In brief, it seems that, yet again, someone without a formal religion
misunderstands religion, and mistakes what is religion for what is not.

Further confounding the issue, we fought in a part of the world where one is
born into a religion, plain and simple. Just as it seems strange to us that
they do not distinguish between "the sacred" and "the secular", for them,
all that the US does is "Christian". This included our media, and our
entertainment. I had a Palestinian co-worker ask me repeatedly why I thought
that Christians read the Hebrew Bible, what some call "the Old Testament".

Understanding "the other guy" is not easy. I doubt that we can ever quite
understand the other guy the way he understands himself. But it is worth
trying; it can even be rewarding. I think some of our difficulties come from
our failure to even try to understand the other guy, and especially his
religion.

On the other hand, a thorough understanding does not at all imply agreement
or approval. That's a statement that's been made in front of a few personal
libraries.

Greg Stigers
this space for rent

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