Reflections at Christmas 2025

 "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill toward men."

   - Luke 2:14

"We hear the beating of wings over Bethlehem and a light that is not of the sun or of the stars shines in the midnight sky.  Let the beauty of the story take away all narrowness, all thought of formal creeds.  Let it be remembered as as story that has happened again and again, to men of many different races, that has been expressed through many religions, that has been called many different names.  Time and space and language lay no limitations upon human brotherhood."

The New York Times, December 25, 1937

Today is Christmas Day.  The year 2025 has been a difficult year for humanity and we desperately need a large dose of the spirit of Christmas.  We are in dire need of the hope that Christmas bestows upon us.  There are numerous trouble spots in the world, from the Middle East and Ukraine to civil war in Sudan.  There is also an Unholy Trinity at work - Vladimir Putin, of Russia, Donald Trump of the United States and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel - inflicting untold suffering and death, especially among the most vulnerable - poverty-stricken women and children.  These are cruel men and they cast dark clouds everywhere.  They are destroyers, not builders.  

People of all faiths and all beliefs should focus on what we have in common as human beings, not on dogmatic and political differences.  Christians, Jews and Muslims are all children of Abraham.  They are all children of God.  Those of other faiths, and those of no faith at all, are also children of God.  We are all members of one race, the human race.  

Political extremism and religious nationalism are dangerous forces.  Beware of those who claim to be true believers, those who think that everyone who doesn't agree with them is a heretic or an evildoer..  Be wary of religious nationalism, be it Christian, Jewish, Islamic or any other.

It was a right-wing Hindu nationalist who assassinated fellow Hindu Mahatma Gandhi in January 30, 1948.  Gandhi,was killed by Nathuram Godse, a fanatic who believed that Gandhi, a man of peace, was too conciliatory to India's large Muslim minority.

Gandhi was nominated five times for a Nobel Peace Prize, but never received the honour.  In 1948, the Norwegian committee considered awarding it to him posthumously but the idea never came to fruition.  

Yitzhak Rabin, another peacemaker, was also assassinated.  As prime minister of Israel, Rabin negotiated a peace deal with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).  In October 1994, Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan, signed a full peace treaty between their two countries.  That same year. the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat "for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East."

On November 4, 1995, Rabin attended a peace rally in the city of Tel Aviv.  The rally was held to raise support for the Israeli-PLO accords.  It ended with the assassination of Rabin by a fellow Jew.  He was killed by an extremist named Yigal Amir, a 25-year-old far-right student at Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilian University.  Peace in the Middle East has not progressed since that time.

Rabin

I was struck by the comments made by the late Rob Reiner after the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.  Reiner, a liberal. stated per the HuffPost, "I don't care what your political beliefs are. That's not acceptable.  That's not a solution, to solving problems."  He also had something to say about how Charlie's wife, Erika. during his memorial service announced her decision to forgive her husband's killer: "And I felt like what his wife said at the service at the memorial they had was exactly right.  I'm Jewish but I believe in the teachings of Jesus, and I believe in 'do unto others,' and I believe in forgiveness, and what she said to me was beautiful.  She forgave his assassin.  And I think that is admirable."

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate.  Holiday greetings to everyone.

- Joanne