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How can American Christians help the church in Lebanon?

Speak out for the rights of all people on the basis of Christian values that we all agree on, such as equality, mercy, and forgiveness. In June, I attended a memorial Mass in Beirut for Samir Kassir, a prominent Lebanese journalist and writer who was killed in a car bomb explosion two years ago.

The Greek Orthodox priest who spoke gave a short homily in which he said that when we look back at this murder and other deaths, we have to remember two things: love and forgiveness. It's the Christian message.

If you translate that into political terms, it means equality, making sure that all people are treated decently. American Christians should affirm that foreign policies of the United States reflect Christian values, should treat people equally, not discriminate, not use expediency, but be constantly seeking reconciliation and peaceful resolution of disputes according to the rule of law. [They should] translate Christian moral values into operative political policies.

What is a Christian strategy that could move the ball forward for a region-wide solution?

It would be fascinating to bring Christian, Muslim, and Jewish senior religious leaders together to talk about explicitly political issues. Religious leaders don't have enough impact on politics like what Martin Luther King Jr. did in the States or what Bishop Tutu and the church did in South Africa. I thought that was a good role for religious leaders to play.

Sometimes, it's not just about getting the ear of politicians. Sometimes, the church needs to shame politicians. Go over their heads. The vast majority of people in the Middle East want the same thing. But the politicians are the problem in many ways. So it would be good if various religious leaderships together explored a way to make the moral values of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism more pertinent to the resolution of political conflict. Political leaders need to affirm the relevance of moral and faith values and somehow get them to underpin the political process and negotiations. One way to do that is to get these religious leaders together to explicitly talk about political issues.

Charles Strohmer, a visiting research fellow at the Center for Public Justice in Washington, D.C., is writing a book on U.S. relations in the Middle East.

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Christianity Today has a special section on last summer's Israel-Lebanon conflict, in addition to our other articles on Lebanon. Recent op-eds include "The Colors of Lebanon" and "The 'Jesus Manifesto' for Lebanon."

The BBC's profile of Lebanon includes links to recent articles on the aftermath of late January fighting and the situation of Christians.

The New York Times section on Lebanon includes slideshows, as well as articles.

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August 2007, Vol. 51, No. 8