(Cont. from Part 2) I've talked in other posts about a grim sort of ecumenical cooperation between the Christian Right and ultraconservative Israelis in opposing any practical efforts for peace in the Middle East. When a dispute is not just over a border or a political arrangement but over the Divine Will of the Almighty, compromise may appear to be a sin in itself.
The Christian Right's position in that situation is a perversion of the prophetic tradition. Hough's perspective is that Christians in particular need to recover more of their prophetic heritage. The Hasidic scholar Abraham Heschel in The Prophets defined the Hebrew prohets this way:
The prophet is a man who feels fiercely. God has thrust a burden upon his soul, and he is bowed and stunned at man's fierce greed. Frightful is the agony of man; no human voice can convey its full terror. Prophecy is the voice that God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor, to the profaned riches of the world. It is a form of living, a crossing point of God and man. God is raging in the prophet's words.
The good news for Hough's argument is that God and the prophets are taking the side of the poor. I've seen it argued that the understanding of "justice" in the Hebrew Bible implied not some sort of abstract legal equity but more specifically the notion of defending the poor.
The more mixed news is that the prophets understood themselves to be speaking not just for the poor, but for God. Elijah wasn't interested in any ecumenical understanding with the Phoenician queen Jezebel and her priests of Baal and Asherah. That prophetic legacy is more problematic in today's world.
The religious basis for ecumenical efforts is closely related to the sentiments behind the prophets' concern for the poor. It's the idea that God cares for all of humanity and that his followers should show a concern for others that reflects that understanding. There will always be the General Boykins and Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons who try to channel religious faith into hatred and fanaticism. But we can hope that it is possible to save our religions from them.
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