The bleeding face and body of a child shivering with shell shock and terror should not cause controversy. The look of utter, helpless despair in a child searching for recently killed parents should not cause controversy. And no controversy should attend the unimaginable tragedy of a lifeless little body of a child, done to death by bullet, bomb or sword.
War is inherently dehumanizing. I hate war and fear war. Children are among the most helpless, and I feel terrible about any innocent person who dies in war--children and adults. In order to do what we can for wars to hopefully become a thing of the past, there is another litmus test that we have to pass: are we playing into the hands and stepping into the traps of those who want war? Unfortunately, when it comes to Israel and Hamas, this article's generality (stating facts that any person with a conscience can agree on) and its lack of specific discussion of what leads to children being killed and how this can be prevented plays into the hands of what the Hamas is expecting from the West. Israel did not create the facts of October 7--the murder, rape, torture and kidnapping of civilians that was unprecedented in the history of Israel. These facts were created by Hamas, and if they did not happen there would not be bombs falling on Gaza right now. Unfortunately, Hamas is able to count on another empirical reality: they know that they can do whatever they want and within a very short period of time the world will start to criticize Israel or talk in general about how terrible war is (which indeed it is terrible). It is important to talk about the innocent victims of war and the inherently dehumanizing nature of war, but this cannot stand separately from an analysis that points out who wants and causes their victimization, so that hopefully those who love war can be weakened. Therefore, in my opinion, in the context of Israel and Hamas, the best thing that people who hate war can do is to condemn the Hamas without unintentionally giving them the gifts that they are counting on. The Hamas want as many Palestinian children as possible to die. Statements about the fact that the death of children is wrong without an analysis of the of the nature of the Hamas play into the hands of the Hamas, who are relying on the world to develop false moral equivalents. I am in a very difficult emotional position: I was educated to hate and fear war ever since I can remember myself. However, I am not willing to step into the trap of the Hamas by forgetting who wants as many Israeli and Palestinian children to die--the Hamas.
I respectfully disagree with G.B. Santor's assertion that "this article's generality...and its lack of specific discussion of what leads to children being killed...". I believe that when we explore solutions through the lens of protecting the "war child" with the aim of achieving peace, however imperfect for both sides, and when we add the powerful dimension of petitioning the Almighty for peace, solutions will be found to achieve peace and further bombs and bloodshed will be averted.
The problem is who is "we" and whether the Hamas would participate in that "we." If I thought that there was a peaceful way to prevent the Hamas from committing massacre, then I would certainly favor that peaceful path--but I am not sure that such a path exists while the Hamas is in charge.
Yes, you raise an insightful point. If "we" is interpreted in a broad sense to include all the stakeholders for peace and they collectively desire to protect life and appeal to the Almighty, then a powerful force is unleashed. Realistically, the chances of that happening in this world so heavily infected by malevolent forces are slim to nil. But if "we" is interpreted in a narrow sense to only include the Israelis and the Palestinians, then people on both sides would need to petition the Almighty for peace along the lines of 2 Chronicles 7:14. There is no purely human solution to this conflict. There is only a collective and humble appeal to God in his grace and mercy for peace.
The desire for peace has been a key principle of Israeli society and education throughout Israel's existence, but Gaza is ruled by the Hamas, and the Hamas is committed to genocide against the Jews and to neglect and abuse of the Palestinian people. Here are some important insights about the Hamas: https://youtu.be/gl5OOpCFUCs?si=Gwn1Va5hO8kJtkHJ
More bloodshed of innocents seems unavoidable on a human level. Only through more and more people calling on God to intervene can a critical mass be reached where God changes hearts and minds and creates opportunities for the cessation of civilian casualties, the routing and punishment of Hamas, and the stabilization of the region. I just watched a video post of a Palestinian American Christian present a very balanced assessment of the present conflict and a thorough critique of the erroneous view that some Christians espouse in praying for the complete destruction of Palestine. It's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5fQ4ef0CZk
I do not have any wish for the complete destruction of Palestine. I wish for the Palestinians to reject Jew hate so that they may live peacefully with Israel (many Israeli Arabs and others already do). Israel has the obligation to defend its civilians from being murdered, raped and tortured, and calling on God to intervene cannot be the response of the Israeli government. Anyone who focuses on peaceful prayer while not denying the empirical realities of the evil that has attacked Israel could indeed be making a positive contribution.
