Another Point of View

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that some viewpoints in the current telling of the story in Lebanon are leaving me frustrated. My frustration has been not so much with the media ‘taking sides’ in their reporting, I find myself ‘taking sides’ depending on what I’m reading or hearing. If I’m listening to simplistic analyses on the side of either Israel or Hezbollah (analyses which invariably end up demonizing the other and laying blame for the entire situation with them) it can become very easy to take the opposite side in response.

My frustration is rather with the nature of the media itself. In a sound-byte world it is difficult to present stories with sensitivity to the complexity that is a part of any conflict, especially one that is rooted in centuries worth of historical factors.

I came across an article called “Another Point of View: Evangelical Blindness in Lebanon” via “Waving or Drowning” this morning. In it Martin Accad, academic dean of the Arab Baptist Seminary in Lebanon, gives a needed perspective on the whole conflict, particularly for those of us from the evangelical corner of the world. He is specifically responding to an earlier article by David Gushee, one that he felt minimized the suffering of the Lebanese people and advanced a pro-Israel perspective while ignoring the injustice taking place within Lebanon.

As a Lebanese Christian he offers a scathing attack on the indifference of the West toward the suffering of his people. He especially critical of Christians who assume that their faith automatically puts them in the corner of Israel and against ‘the Arabs’ because of some combination of twisted biblical interpretation and apocalyptic eschatology.

“It is striking how normally highly reasonable and spiritually aware people can suddenly lose any sense of ethical, let alone Christian, balance when it comes to Middle East conflicts involving modern political Israel.”

I don’t expect that many will agree with everything Accad has to say. But it is surely worth listening to a fellow Christian describe the effects of this war on a country and a people that he loves. As a footnote: David Gushee has offered a personal response to Accad’s article. I only wish this kind of give and take could take place at a diplomatic level as well.