Where peace begins.This year, unusually, the Christmas season coincides with the Muslim fast month of Ramadan as well as the Jewish Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah. More than a third of the world's population will be involved to some degree in marking one or other of these occasions. Tragically, the Middle East, the birthplace birth·place n. The place where someone is born or where something originates. birthplace Noun the place where someone was born or where something originated Noun 1. of the three great Abrahamic faiths, has seen terrible outpourings of hate and bloodshed--not least in recent months. All too often western Christians--as we editors are--pray earnestly for peace but tend to feel that the problems of the Middle East are not our problem, except in so far as they threaten world stability, oil prices and trade prospects. Yet this conflict, like so many others, has its roots far back in history. Since Christianity first took root in Europe, our interpretation of our faith has often been tainted taint v. taint·ed, taint·ing, taints v.tr. 1. To affect with or as if with a disease. 2. To affect with decay or putrefaction; spoil. See Synonyms at contaminate. 3. by prejudice--and outright aggression--against our brothers and sisters of the Abrahamic faiths. As we look with justifiable jus·ti·fi·a·ble adj. Having sufficient grounds for justification; possible to justify: justifiable resentment. jus horror at what has been taking place in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, we should not forget the Crusades, centuries of atrocities and pogroms against the Jews culminating in the Holocaust Holocaust (hŏl`əkôst', hō`lə–), name given to the period of persecution and extermination of European Jews by Nazi Germany. , and the manipulation of the region by colonial powers for our own purposes. Nor should we forget that this prejudice lives on today, particularly in the Islamophobia of many western societies. The human heart is made for love and not for hate. In this holy season, people all over the world will be praying for peace in conflict situations. Perhaps we could all start by recognizing the unacknowledged reserves of prejudice and stereotyping in our own hearts. The late 20th century saw breakthroughs in some of the world's most intractable intractable /in·trac·ta·ble/ (in-trak´tah-b'l) resistant to cure, relief, or control. in·trac·ta·ble adj. 1. Difficult to manage or govern; stubborn. 2. situations, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the end of apartheid apartheid (əpärt`hīt) [Afrik.,=apartness], system of racial segregation peculiar to the Republic of South Africa, the legal basis of which was largely repealed in 1991–92. in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. . This year, the overthrow of the Milosevic regime in Belgrade has offered new prospects of peace in the Balkans, another region where the Abrahamic faiths converge. As we look with hope into a new year, could the miracles of peace and healing we so long for in the Middle East and around the world begin in our own lives? |
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