity" to this rant, but THAT has become such a hot topic that people who claim to be compassionate, caring individuals have screamed, threatened, and intellectually "carpet bombed" the topic, and will let the fire fly without reading further, so I'll leave it alone for now.]

These things are all "rumors of wars," to quote Jesus. We know what a real war is. "Rumors of wars" may be a cleaver way of suggesting that going nuclear instead of carrying on a meaningful conversation meant to gain information, understanding and perspective, and to promote respect between free-thinking persons, is debasing debate to the level of a zero-sum game like war (zero-sum meaning that for me to "win," you have to "lose" completely--I get all the marbles).

Our humanity creates a problem, at this point. If I think it is wrong to discriminate against a person because of who she or he "is," and you feel it is necessary to devalue them or draw them outside the circle precisely for that reason, then we have created an insurmountable zero-sum game, for there is no compromise that says it will be OK to discriminate against them "just a little bit." Some say Hamas wants Israel wiped off the map. If there is any truth in this, then for peace, Hamas must be willing to admit that this is an untenable position, and Israel must be allowed to exist. Others say that Israel occupies land "God promised them in the Bible," and has a right to posses it. Peace cannot occur until Israel admits that this position can have no grounding in contemporary "fact," and must be willing to compromise on border issues. Maybe they just hate each other? Believe it or not, this can be fixed! Give up the "rumors of wars," folks! No more "Onward Christian (or Jewish or Moslem) Soldiers, Marching as to War(!).

As the years tick by, I grow in my appreciation of the reality that nothing worth believing in is simple, and nothing worth loving can be reduced to a political slogan or a war cry. We're going to blow each other up and planet earth will have to heal itself for the next tenants, if we don't come to our senses soon. Think about it. Grace and peace...