God, how do I love THAT enemy?

Today was rough. Being alone in my house recently hasn't been all that much fun, but today's frustrations were compounded by Israel's bombing of Gaza. (Side note: how many times will I have to blog about my anger with Israel's bombing of Gaza? I remember doing the same thing two years ago.) Anger did give me some adrenaline to keep going today, which I sort of needed, but I would much preferred to have been lethargic knowing that there were 300 more people on the planet than there are now.

My anger made for an interesting day at work. I, mostly out of stubborn anger (rage?), pinned a Palestinian flag to my bag, hoping one of the Israelis who work in the mall would see it. I have no idea whether any of them did or not, and it's probably a good thing that I didn't get into a quarrel in the middle of the mall. Towards the end of the day, though, Roy (one of the Israelis, who oddly enough was once my stalker) came into Yankee. I think he meant to pick a fight. He hasn't talked to me in a couple of weeks, and one of the first things he said to me was, "My country is at war."

Bad idea.

We commenced with a half hour-long argument about war, peace, violence, and history. I kept saying that there shouldn't be 300 Palestinians dead, and he kept blaming the Palestinians for their own predicament, saying that their bombings and "terrorism" were the reasons Israel went to war. I thought of questioning his definition of terrorism, but I thought he might explode if I suggested that his country's military is being terrorist (though that doesn't mean I don't think that...). He, as usual, said that violence was the only way to deal with the Palestinians. I said that the main reason Palestinians use violence is that Israel keeps killing so many of them and blocking basic humanitarian aid from reaching their territory.

We kept on for a while, and finally I got fed up. I said that Jewish tradition mandated that Jews care for the foreigners and the poor in their land. Roy said that the Torah tells him to kill someone before they kill him, and even went so far as to cite the texts that advocate genocide. This was the point at which I lost hope. I wanted to cry that a Jew thought of his faith so militantly. I have deep respect for the Jewish faith and tradition, but not of Roy's Jewish faith. Roy's Judaism has been formed by a society that advocates violence and perpetuates fear. His outlook is colored by a "Jewish" state that forces its citizens to spend time in the military.

On my way home, I thought of praying, but I wasn't sure whether or how. I think that Roy and I--along with the people of Gaza--pray to the same God. But we have such different understandings of that God. The God that I serve is on the side of the marginalized, has nothing but love for the world, and wants--no, commands--peace and reconciliation. Roy's God is tribal and isolationist--things that my understanding of God cannot tolerate. While my religion and my God call me to embrace the other, whether they be friend or enemy, Roy's religion causes him to care for only his friends (meaning those who back his country) and to want to bomb his enemies.

There's always the temptation to go the line of Russell and Marx, to say that religion is inherently flawed and exclusivist and therefore needs to be abandoned. But I cannot. The love I have for the world only comes from my faith. I am among many who work hard to cling to peace and love, though it's probably more in my nature to deck someone when they anger me as badly as Roy did today. My faith causes me to love Roy as a human being, to offer my hand to him even after we've shouted at each other for half an hour, and to tell him that no, I don't hate him. I don't have the capacity to hate him, or anyone else. Jesus taught me to love and pray for my enemies, and to be a peacemaker. The God that I (sort of) know loves all of the world far too deeply to want to see anyone bombed or bombing. The God that I know shows up unexpectedly--even in my "enemies."

Holy God, help us to love one another. Let us bring peace to each other, to your world.



P.S. - In case you're wondering, I haven't figured out what to do with Jesus when he says that he's come to divide, to bring a sword instead of peace (cf Mt 10:34-36). I'm just ignoring it for now. If you have other suggestions, let me know.