What's god got to do with it?

Went on a 20-mile bikeride yesterday -- the mall and monuments tour -- and as we were going by the White House there was a huge rally in LaFayette Square by Arabs protesting the situation in Lebanan, as well as in Iraq and with the Palestinians. Many wore bumper stickers on their backs that said I (heart) Beirut.

I also saw many large banners with sayings from the Koran about justice and peace. And I've gotta tell ya, while I have the strongest sympathy for the Arabs in all of these conflicts, I think using their religious beliefs to elicit sympathy and support won't be very successful.

Each side claims it is right and is the biggest victim here. Israel believes it is under constant seige from people who have stated over and over that they want to obliterate the country, and that it doesn't even have the right to exist. The Arabs are enraged by the Palenstinian struggle, as well as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They believe their bible urges them to rid the region of infidels and they will be rewarded in heaven. Meanwhile they're slaughtering each other daily in Iraq because of different versions of that very same religion.

Despite that, and although Hezbollah did start things by kidnapping two soldiers, Israel's extreme overreaction is unconscionable.

The Christian right sides with the Jews because it firmly believes the rapture is coming and it will take place in Israel. So they cynically support the Jews against the Arabs, but think only they will be lifted up to heaven during the rapture because THEY are the truly righteous ones.

Political leaders (including Bush and his cronies) use religion and fear to further their own true ends, which are always land, money and power. Just look how rich and powerful Bush and the “Christian” right have become.

In the end, hundreds of thousands of innocent people -- mostly poor women and children -- continue to suffer and die, and war still seems to be the only answer. It's hard to believe we're still fighting and killing each other, as we've been doing for millenia, without learning any new lessons.

If everyone, especially political leaders, would just leave God out of it, and focus on the effects on human beings, on how we live together, how we treat each other, on what is right and on how to really achieve peace, maybe we could begin to solve these longstanding problems. As Sam Harris pointed out in his great book, The End of Faith, history and the present day shows that God is the problem, not the solution in any of these cases.

It seems so obvious. Yet unfortunately not a very popular -- or winning -- political opinion these days.