Musings on the Hope for a Second Coming of a Messiah in Israel
I agree entirely with Thomas L. Friedman’s commentary in the NY Times on June 18. The caption to my commentary is only a hopeful hint of what could happen in Israel. Over 2,000 years ago Jesus appeared in that troubled Roman backwater with God’s promise of peace, but the Christian religion blew the opportunity to get it right. Maybe we’ll get it right this time around.
God’s will and democracy should be compatible, but looking at Israel, Russia and America today you wouldn’t know it. The teachings of Jesus on reconciliation and peace are summarized in the greatest commandment to love God and our neighbors, including those of other races and religions, as we love ourselves; but the lust for power has corrupted God’s love.
The greatest commandment is taken from the Hebrew Bible, and considered a common word of faith by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, but it has not been uniformly promoted by those Abrahamic religions. That’s evident in most synagogues, churches and mosques in Israel, which is supposedly a democracy that includes both Jews and Muslims.
Friedman has asserted that Netanyahu has set Israel on a suicide course of “reckless economic, military and moral overstretch--committing seven million Jews to control more than seven million Palestinians. Friedman agrees with former prime minister Ehud Barak, that “Israel faces the most serious and dangerous crisis in the country’s history.”
“Every American should worry about the prospect of a war that would drag the U.S. into a Middle East War to help Netanyahu’s IDF destroy Palestinians. While it would be insane for Israel and America, It would be a Russian, Chinese, and Iranian dream come true.” It would give divine sanction to continuing oppression in Israel.
Friedman admits that “If the war only buys Israel another long timeout with Hamas, maybe that’s all that’s possible. Up to now the real history of the Jews and Palestinians going back to the early 20th century has been: war, timeout, war, timeout, war, timeout, etc.” If the human depravity of the Middle East is a prelude to its future, we’ll have to live with it longer.
Friedman should have noted that in the 1st century, Jesus set a precedent for lasting peace and reconciliation in the Middle East with the greatest commandment as a common word of faith. Some sort of reconciliation between Jews and Palestinians is essential to world peace. Friedman said, ”As for now, Israel needs to get the hell out of Gaza and back into a timeout.”
Notes:
See Friedman, American Leaders Should Stop Debasing Themselves on Israel, at https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/18/opinion/netanyahu-gaza-congress.html.
The following commentaries were written several years ago on The Greatest Commandment as a Common Word of Faith. See http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/the-greatest-commandment-common-word-of.html; See also, Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/love-over-law-principle-at-heart-of.html; also, Who Is My Neighbor? See http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/01/who-is-my-neighbor.html; also The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/01/the-politics-of-loving-our-neighbors-as.html; also Musings on a Common Word of Faith and Politics for Christians and Muslims at
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/10/musings-on-common-word-of-faith-and.html and
Musings on Diversity in Democracy: Who Are Our Neighbors? See
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/07/musings-on-diversity-in-democracy-who.html.
See also, Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy at
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/love-over-law-principle-at-heart-of.html; see also
Who Is My Neighbor? At http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/01/who-is-my-neighbor.html; also, The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/01/the-politics-of-loving-our-neighbors-as.html, and
Altruism: The Missing Ingredient in American Christianity and Democracy at
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/03/altruism-missing-ingredient-in-american.html; and Musings on a Common Word of Faith and Politics for Christians and Muslims at
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/10/musings-on-common-word-of-faith-and.html, and Musings on Diversity in Democracy: Who Are Our Neighbors?
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/07/musings-on-diversity-in-democracy-who.html.
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