tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17065994792003718072012-01-09T21:57:50.856-08:00Palestine and Israel. A dialogue for peace.AmelMaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13445707823678216343noreply@blogger.comBlogger3061100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-63221887946813180902011-08-24T02:18:00.000-07:002011-08-24T02:18:57.899-07:00

Take a look at these great ideas. Check out the site.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-2982490894858261932011-08-20T01:06:00.000-07:002011-08-20T01:06:22.279-07:00

Here are a number of Israelis, on the J Street website, advocating a two-state solution. I'm not sure whether a two-state solution is possible or desirable. Is anyone considering the possibility of changing the program for a "Jewish" state (given, for example, the conflict between being "Jewish," on the one hand, and being "democratic" on the other), and going for a one-state solution, with full

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-49673504399955527632011-08-19T00:58:00.000-07:002011-08-19T00:58:51.612-07:00

This conference offers a different Christian perspective on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I think of this as a "conference for peace," because to me, the typical American Christian perspective, with blind support of the nation-state of Israel, contributes to war and injustice, not to peace. The participants of this conference are asking, "how would Jesus have us approach this conflict?" Check

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-3338892202055004722011-08-14T02:56:00.000-07:002011-08-14T02:56:20.380-07:00

Check out this excellent article by Joseph Cumming, Director of the Reconciliation Program of the Center for Faith and Culture at the Yale Divinity School. He reflects on the recent "Christian" terrorist attack in Norway, and concludes, "Thus, Christians have a terrorism problem too. It flows from the kind of tribal thinking that is a catastrophic misinterpretation of the Christian faith, but it

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-13862914580216500702011-08-09T08:11:00.001-07:002011-08-09T08:11:54.471-07:00

 “...the more different the gods worshipped by various peoples, the more likely, all other things being equal, that their respective worshippers will come into conflict and the less likely that they will find peaceful resolution of conflict” “The claim that Muslims and Christians worship radically different deities is good for fighting, but not for living together peacefully.”Miroslav Volf, 

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-16528464101283402582011-08-02T04:37:00.000-07:002011-08-02T04:37:27.057-07:00

"So . . . it was October 2008. I had been invited by Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian—Bill’s mentor and mine—to attend a conference in Amman, Jordan, taught entirely by Arab Christians from Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and the West Bank. To a person, these ministry leaders said they felt abandoned by Western Christians. And, of course, they are; to most Western Christians the phrase “Arab Christian” is an

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-40980521930174365112011-08-02T03:27:00.000-07:002011-08-02T03:28:28.593-07:00

"The World Evangelical Alliance Peace and Reconciliation Initiative (WEAPRI) has been established in order to respond to the extraordinary opportunity that 600 million evangelicals have, to reach out to the world as Peace-makers through the Church and Christian community internationally. With its secretariat in Auckland, New Zealand and its governance maintained by an International Executive

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-53510788542062354112011-07-26T00:19:00.000-07:002011-07-26T00:19:48.741-07:00

Sami Awad of Holy Land Trust is a voice for peace in Palestine. Check out this interview.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-81836652572599262102011-07-24T11:13:00.000-07:002011-07-24T11:13:17.823-07:00

“The biblical test case for love of God is love of neighbor. The biblical test case for love of neighbor is love of enemy. Failure to love the enemy is failure to love God.”  - Wayne Northey, in the book Unconditional? The Call of Jesus to Radical Forgiveness, by Brian Zahnd It seems fairly obvious that if people (starting with Christians) were to take Jesus' teaching seriously, and to "prove"

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-59501427212726750952011-07-23T22:29:00.000-07:002011-07-27T04:37:53.310-07:00

Check out two posts critiquing American Christian support of war: The Warmonger’s Fruit of the Spirit, which begins: "It seems sensible and logical that followers of someone called the Prince of Peace would not act like they are following Mars, the Roman god of war. As I have maintained whenever I speak about Christianity and war, if there is any group of people that should be opposed to war

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-44581526556495139722011-07-17T15:20:00.000-07:002011-07-17T15:20:49.014-07:00

God save us from these people [Christian Zionists]. When you see what these people are encouraging Israel and the U.S. Administration to do – that is, ignore the Palestinians, if not worse, if not kick them out, expand the settlements to the greatest extent possible – they are leading us into a scenario of out-and-out disaster.Yossi Alpher (60 Minutes, “Zion's Christian Soldiers,” Oct. 6, 2002)

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-1485283002813941822011-07-11T10:36:00.000-07:002011-07-11T10:36:26.138-07:00

I remember: it happened yesterday, or eternities ago. A young Jewish boy discovered the Kingdom of Night. I remember his bewilderment, I remember his anguish. It all happened so fast. The ghetto. The deportation. The sealed cattle car. The fiery altar upon which the history of our people and the future of mankind were meant to be sacrificed. I remember he asked his father, 'Can this be true?

