Hebron, New York and the doctrines of intolerance

“It turns out a settler executed a Palestinian on Shuhada Street outside the Beit Hadassah settlement - we can see this spot from our roof. After which, soldiers (caught on video) planted a knife on the 18 yr old boy's body to claim he attempted to stab someone - that's been happening a lot recently. Don't believe all the stabbings being reported, some are real and some are bogus and simply an excuse/justification for executing Palestinians. The settlers proceeded to rejoice, they were handing out sweets and cups of tea and dancing around the boy's body. There are photos of this.” (Reliable witness)

“Six church leaders and parishioners now face charges including manslaughter and assault for a brutal beating in the sanctuary last Sunday that left Lucas Leonard, 19, dead and his brother Christopher, 17, in hospital. (CBC News at http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/church-beating-death-1.3276674) The beatings were an escalation of a “counseling session” trying to talk the boys out of leaving the church.

It didn't make for uplifting morning reading. Hebron (a Palestinian city) overrun by Israeli settlers brandishing machine guns, celebrating the murders of their Palestinian neighbours. A New York Word of Life “Christian family” beating their own children to the death to extract confessions from them.

Call it “fundamentalism gone wild” if you like. However we choose to describe it, it's a narrowness of theology/philosophy that can't abide difference, that becomes fearful and defensive in the face of diversity. So anyone who “is not us” or who doesn't take our views in totality . . . is wrong, and is therefor fair game for consequences.

In the cases cited, violent deaths for “the others,” were the consequences; perpetrators waving the holy book as justification.

It's not liberalism that will destroy church and synagogue communities. It's narrowness of thought that assumes there is only one way, thereby recasting itself as exclusive, hypercritical and in the worst cases, punitive to the point of emotional or physical cruelty.

And, unfortunately, seeing its exclusivity as a badge of righteousness.

This narrowing of thought is a pervasive temptation; individuals and communities need to be alert to the potential end-points of intolerance. Most of us, I daresay, have struggled life-long with the temptation of throwing liberality and tolerance under the bus and taking the easy way out; nestling in an enclave of righteousness.

In the end, there is only one righteousness and it's expressed in one form or another in most world religions (check it out in the lobby of St. Paul's Hospital when you're there next). Always behave towards others as you hope to be treated by them. Sad how the insistence on orthodoxy and fundamentalist interpretations seems to give some people permission to ignore this commandment.

But then, we're all afraid and where we finally find our place of peace and safety—if ever—is most often driven by circumstances and the pressures of our surroundings. It takes courage to actually enact the golden rule, particularly in times of stress and danger.

How I wish the world community would put more effort into the Palestinian occupation, though, so that the stones and bullets could stop flying there. A second, time-honoured maxim comes to mind though: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Being “liberal-minded” is not a worthy excuse for inaction. I'm reminded of a quip from a Dutch friend: “We're not a super-tolerant culture as many assume; we just can’t be bothered.”