by Paul Elie
from Georgetown University

Big Gov’t Even a Paleo Can Like

Fifty American religious leaders met with Secretary of State Kerry at Georgetown last week in connection with a new government undertaking: an office in the State Department “specifically designed to find and utilize religious partners to engage interfaith voices” in the efforts toward Middle East peace.

This one’s like the upside-down ketchup bottles, or the Zamboni machine at the new Prospect Park skating rink that refreshes one section of the ice while you keep skating on another: Why didn’t somebody think of it a long time ago?

Here from the blog of one of the participants is the rationale for it:

In the past, peace was spoken of in political terms, and the religious faith of the stakeholders was not an operative factor. The language and policy shift to discuss the commonalities of the Abrahamic faiths, and the theological imperative for peace among brethren, is a concerted effort to silence the stranglehold of religious extremists and naysayers here in America and in the Middle East. Our State Department will be seeking out religious leaders to engage in interfaith peace dialogue here and in the region, and to bring the religious voices for peace to the forefront of political discussion.

There’s a further rationale, apart from the obvious one that Jerusalem is a cherished site for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike.  It’s that lately religious people of one stripe or another have turned out to be pretty adept at conflict resolution – whether the Community of Sant'Egidio in Mozambique or Sen. George Mitchell et al. in Northern Ireland.

And the new effort comes from a man whom traditionalist Catholics considered so far gone that he was not fit to receive Communion.   

The drawing is by Guy DeLisle, author/illustrator of Jerusalem.