My reflection for the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee’s first meeting after the Ceasefire in the Holy Land.
As I thought about chairing this meeting, one thing has been hanging over my head — the fact that since our last cabinet meeting, conflict has erupted in the Middle East, specifically the Holy Land. It seems like proceeding without mention of this conflict would be ignoring the elephant in the room. This is, of course, an incredibly sensitive matter. The Zoom format we are using is not, by any means, a good format to have discussions about the situation — therefore I am going to address the conflict as the chair of our organization, but I ask us to please refrain from attempting further discussion around this today. It is too immediate and there are private conversations that Pardeep is attempting to facilitate.
What I am presenting today is my personal reflection as the Chair of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee. It is not the Cabinet’s opinion, or that of the executive committee, the other officers, or any judicatory who has membership in our Conference, including my own, the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee.
The death and destruction in the Holy Land over the last two weeks has been heart-wrenching. The seeds of it are not new. They come from thousands of years of history and modern geopolitics. The Holy Land is a religious touchstone for Jews, Muslims, and Christians and home to many religious and ethnic minorities, such as the Druze and Samaritans. It has been a land swept by war and made a pawn by Western powers with colonialism and imperialism. Multiple peoples claim it as a homeland. The continued conflict there is a political morass of complexity seen nowhere else on the earth except perhaps in the India-Pakistan dispute.
The ties of blood and religion run deep from many of our Milwaukee faith communities to various peoples in the Holy Land affected by the violence. To say this is a constant source of tension in our organization is a major understatement.
The Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee is a “conference” by design. Our role is to bring people of faith around the table to address the issues that affect us locally. We are not primarily an advocacy organization but one that builds relationships to help us get through difficult periods like this one where our interests may diverge. Our mission is to try to keep channels of communication open, even in times of conflict. While we do generate statements about events happening in the United States, we do not generally engage in statements about international politics, as our focus is local.
While some might request or think that we should issue a statement, the truth is, there is likely no unified statement we can make about this conflict that will not result in misunderstanding from all sides telling us we have gone too far or not gone far enough.
I am also aware, quoting the lyrics of the Canadian rock band Rush, “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” Silence can put one on a side whether one wants to be there or not. So what can be said in a time where a ceasefire has a tenuous hold?
I believe we need to stand with all those distressed and devastated in our faith communities. When we read history, we read about generals and politicians and soldiers, but seldom about the civilians caught in the crossfire. War is by definition dehumanizing, and it takes away the ability of us to see the divine image in the other. It is easy to talk about conflict in a geopolitical or military sense. Still, the truth is, for civilian populations, it doesn’t matter where the rockets and bombs come from. A death is a death, and the pain it causes to loved ones is a common thread of humanity that ties us all together in our shared experience.
The pain that our faith communities have experienced over the last two weeks over the loss of people in the Holy Land is genuine. I understand the desire to have an organization such as the IFCGM stand squarely behind the struggles of your co-religionists and relatives. I am genuinely sorry as the Chair of the IFCGM that we have not been able to do so because of our mission and the big tent we represent.
I don’t know about you, but I am tired of the phrase, “Thoughts and Prayers.” It’s usually a phrase used by politicians to mean doing nothing of any worth. But folks, we’re not politicians. We’re people of faith. For us, a commitment to continued deliberate community and prayer is not a way to sideline the conversation; it is the core of what we do. In a time like this, the decision to continue to maintain relationships is, for many, a difficult sacrifice — and I want to honor those who are making that deliberate choice.
I don’t have the answers to the situation in the Holy Land, nor does our Interfaith Conference. But what we can do is stand with you and with those in the Holy Land. We can pray that geopolitical leaders consider the cost of human life at least as important as political agendas for once in our human history.
When we stand together, we don’t always stand in the same place. But we all stand before the same God. May God, who created us all, grant us the wisdom to find our way to a lasting, just peace.
