Family Feud

"The blood of Abraham, God's father of the chosen, still flows in the veins of Arab, Jew, and Christian, and too much of it has been spilled..."
- Jimmy Carter

On and On. The calls for a cease-fire in the Mideast are understandable, and yet I also understand President Bush suggesting that we've been there, done that --- that it's time for something lasting, something concrete. I'm not sure it's possible to find anything lasting other than the hatred that has seeped into the rocks and hillsides that have presided over centuries of turmoil. Congressman John Dingell shocked me in the interview for this week's program saying that he isn't against Hezbollah. He reasons that the U.S. cannot take sides in this dispute if the U.S. is going to act as an honest peace broker. I'm not sure many will be able to see it his way (he was one of eight that voted against a U.S. House resolution voicing support for Israel (410 voted in favor). But then again, taking sides hasn't gotten anyone very far in this ancient dispute. I fear that the tide of history is stronger than any weaponry in our current arsenals. I remember several years ago being on assignment aboard a U.S. Navy cruiser in the Red Sea, staring at the Sinai peninsula, and realizing that the turbulence in the region even predated Moses' receiving the Ten Commandments on that peninsula thousands of years ago. And it depresses me to no end to think that so much of it is built around our disagreements over the way we serve our God. Christianity, Islam and Judaism all trace their roots back to Abraham --- but of course, there's no fight like a family fight.