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-48305569512988498162011-07-01T07:03:00.000-07:002011-07-01T07:03:39.880-07:00

I have read many books (and answered many questions) related to the question of whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God. This is the best book I have read on the subject, and it is particularly helpful and interesting because Volf addresses the broader context, including ways in which God and religion serve as identity markers and contribute to conflict between groups. His discussion

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-10775271168921697492011-06-30T16:44:00.000-07:002011-06-30T16:44:27.359-07:00

I just attended the Building Hope Conference at Yale (June 13-22, 2011), a strategic international conference of Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leaders, committed to seeking the common good. So what are some of the major lessons I learned? (click to follow the link for the full reflection)

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-40360251425723215292011-06-27T07:42:00.000-07:002011-06-27T07:54:00.032-07:00

"Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population. Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians." A Common Word, quoted in Miroslav Volf, Allah: A Christian Response

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-46323141453877076682011-06-26T06:34:00.000-07:002011-06-26T06:34:08.054-07:00

"The claim that Muslims and Christians worship radically different deities is good for fighting, but not for living together peacefully." Miroslav Volf, Allah: A Christian Response

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-36160484811259299412011-06-26T06:02:00.000-07:002011-06-26T06:02:04.099-07:00

Here is the Final Statement from the 10-day Building Hope Conference of the Reconciliation Program at the Center for Faith and Culture at Yale Divinity. It was a significant, transformative, "intercultural" and "interreligious" time.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-70531580395625205662011-06-23T14:38:00.000-07:002011-06-24T04:42:28.223-07:00

Jim Wallis's article, "The War Must Not Go On," made me think of an issue that surfaced this past 10 days in the "Building Hope" Conference at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, among Jews, Christians and Muslims. More than one of the Muslims, who are very much in good relationship with Christians, and in favor of peaceful coexistence, said that when they talk with Muslims (especially in the

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-86791801790264318712011-06-23T08:24:00.000-07:002011-06-23T08:24:26.044-07:00

Does our theology lead us towards destruction or reconciliation? Toward being "for" someone and "against" another, or being for all? Salim Munayer is one of my peace heroes.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-35316068221979080442011-06-21T20:38:00.000-07:002011-06-22T22:07:22.712-07:00

Okay, here's a trip: Visiting the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue in New York City, led by Rabbi Elie Abbadie, with a group of Muslims, Christians and Orthodox Jews, and hearing Daisy Khan speak. Daisy Khan is the wife of Imam Faisal, who has been at the center of the Ground Zero mosque controversy. She is interesting, engaging, real, and anything but threatening. That, she says, is because (according

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-9314988698104453232011-06-21T11:13:00.000-07:002011-06-21T11:13:03.945-07:00

“If we are going to seek the common good, we must seek what is good for all of us – Muslims, Christians and Jews, together” (Dr. Rick Love, Peace Catalyst International - http://www.peace-catalyst.net/) This is the way to seek peace - to seek the common good, for all; and preferably, to do this by working together.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-76406883441724782242011-06-21T11:08:00.000-07:002011-06-21T11:08:19.729-07:00

Rabbi David Shneyer of the Am Kolel Jewish Renewal Community of Greater Washington tells us why he is a “Rabbi for Human Rights.” He asks how one could be a rabbi and not support human rights. Rabbi Shneyer believes that we need an organization that stands for justice and human rights for all people, especially within the Occupied Territories. He believes it is wrong for us, given our history and

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-80183123468762426822011-06-21T07:52:00.000-07:002011-06-21T07:52:38.266-07:00

As Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders, we adhere to a common core of ethical standards that compel us to speak out against all forms of prejudice, hatred, and discrimination that our faiths encounter. The following seven resolutions provide common ground for us as “children of Abraham.” We affirm these seven statements and resolve to share them with everyone, everywhere.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-74865654616294738592011-06-21T05:27:00.000-07:002011-06-21T05:27:39.913-07:00

At the UN yesterday, as part of Yale's "Building Hope" conference, we heard various speakers. Here is a word from Dr. Mustapha Ceric, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Hertzegovina: “there are no just wars – all wars are unjust in terms of human suffering and loss” Not what you expect to hear from a Grand Mufti?

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-90582094530955921382011-06-19T18:30:00.000-07:002011-06-19T18:30:58.980-07:00

We had a fascinating interaction today, at the "Building Hope" conference, on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Presenters were Rabbi Douglas Krantz, one of the founders of J Street (see http://jstreet.org/), and Sami Awad of Holy Land Trust (http://www.holylandtrust.org/) and the film "Little Town of Bethlehem" (http://littletownofbethlehem.org/), which we viewed tonight (see it if you haven't).

