What are we thinking with?
The conflict between Israel and Hamas is horrible and it may be exposing more of our personalities, both personal and national, that we might like.
I am not writing to pick sides, just the opposite. In fact, I see picking sides as part of the problem. We’ve been conditioned to pick sides by our won politics but we’ve lost the understanding of how to debate, and rather than reaching consensus, we just become more unhinged. We all so quickly line up red or blue, liberal or conservative, black or white, chocolate or vanilla, on or off, that the idea of a third possibility just evaporates before we even begin.
But there are third ways and in fact, in tense discussions, smart negotiators often seek a third option if for no other reason than to establish a starting point on middle ground.
So, here’s something to try. Killing is bad. Killing combatants in war is bad enough but we at least have some ground rules. The rules might not always be observed but that’s a different problem.
But killing non-combatants is unacceptable whether the victims are the very young, the old, women, children, elders, it doesn’t matter. Uncontrolled orgiastic killing is the worst and cannot be accepted under any circumstances. That’s it, full stop.
