Thursday, November 30, 2023

If you rewind history just a matter of a couple of years, you go back, say, to 2020 or 2021, the big topic of discussion was COVID-19. What wasn’t being discussed is open warfare involving, for instance, European states. But now, of course, we are settled into the fact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine now more than a year ago has turned into a protracted war. It is the first European war of this scale since World War II. It is exactly what many people in the West did not think could happen.

Of course, we now have a second war, and this one is actually gaining a lot more attention than the Ukraine and Russia conflict, and that has to do with the Hamas attack upon Israel that took place on October the 7th, and the consequent war with Israel pressing to defend itself against Hamas, even in the territory of Gaza.

You look at this and you recognize we’re living in a different world than the world in which we inhabited, at least the moral world, at least the awareness world of just a matter of a couple of years ago. We are now in a situation in which the question is, “Which of these two wars is going to earn more of the space on the front page of the daily newspaper?” The question is, “Which of these two wars is going to have primary concern when it comes to the military support and consultation of the United States? Which one is considered the larger diplomatic challenge? Which one is the greater focus of attention on the part of the American people”

Right now, it’s really clear that the attention of the American people is predominantly directed towards the war that involves Israel defending itself against Hamas. Of course, that’s easy to understand, particularly in recent days when we have the exchange of hostages on one side with prisoners on the other side.

Now, we need to talk about that for a moment, because the math continues to change. And now into a sixth day, there’s been a cessation of active hostilities with Israel and the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF, pressing against Hamas and, frankly, a very deeply entrenched Hamas there in Gaza. There have been several days of very significant warfare. You’re also looking at the displacement of many people, but there has been a pause in terms of the active hostilities for a period of time for there to be this exchange.

Now, we talked about the fact that language really matters. Christians have to give great attention to language, because when we say something, when we name something, we’re actually committing a moral act. There is a distinction that simply has to be maintained between the hostages held by Hamas and the prisoners that are being held by and, in this exchange, released by Israel. Those are not two equal terms. They’re two very, very different terms.

You also have two very different sets of pictures, and it’s really important that we keep this in mind. When you look at the hostages that are being released by Hamas, remember that at this point we are primarily talking about women and children and, not only predominantly, basically no men. That means males above the age of, say, the teenage years have been released. They’re still being held and remember a very significant number still being held. The release of those particular hostages is far more problematic in political terms than the women and children who’ve been exchanged.

But the horrifying stories that have come out just the last 24 hours have to do with very young children, for instance, kept in dark boxes. Some of them shown images, some of them very graphic images of the violence undertaken against some of their own family members by Hamas. We have other accounts, very credible. The Western press is very confident in these reports and that tells you something of the kinds of atrocities that have been carried out.

We have children as young as four and there is still a baby to be accounted for. We are really dealing with very, very deep evil here. We have to keep the category straight. We have to keep the numbers straight. We have to keep the language straight. The most important language clarification we have to demand here is that when we are talking about the Israeli hostages who are being released, we have to use the word hostages. We need to make very clear that they were taken against their will. They were taken by force. They were taken in the midst of a murderous attack. They have been held illegitimately as hostages to be traded as trading cards, trading chips in terms of a moral exchange of immoral, incalculable scale.

We need to hope and pray and, of course, morally demand the entire moral authority. The United States needs to be added to the moral authority of Israel and, frankly, the moral authority of all civilized nations in calling for the release of all of the hostages, all of them, all of them as quickly as possible. And then, of course, there’s the question of, “What happens after that?” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear Israel intends to continue its struggle against Hamas with the intention supposedly of eliminating Hamas. That is frankly unlikely, but at least significantly mitigating and reducing its threat to Israel at least for a time.

Israel is in a horrible moral bind here, and that is that if it takes no adequate action against Hamas, Hamas just gets stronger. The danger is, of course, given the calculation there in the Palestinian territories, the danger is that opposing Hamas and indeed uprooting Hamas will in some way make Hamas even more popular among so many of the Palestinian people. It is a very, very difficult calculation. But here’s something else. Many other nations will move on to other concerns very quickly. Israel cannot do that. It will not survive if it does that. Honestly, it’s not about to do that.

In coming days, we’ll be talking about the moral realities on the ground there and the larger issues we ought to be concerned about. But I want to go back to the situation of the hostages, the many hostages taken so violently by Hamas and taken into the Palestinian occupied territories there in Gaza. I want us to understand that there is something that is very much in the news and is very much in this discussion that frankly is not being discussed adequately. We are talking here about the hostages released at this point being women and children. Some of the women are rather aged. A lot of them are actually girls, but we’re talking about boys and girls and women being released. Men, and that includes boys of a certain age not being released.

You look at that and you say, “Well, I think we understand the moral calculation made there.” Well, do we? Let’s look at it honestly, because you’ll notice that no one’s complaining about this. You don’t hear the feminist going on the street saying, “Oh, there needs to be absolute equality here. Men and women are absolutely equal.” No, here, you have the Titanic principle made very, very clear priority given. It didn’t start with the Titanic, but a lot of Americans came to know it by coming to know the story of the Titanic. women and children first, men second. If the space runs out, it runs out on the men, not on the women and children.

Now, the feminist would have you to understand, and this is an argument that they’ve been making for over half century, that any discrimination between men and women is wrong. But you’ll notice that the instinct right now on the part of just about everyone is to understand the release of women and children as a priority. I actually don’t hear even people on the left complaining about the fact that a distinction is being made here between men and women, that a distinction is being made here between adults and children.