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-78546995990506640782011-06-19T14:19:00.000-07:002011-06-22T22:08:35.809-07:00

Another "peace nugget" from the Building Hope Conference: “it's much harder to hate someone once you know them” (Imam Dawood) We must meet and know people, if we are to grow toward peace. This is true whether we're talking about Christian-Muslim-Jewish relations, about race relations, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We have to step out of our comfort zone, leave our bubbles, and meet The

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-56494942586467231112011-06-19T13:19:00.000-07:002011-06-19T13:19:46.548-07:00

Seeking peace through bringing people together - check out the work of Encounter: http://www.encounterprograms.org/

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-42328538893607333082011-06-19T12:56:00.000-07:002011-06-19T13:07:08.088-07:00

Words for peace, from a talk by Sami Awad at the Building Hope Conference (you can follow it on Twitter at #buildinghope): “if you want peace, you work for peace, and you never stop, no matter what the other side does” “finding a solution to just benefit one group or another, is not peace” “peace is what you give, not what you take” “peace is not a strategic option” (i.e., our commitment needs

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-67952754178384888912011-06-18T19:11:00.000-07:002011-06-18T19:11:44.859-07:00

One thing that has become clear to me, as we - committed Christians, Muslims and Jews - discuss our sacred texts about various issues (like love of neighbor, the poor, violence including terrorism, and others), at the Building Hope Conference, is that our problem does not lie in our sacred texts, but in the interpretation and application of those texts. To put it very simply, you can interpret

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-67244393783068183482011-06-18T06:26:00.000-07:002011-06-18T06:26:45.401-07:00

“My concern is not that we don't love our enemies, but that we don't love anyone; that we just love ourselves and those who it is convenient to love. … In the West, now, we are lacking even a sense of community, what it means to have literal, actual neighbors. … What would it look like for us to take our literal neighborhoods seriously?” A Pastor Who is a Participant in the "Building Hope"

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-31012142696728478232011-06-18T06:11:00.000-07:002011-06-18T06:11:53.603-07:00

“When we look deeply into our anger, we see that the person we call our enemy is also suffering. As soon as we see that, we have the capacity of accepting and having compassion for him. Jesus called this ‘loving your enemy.’ When we are able to love our enemy, he or she is no longer our enemy. The idea of ‘enemy’ vanishes and is replaced by the notion of someone suffering a great deal who needs

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-63423464991869750182011-06-18T06:00:00.000-07:002011-06-18T06:00:33.238-07:00

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-63396086376854132372011-06-17T05:43:00.000-07:002011-06-17T05:46:19.540-07:00

"In an interview with Washington Post, Jordan King Abdullah laments Israeli public's gravitation toward the right, rejection of 1967 borders, saying prospects for Middle East peace are grim." I'm afraid he's probably right.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-88204680913743923412011-06-16T19:13:00.000-07:002011-06-20T19:45:23.057-07:00

An interesting question came up yesterday, as we were talking about peacemaking and tolerance in our (Christian, Jewish and Muslim) traditions. First of all, we all agreed that "tolerance" is a weak and insufficient goal. We want something more, and we need something more, if we are to be seeking and building peace with different others. But then a question arose, as we considered what our

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-33332328915665595092011-06-15T12:02:00.000-07:002011-06-15T12:03:34.776-07:00

The reason Adam was created alone in the world is to teach you that whoever destroys a single soul, Scripture imputes it to him as though he had destroyed the entire world; and whoever keeps alive a single soul, Scripture imputes it to him as though he had preserved the entire world.        Babylonian Talmud Because of this, we decreed for the Children of Israel that anyone who murders any

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-18745128577237338702011-06-14T19:03:00.000-07:002011-06-14T19:03:15.871-07:00

The "Building Hope" conference has begun. There is too much to reflect on coherently at this time, but a couple of thoughts about how to relate to the Other, in a way that might lead to something positive: * We were encouraged last night that for deeper understanding, we must go beyond study of texts (history, etc.), and focus on developing friendship with others (the others we might be

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-27255499111130421962011-06-12T21:51:00.000-07:002011-06-12T21:51:08.763-07:00

Yasi Qadhi is an interesting mix, to say the least. If the world is to know greater peace, we need more conservatives like this one.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-25779407421426908822011-06-12T05:17:00.000-07:002011-06-18T06:01:46.520-07:00

A rabbi asked his students: when, at dawn, can one tell the light from the darkness? One student replied: when I can tell a goat from a donkey. No, answered the rabbi. Another said: when I can tell a palm tree from a fig. No, answered the rabbi again. Well then, what is the answer? his students pressed him. Not until you look into the face of every man and every woman and see your brother and

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-39493740914380400452011-06-11T04:07:00.000-07:002011-06-11T04:07:46.783-07:00

Can Muslims, Christians and Jews - especially those with deep faith commitments, and who are more "conservative" within their respective traditions - work together for the common good? What might it take? What barriers must be overcome? This is where I'll be, the next two weeks. We'll see what happens.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-25105568565616549162011-06-10T06:13:00.000-07:002011-06-10T06:14:12.854-07:00