Mosab Hassan Yousef courageously left his Hamas background and became a Christian. His perspective is worth listening to (there are many videos of him online):
Unfortunately this is inaccurate. Before Oct 7, there is Oct 6th and going backwards to 1948. Brutal occupation coupled with ethnic cleansing, displacement. 70 percent of the current Gaza population is ones displaced in the great Nakba which Israel committed and displaced these people. Thereby increasing the Gaza population to over 2 million. And then continually repressing them not just the Palestinians in Gaza but also West Bank. The root of the problem which is the continuous acts of terrorism committed by Israel to the people of Palestine has to be stopped inorder for peace to be achieved. Which as you can see even today Netanyahu is refusing. This substack rightfully points out that when it comes to children being killed the world has to draw a line and use all means possible to stop the butchering. Unfortunately the tentacles of this oppression has taken root in every government and so nothing is being done. We continue to pray to God to bring about ceasefire and to bring peace to the region.
We don't want War. It is the psychopath globalists who are fomenting this. Their grand puba Albert Pike told them they needed a world war lll. These are satanists and they need to disappear permanently, and then there wouldn't be all this death and trauma.
The Israeli government should recognize God's omnipotence and sovereignty and call for a day of prayer for the country and people everywhere to pray for God to intervene and bring peace to this conflict. The prayers that follow will cause God to move influential people from hatred to compassion, from rigidity to flexibility, from revenge to conciliation. At 20:00 in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5fQ4ef0CZk the Cleveland Preacher talks about the great injustice done to the Palestinian people by the Zionist forces in 1948. Has Israel ever formally apologized for the displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians, the destruction of over 400 of their villages and the massacre of their civilians, including babies, back then? The road to reconciliation needs to be preceded by apologies for past wrongs. Yes, Israel has a right to exist as a nation, but so equally does Palestine, with adequate safeguards in place to keep terrorists out. That said, I agree Hamas must be removed, but in a way that minimizes civilian injuries and deaths. Bombs are brutal and have so far done the opposite.
I agree that the stakeholders need to explore solutions for achieving peace through the lens of protecting the "war child". However, they also need to humble themselves and petition the Almighty for peace. Will that happen when Hamas's jihadist ideology distorts God and the secularizing influence on Israeli government excludes God? On a human level, no. The only prospect for (temporary) peace, then, is God's grace and mercy. Meanwhile, the world limps along and "all creation groans", waiting for the "Prince of Peace" to return and establish his reign.
A two-state solution is impossible when one side doesn’t agree to any compromises because they are fully committed to the other side’s complete destruction. They don't care about having their own piece of land, they are only concerned with annihilating the Jews. It's really that simple.
Regarding the children, unfortunately there has never been a war without civilian casualties, it’s just a very sad reality of the broken world we live in. It’s interesting how a lot of people suddenly wanting to ‘save the children’ had no problem voting for abortion laws.
How many children died when two nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan? Or during the war with Iraq after 9/11?
Dr. Christian, you always write from a place of compassion. I personally thank you for that. What is happening to our children in war zones is to train them from an early age to hate the 'other' so they will grow up to be good soldiers of hate. In Canada, it is the opposite. Children are force-fed dogma of inclusivity to the point they don't know what to think. But isn't that the point?! On both of these planes, lies 'indoctrination'.
Yes, Psychopathy - those beings used to be mental hospital patients, until whoever in their wisdom closed those facilities, but this is way beyond the odd individual Psychopathic "event".