You don’t hear that because it would appear to be moral insanity. And indeed, it would not only appear to be moral insanity, it would be moral insanity. But if it’s moral insanity in this case, then it’s moral insanity wherever that argument is applied. Now, does this mean that the lives of those men and older boys are none of the same value as women and children? No, of course, it does not mean that. It does mean that men have a responsibility, a responsibility that was made clear on the Titanic. Frankly, a responsibility that was made clear for a few thousand years before the Titanic, a responsibility that’s made clear right now in Gaza. Men have a responsibility to act on behalf of women and children, and moral priority when it comes to protection should be given to women and children.

That’s a hard thing to say. It’s a hard reality to face, but frankly it is a rightful moral instinct. Right now, in the course of what’s going on there in the war between Israel and Hamas, you’ll notice that there are no major feminist groups that are putting out manifestos saying, “No, it should not be a matter of discrimination between men and women. We are absolutely the same.” Let me tell you what else isn’t showing up here, and that is the entire LGBTQ confusion. It’s just not showing up here. It just doesn’t fit here, and that’s because, frankly, it doesn’t fit in the picture altogether.

As you’re looking at this, there is no one really saying that Hamas cares one way or the other, or Israel is even defining one way or the other when it comes down to something like non-binary or transgender. No, there is a very clear, very straightforward, very understandable description of human beings as men and women and children, and those children being boys and girls. There’s absolutely no confusion here.

Now, one thing Christians need to note about this is simply something about human nature. The closer we get to matters of life and death, the less nonsense you’re likely to hear. Something like this, the unadulterated evil of what Hamas undertook against Israel and the slaughter of so many people, and then the holding of these men, women, and children hostage, they are simply acting in horrifyingly immoral ways. But the immorality of it becomes even more clear with the women and children, and the moral nonsense that so many people are promoting in the very comfortable environment of so many Western societies.

You have people who are ready to go march in an LGBTQ march. That would make no sense whatsoever in Gaza right now. That would make absolutely no sense whatsoever in Jerusalem right now, where, frankly, in normal times, there has been in recent years a rather significant LGBTQ movement. But as you look at it right now, that would make no sense. It makes no sense because the closer you get to moral urgency, the clearer the picture becomes. No sane person is going to question the reality of biological sex, meaning gender, when it comes to the situation going on in Gaza and in Israel right now.

Reality clarifies enormously. Reality clarifies undeniably. And it’s at least worth our notice that right now the word man, woman, boy, girl, it’s being made without the slightest bit of irony, even among the people who seem to be rather ironic in discussing those same terms in another context.

But finally for today, we need to consider the fact that vandalism is a very serious issue and vandalism in the nation’s capital is a very, very serious issue. Vandalism, when it comes to the cherry trees there in Washington, DC has to be taken very seriously. Someone is desecrating those cherry trees in Washington DC. Remember that they were a gift from the Japanese government as a sign of peace to the United States. Those cherry trees and the blossoming of the cherry trees has become a very, very important part of the culture of our nation’s capital.

At least 15 of those trees have been attacked and desecrated, their bark removed from the trees in recent weeks. Now, the National Park Service and officials there in Washington have a suspect, and the suspect is a single desecrate of these cherry trees. It turns out it is suspected that it is one beaver. That is to say one beaver who is the criminal who has been attacking these cherry trees in Washington, DC. Evidently, this particular beaver has a very strong preference for the bark of cherry trees. He’s not going at the entire tree. It appears at this point that he is not going all the way towards building a dam, but beaver specialists think that that might be what is coming next. But the Tidal Basin is going to mean an awful lot for one beaver to conquer.

Mike Litterst, identified as communications chief for the National Mall and Memorial Parks at the National Park Service, said that the beaver is, quote, “just doing what comes naturally,” end quote, which means using the beaver’s infamous teeth in order to remove the bark from the tree and then gnaw right through the tree itself. At this point, this beaver has not moved to the entire tree, but he evidently really does have a taste for cherry tree bark.

According to the Washington Post reporter, Kevin Ambrose, the Park Service at this point does not plan to remove the beaver. Quote, “Trapping would be an absolute last resort,” Mr. Litter said, quote, “and we lose an average of 90 trees or so a year due to old age disease, et cetera, and beavers are just another reason for that loss,” end quote. It is reported that one desecrating beaver back in April of 1999 killed nine trees, and that beaver was very serious about trying to use those trees to build a dam at the Tidal Basin.

It was a little bit too much of a challenge for one beaver. Now, get this. The damaged trees are in a part of the collection of cherry trees, again, given by Japan in the year 1911 as a sign of friendship. They are in a part of the Tidal Basin area, which by the way is being built up. It is being built up so that there will be a higher wall, which is partly to control the water in the basin, but might have the additional benefit of making the area less accessible to beavers. Maybe the beavers know about this and maybe that’s why the word is spreading. If you want to eat the cherry trees, you better get at it now.

By the way, the report says that the beaver that tried to use the nine filled trees in order to build a dam in the Tidal Basin in 1999 was stopped by Park Service officials. It’s not exactly explained how they dissuaded the beaver from the building of the dam.

One final note, it turns out that the trees nod upon by this beaver who’s gone at 15 of them are very close to the Jefferson Memorial, the memorial to President Thomas Jefferson. I guess President Jefferson just has to be thankful that beavers don’t chew on stone.