How could a person living under military occupation, experiencing first-hand suffering and humiliation, even think about loving the enemy, let alone urge family, friends and neighbors to do the same? This challenging message came from a young rabbi named Jesus in his “Sermon on the Mount.”  Of course, Jesus could have suggested we make peace with our enemies or negotiate peace agreements or

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-31882472905352869492011-06-09T05:34:00.000-07:002011-06-09T05:34:05.292-07:00

"As rabbis, our first responsibility in [Rabbis for Human Rights] is to uphold the Jewish tradition of human rights.  However, international law is a secular expression of that same love for humanity.  International law was not created to be a gun pressed against our heads, but to learn from the darkest chapters of human history and serve as secular expression of the very Jewish belief in the

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-23003329441764362412011-06-08T05:26:00.000-07:002011-06-08T05:26:31.678-07:00

"What then is the source of our redemption, our salvation? It lies ultimately in our willingness to acknowledge the other - the victims we have created - Palestinian, Lebanese and also Jewish - and the injustice we have perpetrated as a grieving people. Perhaps then we can pursue a more just solution in which we seek to be ordinary rather than absolute, where we finally come to understand that

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-30562290879110992332011-06-07T05:19:00.000-07:002011-06-07T05:29:17.500-07:00

AmelMaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13445707823678216343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-12997215070256929312011-05-30T23:10:00.000-07:002011-05-30T23:10:36.389-07:00

"We are by nature a people who have the Law of Retaliation in our hearts: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (Ex. 21:24). But Jesus taught and lived a greater principle: 'I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also' (Matt. 5:39). His first response was not to extract revenge, but to give the other person a chance. This is

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-32687121679086941602011-05-29T23:35:00.000-07:002011-05-29T23:35:45.997-07:00

"When we try to overcome evil with evil, we are not working for peace. If you say, ‘Saddam Hussein is evil. We have to prevent him from continuing to be evil,’ and if you then use the same means he has been using, you are exactly like him. Trying to overcome evil with evil is not the way to make peace." Johann Arnold, Seeking Peace

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-41299616030893742142011-05-28T00:14:00.000-07:002011-05-28T00:14:48.441-07:00

Another website with a variety of information on the Palestinian-Israeli situation: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/ Do you know? Does it make a difference?

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-15963334652687575342011-05-26T13:48:00.000-07:002011-05-26T13:48:17.274-07:00

Here's a link to an excellent new interview with gametrekker Jordan Magnuson: 'I released a new notgame from Cambodia today'.  The notgame, a powerful interaction with Cambodia's genocide, speaks for itself, and really deserves a play through (it takes about four minutes, and only requires holding down the space button, so no excuses about complexity or lack of time): The Killer.  As one reviewer

AmelMaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13445707823678216343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-49555977440842514632011-05-26T02:14:00.000-07:002011-05-26T02:15:30.538-07:00

“As long as we do not pray for our enemies, we continue to see only our own point of view – our own righteousness – and to ignore their perspective. Prayer breaks down the distinctions between us and them. To do violence to others, you must make them enemies. Prayer, on the other hand, makes enemies into friends. When we have brought our enemies into our hearts in prayer, it becomes difficult to

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-58764072142729211792011-05-25T04:03:00.000-07:002011-05-25T04:03:16.576-07:00

"One of the greatest hindrances to peace is our inability to be silent." "Mother Teresa points out that what we have to say is never as essential as what God says to us and through us: 'All our words are useless if they do not come from within. Words that do not carry the light of Christ only increase the darkness'." Johann Arnold, Seeking Peace

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-11916277417361083272011-05-23T23:24:00.000-07:002011-05-23T23:25:47.524-07:00

“A new type of person whose orientation and view of the world profoundly transcends his indigenous culture is developing from the complex of social, political, economic, and educational interactions of our time.”Peter Adler, quoted in Bennett, “Towards Ethnorelativism” (I wonder why he didn’t also say “religious” interactions? But that’s another subject…) According to Adler, the “multicultural

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-47310897425489263672011-05-23T10:48:00.000-07:002011-05-23T10:48:55.629-07:00

"So there are two strains within Christianity: one conservative (Christian Zionism) and one liberal/progressive (interfaith reconciliation). Both produce a tendency to support both the concept and the reality of the Jewish state. Both act powerfully to stifle criticism of Israel. This helps explain the reluctance - phobia might be a better word - of many Christians to call Israel to account for

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-58028117462434903632011-05-22T22:33:00.000-07:002011-05-22T22:34:40.967-07:00

“One of the ways people inevitably increase their awareness when learning about other cultures is to move from thinking ‘My way is the only way’ toward thinking ‘There are many valid ways’ of interpreting and participating in life. And the process involves more than changing your thinking; it also involves adjusting your behaviors.”Brooks Peterson, Cultural Intelligence (emphasis mine) “The

