America suffered another terrorist attack recently by a “lone wolf” terrorist who was inspired by Middle Eastern Radical Islamic Fundamentalists. A troubled Chattanooga, Tennessee youth fired on US Marines at several sites, killing and wounding several people. We can look back at the Fort Hood massacre as well, when a “lone wolf” terrorist opened fire on US Army soldiers in their cafeteria.
Why does this happen? What ideology could possibly inspire such horrific acts against innocent people? I will propose some answers here in the following article. I hope to clarify the problems and outline the positive promises for the future.
I have been studying the Middle East for many decades. After all, it is the geographical and cultural center of where our faith began, with Old Testament stories of the Israelites, and New Testament stories of Jesus and the early church.
Biblical archaeology is also a passion of mine. I have studied the culture and geography of the places where Jesus walked for almost 50 years. For the last ten years, I have also led an annual archeological tour in the Holy Land in late June which is one of the highlights of the year for me. I just returned from another fantastic trip! Because people always want to know if it is safe to go, I monitor events across the Middle East every day. (A great internet source of daily blogs from the Middle East can be found at al-monitor.com)
I know the Middle East was a tough place at the time of Jesus, and it seems to be again now. I study the way the place was then, and I study the way it is now. There are some surprising similarities!
These are my personal reflections of the present problems in the Middle East as well as the present and potential promises for a better future. I believe that bright future is possible, and the answers will come from within the Middle East itself. I hope you find the article helpful.
Click here to read “Middle East Problems Promises”
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Wow! What a great piece of work! It is a reference for all of the terms bandied about concerning happenings in the Middle East. Names such as “Hamas”, “ISIS”, Shia and Sunni are identified as to their origin and role in the Middle East today. It explains the source of tensions in the area and the possible way that things can be made better. Thank you Father Dave!
Thanks Wes. I am glad you liked the article. It is a sad story but important for us to understand well.
I am glad you enjoyed the article. It was long, but I think it was important to cover as much as I could about this complex area.
I’m glad you shared what you learned about the Middle East with us Father Dave, Your piece was so enlightening to me. You showed the perspectives of the people who live there. I liked learning more about the way the Arabs think – going with the “strongest horse” for example.
I’m saving your special news letter for reference. Thankfully, you have compressed centuries of history into a quick study of the ideologies that govern Mideast events.
I do have a question though. What’s your take on the Iran nuclear proposal? Will Iran be the strong horse the other Arab countries want to follow?
Blessings to you Fr. Dave – you’re a treasure.
Yes, I believe that all of the Sunni states consider that Iran pulled a fast one on the US negotiators. Iran will get 150 billion dollars soon, which they will use to advance their unique brand of terror and not for their own citizens. The Sunni states are making plans to get advanced weapon systems from the Russians and Chinese, which might also include simply buying nuclear weapons. The sanctions brought Iran to the negotiating table. We should have walked away until we got a better deal, especially about inspections and sanctions relief.
Hi Father Dave,
I think you may find the book, “My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel”, by Ari Shivat, interesting. The Israeli author is quite candid about the early events that helped promote the current tension of this area and his research doesn’t always cast the early Jewish Israel settlers in the best light. I learned alot from this book.
Thanks so much for the recommendation. I am just finishing , Martin Gilbert’s book, “Israel.” (600 pages!) I will take a look at Shivat’s book soon.
Your explanation of our world’s most divisive issue helps me sort through the complexity – just as you so ably do when explaining the Gospels. I’m going to be re-reading this over and over.
This mess parallels on a smaller scale the situation with radicals among the Uighur (Muslim) minority in Western China. The State has poured billions into that area – to little avail.
The current tactic seems to be smothering blatant disruptions with overwhelming control and force. Press Accounts “assure” us that this works pretty well – partly because so many ethnic Han have migrated to Xin Jian Province.
These radicals just don’t know how to “play nice,” even with the massive accommodations they’ve received. China is not about to cede territory they’ve ruled for thousands of years in order to create another Muslim State. They just don’t negotiate.
This reinforces your point: Absolutely no doubt about who is the “strong horse” here.
If the radicalization of the Middle East and the certainty of a nuclear-armed Iran forecast what would happen here – the Chinese have this one right too.
Interesting points. I am not familiar at all with the Uighur situation, but will take a look at it. There seem to be so many areas where restive populations struggle against central governments. If the Muslim minority in that Chinese area are similar to the Middle East radicals, they will tend to interpret any concessions from the central government as proof of weakness. Everything is backwards with these radicals!
The tensions in the Middle East is similar to United States conflict at the Mexican border. I agree with Mr. Trump that we need a wall like Israel at the border. If we had a wall, we would not have the problems with the Drug Cartel and “El Chapo”. The corruption of these countries has infiltrated into the United States. The easy access of illegal drugs has had tragic results to the youth in this country.
I am politically moderate. However, I am thinking about voting for Donald Trump. I believe he will follow through with his promises regarding immigration.
Do you see any parallels between our border issues and Israel? I think I have heard you speak about the illegal immigration problem.
I think that the security fence that surrounds Israel and works so well could be built here fairly inexpensively.
Hi Fr. Dave,
Thank you so much for explaining the Problems and Promises of the Middle East. It was done so well, but I will still be reading it over and over to make sure I understand it all.
We also agree on the idea of the security fence at the border….especially seeing it could be fairly inexpensive.
We miss you,
Henry and Marie
YEs, a border fence similar to the Israeli fence would not be expensive. It would be part of a much larger and comprehensive legal immigration program. You can see my article on immigration in the articles section of the website entitled, “The Price of Admission.”