Lebanon

On Friday in Seatle a man attacked a Jewish Center.  He was provoked by the violence that is currently occuring in Lebanon.  I am amazed that anyone can find such conviction in such a crazy situation.  I, myself,  find it hard to sort out my feelings towards the war in Lebanon.  I understand Israel's need to protect itself and to show Hezbollah that it will not tolerate acts of war directed at Israel.  However I don't think Hezbollah represents the entire nation of Lebanon so seeing civilians being bombed because they are in the middle of things does not raise my sympathies towards Israel.  At the same time the murder of one innocent women and wounding of several others doesn't help me sympathize for Lebanon either.  What is wrong with a world where the only way to make a point about something is to blow something up or kill an innocent? 

This war began when Hezbollah forces engaged in a cross border raid killing eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapping two.  The way I understand it is that fighting would not have escalated as far as it has had the two kidnapped soldiers been returned to Israel.  That is what kills me! 

There is a story in The Old Testament from the book of Judges.  Chapters 19-21 tell of this great civil war that took place between the tribes Israel.  It starts with an outrage being performed on one member of a tribe by members of another.  It is oversimplifying it to call it merely an outrage; a woman is gang-raped and dies, her husband seeks justice from the leaders of his people.  The people of  Israel gather together to correct the injustice.  The tribe responsible for the crime will not accept responsibility nor bring forth the guilty parties.  This leads to a civil war within the tribes of Israel. The death toll, in my calculations, is about 60,000 by the end of the three day war.  Why does this biblical story remind me of what is going on now?  An incident which in my Bible takes half a page to narrate leads to a war that takes the remaining four pages of the Book of Judges.  Is it possible that world events can be simply explained as a big game of "Quien es mas macho?"  I keep thinking that someone will accuse me of downplaying the catalysts.  But when we look at the results, shouldn't we say, "Wait a minute, this is getting out of hand."