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-51527805107107097012011-05-22T03:07:00.000-07:002011-05-26T07:25:23.425-07:00

“Can we doubt that presently our race will more than realize our boldest imaginations, that it will achieve unity and peace, and that our children will live in a world made more splendid and lovely than any palace or garden that we know, going on from strength to strength in an ever-widening circle of achievement? What man has done, the little triumphs of his present state…form but the prelude to

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-9491079615890786752011-05-21T23:09:00.001-07:002011-05-21T23:12:47.507-07:00

"One of the greatest risks in taking up arms against evil is to mistake the battle for something that must be fought on a human level, between opposing camps of ‘good’ people and ‘evil’ ones. We may speak of God and the church in contrast to Satan and the world, but the reality is that the dividing line between good and evil runs through every human heart. And who are we to judge anyone but

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-60313039859293419212011-05-21T03:21:00.000-07:002011-05-22T03:08:08.531-07:00

"Gandhi once advised, 'If you hate injustice, tyranny, lust, and greed, hate these things in yourself first'." Johann Christoph Arnold, Seeking Peace

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-29340855982598600052011-05-20T22:02:00.000-07:002011-05-22T03:09:08.439-07:00

Everyone I know who has traveled in the Occupied West Bank and has seen the realities of the Occupation and met with people who are working against it and for justice, has had a life-changing experience. This account is typical, with the exception that the author is an American Jew, grandson of a 5th-generation Palestinian Jew, which lends a different kind of weight to his witness: “Traveling in

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-68992702341085887882011-05-20T08:01:00.001-07:002011-05-21T03:07:32.466-07:00

“As light cannot share space with darkness, so good and evil cannot coexist, and we must, therefore, decide which side we will take.” Bruderhof Communities Covenant (excerpts):We declare war againstall irreverence toward the childlike spirit of Jesus.We declare war againstall emotional or physical cruelty toward children.We declare war againstthe search for power over the souls of others.We

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-4676424529350096782011-05-20T00:11:00.000-07:002011-05-21T03:06:50.853-07:00

“We cannot sit and wait for heaven, for God’s reign of peace, to fall into our laps. We must go after it zealously.” Johann Christoph Arnold, Seeking Peace: Notes and Conversations Along the Way

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-30880059371933793282011-05-19T23:53:00.001-07:002011-05-19T23:54:20.255-07:00

"I am a soldier of Christ; I cannot fight" (St. Martin of Tours)

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-46805306566599546522011-05-19T03:16:00.000-07:002011-05-19T03:27:02.449-07:00

God God of the Jew God of the Christian God of the Muslim God of us all, stop our warring madness. Keep us from ghettoizing your holy people. Keep us from ghettoizing ourselves from the pain of the world! Keep us mindful of the light that shines in the midst of deep despair how together with your Spirit, we can overcome the warring madness. God of the Samaritan, Pharisee and Priest in all of

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-44790417237358139372011-05-18T23:30:00.000-07:002011-05-18T23:30:33.426-07:00

"But if we [the Jewish people] now become slaves to the consequences of empowerment, then we are not free, and we are not truly powerful. The Jewish state, by using the Holocaust as justification for unjust actions, is betraying the meaning we should take from our history of persecution and marginalization. You cannot achieve your own deliverance, even from the most unspeakable evil, by the

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-35102755172533761862011-05-18T03:31:00.000-07:002011-05-18T04:26:38.983-07:00

Fatal Embrace is the remarkable account of the personal journey of an American Jew, grandson of a fifth generation Palestinian Jew, into his Jewish identity through the process of visiting Israel and the Occupied West Bank and beginning to grapple with the realities of the Israeli treatment of the Palestinian people. Here is an account of the impact of a visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-36966815032630692862011-05-17T00:45:00.000-07:002011-05-17T00:46:38.591-07:00

“Tel Aviv, Israel, 2001. Nurit Peled-Elhanan is the mother of Smadar Elhanan, who was thirteen years old when she was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber in September 1997. After Smadar's death, Nurit and her husband, Rami, Jewish Israelis, opened their house of mourning to Palestinian supporters and to other bereaved parents. Years later, Nurit said this in a speech in Tel Aviv: ‘When my

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-86518436498014487862011-05-16T03:29:00.000-07:002011-05-16T03:29:56.156-07:00

Victor Frankl, reflecting on how everyday life in the Nazi concentration camps impacted people, wrote the following: "During this psychological phase one observed that people with natures of a more primitive kind could not escape the influences of brutality which had surrounded them in camp life. Now, being free, they thought they could use their freedom licentiously and ruthlessly. The only

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-68160404862871824722011-05-11T02:59:00.000-07:002011-05-11T02:59:50.078-07:00

