Texts: Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48; Romans 12:14 &17-20
Speaker: Julie Hart
I realized I was in serious trouble one summer working with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Israel and the West Bank when I began to look at every Israeli Settler I saw as an irrational, fanatic, out to get me. Certainly, there was some basis to my fear. Day after day patrolling the streets of Hebron I would greet each person I passed with acknowledgment and a hello in the appropriate language. And each time I passed an Israeli settler, I got a similar response. The most common response was a cold stare cutting right through me as if I were either a non-person or an evil one. The bolder youth and men responded with such phrases as, “Go home Nazi” or “Christian Bitch save your own people.” The young men, when walking in groups would often monopolize the entire street and refuse to move despite my presence. It was a scary situation for me. I never knew how they might respond by what appeared to be such hatred.
But even more frightening than their behavior was my mental response. I was building the blocks of enemy formation. Not that this...