War is inherently dehumanizing. I hate war and fear war. Children are among the most helpless, and I feel terrible about any innocent person who dies in war--children and adults. In order to do what we can for wars to hopefully become a thing of the past, there is another litmus test that we have to pass: are we playing into the hands and stepping into the traps of those who want war? Unfortunately, when it comes to Israel and Hamas, this article's generality (stating facts that any person with a conscience can agree on) and its lack of specific discussion of what leads to children being killed and how this can be prevented plays into the hands of what the Hamas is expecting from the West. Israel did not create the facts of October 7--the murder, rape, torture and kidnapping of civilians that was unprecedented in the history of Israel. These facts were created by Hamas, and if they did not happen there would not be bombs falling on Gaza right now. Unfortunately, Hamas is able to count on another empirical reality: they know that they can do whatever they want and within a very short period of time the world will start to criticize Israel or talk in general about how terrible war is (which indeed it is terrible). It is important to talk about the innocent victims of war and the inherently dehumanizing nature of war, but this cannot stand separately from an analysis that points out who wants and causes their victimization, so that hopefully those who love war can be weakened. Therefore, in my opinion, in the context of Israel and Hamas, the best thing that people who hate war can do is to condemn the Hamas without unintentionally giving them the gifts that they are counting on. The Hamas want as many Palestinian children as possible to die. Statements about the fact that the death of children is wrong without an analysis of the of the nature of the Hamas play into the hands of the Hamas, who are relying on the world to develop false moral equivalents. I am in a very difficult emotional position: I was educated to hate and fear war ever since I can remember myself. However, I am not willing to step into the trap of the Hamas by forgetting who wants as many Israeli and Palestinian children to die--the Hamas.
I respectfully disagree with G.B. Santor's assertion that "this article's generality...and its lack of specific discussion of what leads to children being killed...". I believe that when we explore solutions through the lens of protecting the "war child" with the aim of achieving peace, however imperfect for both sides, and when we add the powerful dimension of petitioning the Almighty for peace, solutions will be found to achieve peace and further bombs and bloodshed will be averted.
The problem is who is "we" and whether the Hamas would participate in that "we." If I thought that there was a peaceful way to prevent the Hamas from committing massacre, then I would certainly favor that peaceful path--but I am not sure that such a path exists while the Hamas is in charge.
Here is one poignant way that both sides can harness the force for peace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyFM-pWdqrY
Yes, you raise an insightful point. If "we" is interpreted in a broad sense to include all the stakeholders for peace and they collectively desire to protect life and appeal to the Almighty, then a powerful force is unleashed. Realistically, the chances of that happening in this world so heavily infected by malevolent forces are slim to nil. But if "we" is interpreted in a narrow sense to only include the Israelis and the Palestinians, then people on both sides would need to petition the Almighty for peace along the lines of 2 Chronicles 7:14. There is no purely human solution to this conflict. There is only a collective and humble appeal to God in his grace and mercy for peace.
The desire for peace has been a key principle of Israeli society and education throughout Israel's existence, but Gaza is ruled by the Hamas, and the Hamas is committed to genocide against the Jews and to neglect and abuse of the Palestinian people. Here are some important insights about the Hamas: https://youtu.be/gl5OOpCFUCs?si=Gwn1Va5hO8kJtkHJ
More bloodshed of innocents seems unavoidable on a human level. Only through more and more people calling on God to intervene can a critical mass be reached where God changes hearts and minds and creates opportunities for the cessation of civilian casualties, the routing and punishment of Hamas, and the stabilization of the region. I just watched a video post of a Palestinian American Christian present a very balanced assessment of the present conflict and a thorough critique of the erroneous view that some Christians espouse in praying for the complete destruction of Palestine. It's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5fQ4ef0CZk
I do not have any wish for the complete destruction of Palestine. I wish for the Palestinians to reject Jew hate so that they may live peacefully with Israel (many Israeli Arabs and others already do). Israel has the obligation to defend its civilians from being murdered, raped and tortured, and calling on God to intervene cannot be the response of the Israeli government. Anyone who focuses on peaceful prayer while not denying the empirical realities of the evil that has attacked Israel could indeed be making a positive contribution.