Here's another reflection on the death of bin Laden, and whether the U.S. as a nation can get beyond "Osama's worldview: that we are suspended in a cosmic struggle between Western Christendom and Islam": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-fredericks/post-bin-laden-911-and-th_b_859550.html The relevance to a "dialogue for peace"? What the author is advocating is that there needs to be dialogue

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-88718066349945548622011-05-10T11:36:00.000-07:002011-05-10T11:36:45.632-07:00

Here's a post with 3 responses to the question, "was the killing of Osama bin Laden a just act?" (in light of "just war" theory): http://www.capitalcommentary.org/just-war/just-war-and-osama-bin-laden

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-59941864106069782822011-05-07T08:57:00.000-07:002011-05-10T23:23:39.286-07:00

"I will not tire of declaring that if we really want an effective end to violence we must remove the violence that lies at the root of all violence: structural violence, social injustice, exclusion of citizens from the management of the country, repression. All this is what constitutes the primal cause, from which the rest flows naturally. "Would that the many bloodstained hands in our land were

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-50568407385162351502011-05-06T10:39:00.000-07:002011-05-08T05:49:59.806-07:00

In the days following the announcement of bin Laden's assassination, there has been a range of reactions, from Americans celebrating in the streets, to people writing questions about whether this was the best way to deal with bin Laden. The following is an excellent reflection, by a leading Christian theologian: http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2011-05/fear-and-relief

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-41892098536005205192011-05-06T10:23:00.000-07:002011-05-06T10:23:46.679-07:00

A friend of mine wrote the following, in an interaction on the news of the murder of Osama bin Laden: "I think it is wrong to assassinate people. Therefore, from my point of view, Osama bin Laden, should have been arrested, not shot on the spot. A better way to promote democracy, human rights and rule of law would be to arrest, investigate and then prosecute in the court suspected criminals.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-87942885090414860332011-05-06T07:11:00.000-07:002011-05-06T07:11:56.160-07:00

"We can only conclude that there is some violent impulse so deeply rooted in the human heart that it expresses itself regardless of what the beliefs of a particular society might be - whether socialist or capitalist, whether religious or irreligious, whether individualistic or hierarchical. Ultimately, then, the fact of violence and warfare in a society is no necessary refutation of the

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-82910788215362919382011-05-04T21:50:00.000-07:002011-05-07T03:27:08.646-07:00

Here's an excellent reflection on Bin Laden's death, and the disturbing response it's illicited: Osama bin Laden's Death: The U.S. Patriot Reflex. Some thought provoking passages: Given the nature of the 9/11 attacks a popular desire for vengeance in the US is a perfectly understandable and legitimate emotional response. It is not, however, a foreign policy. And if vengeance is a

AmelMaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13445707823678216343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-23401496450026841742011-05-04T00:10:00.000-07:002011-05-04T00:12:15.047-07:00

“One of the ways people inevitably increase their awareness when learning about other cultures is to move from thinking ‘My way is the only way’ toward thinking ‘There are many valid ways’ of interpreting and participating in life.”Brooks Peterson, Cultural Intelligence In Bennett’s DMIS (Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity), growth toward a richer, fuller, more positive experience

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-43700325259234614592011-05-02T23:12:00.000-07:002011-05-03T23:18:55.670-07:00

"It is widely believe that one of the main barriers to world peace is religion, and especially the major traditional religions with their exclusive claims to superiority." Timothy Keller, The Reason for God "The 20th century gave rise to one of the greatest and most distressing paradoxes of human history: that the greatest intolerance and violence of that century were practiced by those who

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-12375695827109612232011-05-01T23:30:00.000-07:002011-05-02T07:22:00.673-07:00

“Does pacifism suffice? I don’t think it is enough. …When in Asia millions of people starve to death while in North America and elsewhere millions of tons of wheat are stockpiled, isn’t that war? When thousands of women prostitute their bodies and ruin their lives for the sake of money; when millions of babies are aborted each year, isn’t that war? When people are forced to work like slaves

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-79346743132356188432011-05-01T06:41:00.000-07:002011-05-02T07:22:00.679-07:00

“Here I should point out that despite my own faith in Christ, and despite the vocabulary of this book (which some may find 'churchy'), I do not believe that one must necessarily be a Christian to find the peace of Jesus. True, we cannot ignore Jesus’ statements: ‘He who does not gather with me, scatters’ and ‘He who is not for me is against me.’ Yet what does it mean to be ‘for’ Jesus? Doesn’t he

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-25834277572310799252011-04-30T09:00:00.000-07:002011-05-02T07:22:00.685-07:00

“If peace is to be built, it must start with the individual.” “Nothing is so vital – or painful – as recognizing the unpeace in our own lives and hearts. For some of us it may be hatred or resentment; with others, deceit, dividedness, or confusion; still others, mere emptiness or depression. In the deepest sense it is all violence and must therefore be face and overcome.”Johann Arnold, Seeking

