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Adam Russell Taylor writes in this week’s SojoMail that Jesus’ call of peacemaking requires us to reject war’s dehumanization and pursue a just future: On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on Israel’s war against Hamas, declaring in a speech that “this is a time for war” and rejecting growing calls from around the world for a cease-fire. Netanyahu argued that “calls for a cease-fire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism.” As followers of Jesus, we must disagree. Peace does not mean appeasement, nor does a cease-fire mean support for Hamas. Contrary to the logic of violence, there is no military solution to this crisis. This is a time for peacemaking — and that starts with a cease-fire. Embracing Jesus’ call of peacemaking doesn’t mean we claim to have all the answers; I certainly don’t. Like many people, I have often felt powerless over the complexity and magnitude of this crisis in the weeks since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas. I’ve struggled with how best to show heartfelt solidarity with my Jewish siblings who are experiencing rising antisemitism and have told me they felt Israel was their “last safe place.” I’ve also wrestled with how to show deep solidarity with Palestinians who have experienced more than 70 years of forestalled efforts to secure rights to control their own destiny, as well as the daily humiliations, oppression, and violence of military occupation. But here’s what I do know: Wars, by their very nature, often force people to choose sides and dehumanize the other side to justify violence.
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Our Latest Episcopal Church Approves Committee to Investigate Forced Adoptions (by Rebecca Randall) The committee was approved to do archival work, seek stories, and explore reconciliation through at least 2027. ‘Jurassic Park’ Offers a Lesson for T. Rex-Sized Megachurches (by JR. Forasteros) Your pastors were so preoccupied with whether or not they could use strobe lights that they didn’t stop to think if they should. Why Are Christians So Bad at Forgiveness? (by Mitchell Atencio) “Forgive and forget” is impossible, but that doesn’t mean we can stop forgiving, says theologian and psychologist Chanequa Walker-Barnes. God Is Under the Rubble in Gaza (by Munther Isaac) A Palestinian pastor’s sermon of lament and anger. |
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From the Magazine Protecting Oak Flat Is a Defense of Religious Freedom (by Tim Nafziger) Why fighting a copper mining project in Arizona also resists colonization. |
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