Journal 2: قصة من طفولتي

For a short time during my elementary and middle school years I attended a very conservative church that occasionally got very political.  My parents decided to attend because it was very geographically close to home, and a good number of our close friends from school and work also attended as their “home” church community.  I found out quickly that the style and focus of this church disagreed with my personality and particular sensitivities greatly, and it sort of became a catalyst for later “rebellious” years, which is not at all what the focus of this journal will be.

My intention behind saying this is that during those years (before my family felt they had had enough and moved to another church community) I was fed a lot of strongly-held, politically-charged beliefs which seemed to be universally accepted by the church as scripturally supported, and not all of which I agreed with.  The topics ranged from the evolution debate, to assumptions about the LGBT community, to modern-day Israel- a country “called into existence by God.”  I know now that the existence and legitimacy of this nation is an emotional issue that is much, much more complex than this church would make it seem.

My childhood vision of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was molded around the story of Abraham, a man from Canaan who was promised a son.  But seeing as both he and his wife were about 100 years old (which I always found pretty gross), Abraham gave up on God’s promise and had one of his servants bear him a son instead (Ishmael).  Well, then God got mad and Abraham kicked the two of them out and his wife did end of having a son, after all, named Isaac.  The Sunday-school moral of this story is, “God always keeps his promises.”

This story, and the interpretation that this particular group held to, had a profound impact on how this church community felt about the modern-day conflict over Jerusalem and the lands surrounding it.  The descendents of Ishmael, I was told, were a result of Abraham’s mistrust, and thus were condemned to be in constant conflict with the descendents of his promised son, Isaac.  According to their worldview, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict had no hope of being resolved, because it was a spiritual battle, and a lesson to us all about trusting God.  Either way, they emphasized, it was in the Christians’ best interest to support the nation of Israel, the home of God’s Chosen People.

Phew, just typing this stuff out gives me ulcers.  I know how emotionally charged the question of Jerusalem is, how much these ancient names mean to people, and the extent to which meanings can be misconstrued.  Needless to say, the views of this old community I was once a part of are not my views today, and when I started taking classes in college and learning about the facts of the modern-day conflict, I felt very resentful of and a little bit furious with many of the teachings I absorbed as a child.  I hope that in relaying this history that it will not be offensive to readers, but rather that it will point out this viewpoint exists and is believed my many Americans today.