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-47515402208670944282011-04-29T23:00:00.000-07:002011-05-02T07:22:00.691-07:00

“Shalom [the Hebrew word for “peace”] means the end of war and conflict, but it also means friendship, contentment, security, and health; prosperity, abundance, tranquility, harmony with nature, and even salvation. And it means these things for everyone, not only a select few. Shalom is ultimately a blessing, a gift from God. It is not a human endeavor. It applies to the state of the individual,

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-28150691113870528342011-04-29T06:52:00.001-07:002011-05-02T07:22:00.698-07:00

“Darkness is the absence of light, but peace is not just the cessation of hostilities…[Peace] is more than the absence of war. Peace, in fact, is not the absence of anything, but rather the ultimate affirmation of what can be.” Rabbi Kenneth L. Cohen

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-63177935648847968692011-04-28T03:39:00.000-07:002011-05-02T07:22:00.705-07:00

“I use Salaam alaikum as a daily greeting, but it does not just mean ‘Good morning’ or ‘Good afternoon.’ It means more: ‘The peace and blessings of God be upon you.’ When I say this, I feel that you are at peace with me, and I with you. I am extending a helping hand to you. I am coming to you to give you peace. And in the meantime, until we meet again, it means that I pray to God to bless you and

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-87258160809270022292011-04-20T23:41:00.000-07:002011-04-21T15:20:01.782-07:00

June 15, 2010, Bethlehem Is There No Hope?Is there no hope, when people have long been struggling with each otherWhen there is a long and painful historyOf wrongsOf hurting, taking, attacking, even killing.When each feels themself a victimWhen each calls on God for vindicationWhen each sees only their own hurt and the others’ wrongs to themAnd is unable to acknowledge their own wrongsOr to ask

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-10056602461000785232011-04-05T16:00:00.000-07:002011-06-07T05:36:57.512-07:00

So, for those of you who remember my post about Game Trekking a while back (mentioned in my last post), here's another kickstarter project aimed at uniting art and peacemaking: Tour for Peace.  I've had the privilege of knowing one of the violinists (Lauren Manning) since we were kids (and even then we knew how talented she was) and of hearing her perform on multiple occasions.  She's spent most

AmelMaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13445707823678216343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-40042505333339016732011-04-04T09:28:00.000-07:002011-05-26T13:52:02.600-07:00

I've already posted about my brother, a computer game developer who is traveling the world (Southeast Asia, anyway) creating "notgames" about his experiences. Calling him a computer game developer is not entirely correct, however.  My brother is an artist -- someone who seeks to creatively interact with the world around him.  Someone constantly searching for meaningful ways to encounter reality,

AmelMaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13445707823678216343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-6437214015928927482011-03-28T01:20:00.000-07:002011-03-28T01:20:45.179-07:00

“To work for peace, you must have a peaceful heart. When you do, you are a child of God. But many who work for peace are not at peace. They still have anger and frustration, and their work is not really peaceful… To preserve peace, our hearts must be at peace with the world, with our brothers and our sisters.” “We often think of peace as the absence of war; that if the powerful countries would

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-4570471260178481062011-03-24T02:13:00.000-07:002011-03-24T02:18:32.607-07:00

To return once more to the topic of ethnocentrism (i.e., seeing and experiencing and interacting with the world from the perspective of your own culture / your own frame of reference, without an understanding of the different cultures of others, or the ability to enter into their frame of reference and experience), I would like to ask whether ethnocentrism is compatible with seeking peace, and if

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-79513923091894916962011-03-23T03:19:00.000-07:002011-03-23T03:25:49.561-07:00

From the people I have met on my travels in the land of Jesus, here are a few of my “peace lessons”: We must learn to see all people – including our “enemies” – as human beings created in the image of God, due respect and honor and treatment as such (regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, etc., and regardless of how they are treating us). The way Sheikh Ghassan put it, to

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-31462715689360825572011-03-18T23:01:00.000-07:002011-04-04T03:13:30.272-07:00

"If the oppressed are denied the right to carry out revolution peacefully, how can they be condemned when they turn to violent revolution?" (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-7307887291756941122011-03-15T04:09:00.000-07:002011-03-15T04:12:55.266-07:00

Here's a well-articulated reflection on the challenges of personal peace-seeking from my good friend and fellow George Fox graduate, Kohleun: I Don't Want to Talk about It I think deep down I’ve always been a pacifist. Violence in its many forms has unsettled me since I can remember hearing my older brother report a playground fight at his elementary school, or learning that spouse rape was

AmelMaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13445707823678216343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-80412241960212924182011-03-10T12:19:00.001-08:002011-03-11T02:41:41.266-08:00

"Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates" (Simone Weil) And the result of the actions while under the intoxicating influence of force, to those who think they possess it / who act upon it, are brutal.

