Skip to main content


Peace with ISIS?                                                     9/18/14

 Dear Friends,
Below is an article I wrote on dealing with the exploding Middle East crisis. I sent it to several newspapers and my representatives.
     
Peace with ISIS?

My first natural response is that the only option I know is to take ISIS out with our military. But if we bomb them such that we kill about 75% civilians many women and children as often happens  it will become the cement that pushes people to fill the ranks of ISIS. The more we bomb them the faster their acts of hatred for us will increase.

Here in Kurdistan, Iraq are refugees a result of the fighting there. My friend Peggy Faw Gish is on the CPT team there. Go to  Plotting Peace to read Peggy’s updates.


My reading “The Powers that Be” by Walter Wink has made me reconsider and try to think of an alternative response.  Asking how can we stop this growing hate of each other?

Also I learned that ISIS along with their evil ways are doing some very good things like providing health care, shelter, food, and jobs for the people.  I want to note that we provided health care, shelter, food, and jobs for the people several years ago as a part of our military offensive in Iraq. It was successful in winning the support of the people. This was done in caring ways so that the receiving people knew it was in real caring.

So my analysis is that the only way we can end this spiral of violence we are in is if we somehow figure out a way to really care for the people. This very well could turn these Isis enemies into friends. Although this seems overwhelming and impractical, is this not what Jesus taught as the way to deal with enemies?

However, maybe it is not as impossible as it seems. What if we said we want to talk to try to resolve our differences and that we will stop bombing them. At the same time we start dropping medical supplies, food, tents, or whatever they need that is not military aid.

What If our troops become involved on the ground and were taught to aid the people out of genuine caring? An added benefit of doing good might be that our troops would be much more likely to come home at peace.

Today when they come home they are often in need of therapy from shooting people and destroying homes. I think that is why so many divorce their spouses, commit suicide, suffer deep depression or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As Americans we can’t kill people and not suffer some very deep negative effects on our psyche and society.

I see this as a way to get us out of our boxed in thinking. I hope this is the beginning of a conversation to figure out how to get through this very stuck situation in a good way.

Shalom,

Jim Fitz  
Jim  is an alumni of Christian Peacemaker teams with 12  years focused in Colombia, South America 

PS.      I will be at the Goshen Mennonite Relief Sale 9/26 and 9/27 handing out a flyer with this article and giving several talks in the area. Please pray God will use it all for creating peace.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An Incredible Prime Minister

           An Incredible Prime Minister     Dear Friends, a hopeful happening,                  Two years ago, Ethiopia was a basket case. The government seemed to be losing control The majority Oromo people were restive under a rule that seemed to rob them of their place. The traditionally powerful Amhara rioted. A state of emergency brought silence on the surface, but underneath the nation seethed. Civil war threatened. A foreigner was killed. Tourism waned. Finally, the prime minister resigned. The church prayed earnestly. Then, unexpectedly, eight months ago, the relatively unknown Abiy Ahmad was elected prime minister. What followed was equally unanticipated. In a bold, courageous acceptance speech; Ahmad announced a policy of peace, love and unity for the nation and its relationships with the rest of the world. He made sweeping promises and, to the surprise of a world cynical of political promises, kept them. “We need friction but not hatred, argument but not insult,”

"The Repairman's Mother In-law"

Dear Friends, "My mother in-law Nellie read that Peace Pilgrim booklet you gave me. She was very moved by it, and she would like to read more by Peace Pilgrim. Do you have any thing else? And she would like to talk to you too," our repairman excitedly said to me. I responded, "I don't have any thing else by Peace Pilgrim, but you can give her this book Restorative Justice by Howard Zehr." Later I got to talk to Nellie. Nellie then shared, "Oh yes, that was really inspiring. We have to build peace person by person and house by house by the way that we relate to and treat each other. What Peace Pilgrim has to say is very important. And I really like the book Restorative Justice that I am now reading. I especially like to read stuff like that." I responded, "When you get that one finished, I can loan you another book!" The political saga continues in Barranca. A prominent Catholic priest, Padre Francisco, a close consultant to the Mayor, who is

un acontecimiento esperanzador

amigos,  un acontecimiento esperanzador  este es un acontecimiento esperanzador! Hace dos años, Etiopía era un caso estancado. El gobierno parecía estar perdiendo el control. La mayoría de las personas Oromo estaban inquietas bajo una regla que parecía robarles su lugar. La tradicionalmente poderosa Amhara se amotinó. Un estado de emergencia trajo silencio en la superficie, pero debajo de la nación se arremolinaba. Una Guerra civil amenazaba. Un extranjero fue asesinado. El turismo disminuyó. Finalmente, el primer ministro renunció. La iglesia oró fervientemente. Luego, inesperadamente, hace ocho meses, el relativamente desconocido Abiy Ahmad fue elegido primer ministro. Lo que siguió fue igualmente imprevisto. En un audaz y valiente discurso de aceptación; Ahmad anunció una política de paz, amor y unidad para la nación y sus relaciones con el resto del mundo. Hizo grandes promesas y para sorpresa en un mundo cínico de promesas políticas, las cumplió. "Necesitamos