The Theology of Gaza
This photo just ruins me.
I just want to hold the father and weep with him. You know what we have today is akin to the story of Esther – in which the day of Jewish extermination turned into the day of Jewish vengeance. Gaza is the modern-day Esther story. And like Esther, there is nothing holy about what Israel did in turning around and massacring her enemies. Isn’t it more clear already by now the injustice that is occurring in the so-called “Holy Land” is not just inhumanitarian, but flagrantly unreligious? How could this be the people of God doing these things? The following photos MUST be seen by the world. Proceed at your own risk – they are gruesome – but they must be seen.
I only ask:
Is this the “Shalom” of Israel? Are the “people of God” living up to God’s vision for them? Is this what it means to be the holy nation of Israel? I wonder; what is the opinion of the Israeli / Jewish Diaspora?
Like
I have a photo of Hamas, too–
http://smellytourist.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/fact-hamas-is-a-bunch-of-cute-little-kids/
http://www.smellytourist.wordpress.com
That is the hell of Zion and religion.
While I think the violence is wrong I have to ask: Why has no one gotten this upset when Hamas would shoot rockets into Israel at random over the last 4 years? What about the Palestinian suicide bombers that have plagued Israel for decades with hundreds of completely random Israeli’s being killed?
I think it is important for us to recognize that this was done in response to Hamas and not a case of Israel just deciding it wants to pick on the “little guy”.
So back to the bottom line: Who started all this idiocy??
I cry at the loss of life on both sides. I pray for the peace of Isreal and the surrounding area. But I also still question Hamas’ intentions. To start a war with Isreal without regard for it’s people, knowing the response Isreal would have is, in my opinion, genocide.
I heard an interview about two days ago, by one who said he was Hamas and is now Christian. He said there will never be peace in Gaza until Hamas develops the love for it’s own people as it has for power. They are killing their own. Hamas says they want totally open borders, Hamas has not respected the borders in the past, and has violated treaties. They seem to want the notoriety.
Cameron Garcia –you are right on.
pochp–I find it amazing people attack religion, then become humanists. Some people (under the guise of religion) killing and murdering does not negate that religion’s tenets. If it did, then no one could be an atheist or a humanist, either. Hitler was the 20th century’s most famous humanist. Stalin was right up there, too.
Could we agree that evil in the name of the Bible or Torah does not negate the truth of either book?
http://www.smellytourist.wordpress.com
Do we have to be religious to be humanist? Being religious is just the root of the problem. Can’t you see that simple fact?
Someone asks:
“what is your view of Israel in the Old testament? (i.e. massacre of nation after nation after nation that opposed Israel or were in the land God has promised them?)”
which I think intimates at the possibility of a so-called Biblical endorsement of these tragic photos of dead Palestinian children. So. Does the Old Testament mandate that we do likewise? Or is this just one – possibly errant maybe – interpretation falling under the theologies of dispensationalism / Christian zionism. Are there any alternatives to these interpretive frameworks? What are they?
any takers?
I am sorry to say that contrary to the common belief, Hamas did not start the war. The war was started by Israel both by attacking Hamas on November 4 and by imposing an economic strangle-hold on Gaza. Israel’s blockade left the people of Gaza desperately lacking in food, fuel, electricity, medical supplies, and other necessities for weeks before the current attack began. This was confirmed by Ira Chernus, a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. To see the article regarding this topic, please follow this link
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/06-13
What has been the news out of Gaza lately? The American media seems to be saying very little about it these days.
Anybody got the real scoop?
On a diff note, Dr. Rikki Watts, professor of New Testament Studies @ Regent College will be giving a lecture tomorrow titled “Up ZIon’s Hill: Imagining a New Jerusalem.” Here’s a synopsis:
“Recent events in Gaza have once again highlighted the near intractable problems that seem to plague the modern Near East. For Christians there is the added dimension of the status of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and in particular in the light of the same God’s new covenant inaugurated in Christ. How are we to respond when, for example, the Abrahamic promise of land results in suffering for our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Christ? This Forum is an attempt to help us think through the issues. Rikk has recently written an article on Israel and Salvation for the Oxford Dictionary of Evangelical Theology.”
Be sure to check back here Thursday, February 5th, 2009 for a blog update on the lecture and hopefully maybe even a link to a recording-? May the true theology of Gaza begin to find a stronger voice among the North American evangelical populace.
Holla!