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-79946102460538222552011-03-07T22:10:00.000-08:002011-03-23T09:14:27.550-07:00

"...no one is born a terrorist. We are all born human beings." (Naim Ateek) "In the eyes of the Creator there is as much difference between Jews and non-Jews as between non-Jews and animals" (the journal of the French Lubavitch, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group) "...the most potent stimulus of aggression and violence...[is] insult and humiliation. In other words, the most effective way, and often

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-14702963127539179002011-03-05T09:00:00.000-08:002011-03-11T02:41:41.276-08:00

"All violence is wrong, and violence can never contribute to peace. Even though some glorify violence or piously disguise it, it must always be exposed and repudiated." "It is interesting to compare modern warfare and suicide bombings. Due to sophisticated technology, war has become 'impersonal.' Bombs are fired from long distances. While reeking devastation and killing hundreds of people,

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-22576032746982131232011-03-02T22:18:00.000-08:002011-03-24T02:19:15.978-07:00

In my previous post on the third stage of ethnocentrism, minimization, in Bennett's "Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity," I briefly mentioned that Bennett sees the "Golden Rule" as somehow characterizing this phase (see http://salemshalom.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-ethnocentrism-hinders-peace-part-3.html). (He goes on to say that what he calls the "Platinum Rule" is characteristic of

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-41437352807619459082011-03-01T02:48:00.000-08:002011-03-01T03:10:20.883-08:00

Ethnocentrism, stage three: Minimization The third stage in Bennett’s model of intercultural sensitivity (the DMIS)* is minimization, about which he comments, “The last attempt to preserve the centrality of one’s own worldview involves an effort to bury difference under the weight of cultural similarities.” Minimization is the most “tricky” of the stages of ethnocentrism, and perhaps the most

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-58467803185625468242011-02-28T00:23:00.000-08:002011-02-28T01:18:16.156-08:00

  How defense hinders peace The second stage in Bennett’s model of intercultural sensitivity is defense.  As someone moves from a lack of awareness of difference (the denial stage, see http://salemshalom.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-ethnocentrism-hinders-peace-denial.html) into more contact with cultural difference, the initial experience and reaction is often negative.  Differences, at this stage,

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-4214096479117736302011-02-27T01:09:00.000-08:002011-02-28T04:27:48.097-08:00

"Once there is seeing, there must also be doing. Otherwise, what is the use of seeing." (Thich Nhat Hanh, quoted in Johann Christoph Arnold, Seeking Peace)

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-23106350076885671402011-02-27T00:59:00.000-08:002011-02-28T00:50:40.048-08:00

One of the most useful intercultural tools that I’ve come across is Milton Bennett’s “Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity” (DMIS), which considers the process of growth that people experience as they encounter cultural difference.* In Bennett’s model, people grow from an experience centered in ethnocentrism – seeing and experiencing the world only from the perspective of one’s own

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-61384144132100241552011-02-26T04:38:00.000-08:002011-02-26T04:40:45.876-08:00

There is much public debate and these days about whether Muslims are peaceful people and whether Islam is a “religion of peace.” Many Americans, and many Christians, doubt both of these. Among the issues raised by those who believe that Muslims are extreme and Islam an extreme religion (and, many think, incompatible with the values of Western civilization or Christian teaching), are jihad, views

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-80850643536625061562011-02-26T00:22:00.000-08:002011-02-28T04:27:48.102-08:00

"Conflict provides an avenue for spiritual growth. To resolve conflict, by definition we must become more engaged, not less. Just when we want to 'tell the other person off,' we are forced to be quiet and listen to their complaint. Just when we are most eager to make ourselves understood, we must strive to understand. Just when we seek to air our grievances, we must labor to comprehend another's

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-27162936147982498122011-02-25T07:39:00.000-08:002011-02-28T04:27:48.105-08:00

"I have often thought that the most important issue of our time is not racial prejudice or color prejudice or anything else. It is this question of how we overcome evil without becoming another form of evil in the process." (Laurens van der Post, quoted by Naim Ateek in A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation)

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-51008339095124769272011-02-25T07:33:00.000-08:002011-02-27T18:39:58.257-08:00

In a post on the site “Not the Religious Type,” the author refers to a recent NY Times editorial by Stanley Fish.  In his editorial, Fish points out the double standard used to discuss violent acts by or against members of a religious community, and concludes the following: “The formula is simple and foolproof (although those who deploy it so facilely seem to think we are all fools): If the bad

Mideast Maghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13585750308774410769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1706599479200371807.post-27593952879975015512011-02-24T02:58:00.000-08:002011-02-24T03:10:43.485-08:00

I first noticed the "Charter for Compassion" at the Quaker Meeting House in Ramallah (see http://charterforcompassion.org/share/the-charter/): The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow

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