Mosab Hassan Yousef courageously left his Hamas background and became a Christian. His perspective is worth listening to (there are many videos of him online):
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6cIBzZylOpk&si=rH3mSm9w1ZwMHJ5V
Unfortunately this is inaccurate. Before Oct 7, there is Oct 6th and going backwards to 1948. Brutal occupation coupled with ethnic cleansing, displacement. 70 percent of the current Gaza population is ones displaced in the great Nakba which Israel committed and displaced these people. Thereby increasing the Gaza population to over 2 million. And then continually repressing them not just the Palestinians in Gaza but also West Bank. The root of the problem which is the continuous acts of terrorism committed by Israel to the people of Palestine has to be stopped inorder for peace to be achieved. Which as you can see even today Netanyahu is refusing. This substack rightfully points out that when it comes to children being killed the world has to draw a line and use all means possible to stop the butchering. Unfortunately the tentacles of this oppression has taken root in every government and so nothing is being done. We continue to pray to God to bring about ceasefire and to bring peace to the region.
We don't want War. It is the psychopath globalists who are fomenting this. Their grand puba Albert Pike told them they needed a world war lll. These are satanists and they need to disappear permanently, and then there wouldn't be all this death and trauma.
The Israeli government should recognize God's omnipotence and sovereignty and call for a day of prayer for the country and people everywhere to pray for God to intervene and bring peace to this conflict. The prayers that follow will cause God to move influential people from hatred to compassion, from rigidity to flexibility, from revenge to conciliation. At 20:00 in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5fQ4ef0CZk the Cleveland Preacher talks about the great injustice done to the Palestinian people by the Zionist forces in 1948. Has Israel ever formally apologized for the displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians, the destruction of over 400 of their villages and the massacre of their civilians, including babies, back then? The road to reconciliation needs to be preceded by apologies for past wrongs. Yes, Israel has a right to exist as a nation, but so equally does Palestine, with adequate safeguards in place to keep terrorists out. That said, I agree Hamas must be removed, but in a way that minimizes civilian injuries and deaths. Bombs are brutal and have so far done the opposite.
I agree that the stakeholders need to explore solutions for achieving peace through the lens of protecting the "war child". However, they also need to humble themselves and petition the Almighty for peace. Will that happen when Hamas's jihadist ideology distorts God and the secularizing influence on Israeli government excludes God? On a human level, no. The only prospect for (temporary) peace, then, is God's grace and mercy. Meanwhile, the world limps along and "all creation groans", waiting for the "Prince of Peace" to return and establish his reign.
A two-state solution is impossible when one side doesn’t agree to any compromises because they are fully committed to the other side’s complete destruction. They don't care about having their own piece of land, they are only concerned with annihilating the Jews. It's really that simple.
Regarding the children, unfortunately there has never been a war without civilian casualties, it’s just a very sad reality of the broken world we live in. It’s interesting how a lot of people suddenly wanting to ‘save the children’ had no problem voting for abortion laws.
How many children died when two nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan? Or during the war with Iraq after 9/11?
Dr. Christian, you always write from a place of compassion. I personally thank you for that. What is happening to our children in war zones is to train them from an early age to hate the 'other' so they will grow up to be good soldiers of hate. In Canada, it is the opposite. Children are force-fed dogma of inclusivity to the point they don't know what to think. But isn't that the point?! On both of these planes, lies 'indoctrination'.
Yes, Psychopathy - those beings used to be mental hospital patients, until whoever in their wisdom closed those facilities, but this is way beyond the odd individual Psychopathic "event".
NOTHING can excuse this NOTHING!
“Can there be a context to this terrible kind of depravity?”
Psychopathy.