[Alice Maggio]

What Nicholson said at the very end of the final lesson recording is a great, concise way to respond, at least at first:
Christians are called to a life of struggle, and of spiritual warfare
Conflicts are messy – they show the worst portrait of human life
Engaging with conflicts is an exercise in COURAGE. There is always the option to look the other way.

It seems that many people like to equate one issue with another, specifically in politics. I remember when Mahmoud Darwish said in his interview that “Wars between religions are political.” Eric Metaxas, a well known author and speaker, has been pretty vocal in recent years about “getting political,” and not letting politeness and not-wanting-to-rock-the-boat behavior to become the norm, especially as the world is changing. Here is an example that recently happened in my family:
My sister has started leaning pretty left politically (we are American), despite growing up in a relatively conservative household. I came over for dinner one night with her and my Dad, who is conservative in his beliefs. I walked into the house and heard a loud discussion that veered into argument and yelling territory for the next twenty minutes or so. My sister was attacking a big issue: Abortion. Her point of view?

“You can’t disagree with abortion but condone the killing of 40,000 people in Gaza.”

This conflict in the Near East is COMPLICATED. Just like the assumed epidemiologist-attitude many adopted during the pandemic, everyone is, in fact, NOT an expert on the conflict. We can educate ourselves, of course, but I often turn to experts like pastors who have studied this history in seminary, or in some other capacity that far outweighs any hour-long Googling I could do. I think many people speak in overly simple absolutes when the history, context and culture get too complicated. People want to appear smart, knowledgeable and well informed when its a topic in the headlines or on the lips of many – and often end up comparing things that couldn’t be more different. I believe being humble in my lack of knowledge, and willing to learn from REPUTABLE sources is very important when engaging with the conflict in the Near East.