Beauty: Peaceful Bridge Builders in a War-Torn World (Part 2)

In this second part of the commentary by Brian Zahnd on the seventh beatitude about being peacemakers (see Part 1 here), I will quote part of a statement that he and two of his friends (a Jewish artist born in Israel and a Muslim scientist born in Egypt) agreed upon as they work together for peace in spite of their differences. Together they have collected thousands of toys for the poor Israeli and Palestinian children in and around Gaza. The following is their attempt to explain their cooperation (you can read the entire statement in his book, Beauty Will Save the World):

For the Common Good

We are Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

And we are friends.

We seek to follow our respective religions faithfully...

We recognize the reality of our religious differences.

But we are friends...

Our faith and friendship need not be mutually exclusive.

We recognize that we share common space - the common space of a shared planet.

For the sake of the common good we seek common ground.

We do not share a common faith, but we share a common humanity...

...in our shared humanity we hold to a common dream: Shalom, Salaam, Peace.

We hold to the dream that our children may play in peace without fear of violence...

We pledge not to hate.

We pledge not to dehumanize others.

We pledge to do no harm in the name of God.

As individuals we do not compromise the truth claims of our respective religions.

But we will not use truth claims to fuel hate or justify violence...

Our religions share a complex and intertwined history -

A history of interaction that has too often been tumultuous and bloody.

We believe there must be a better way...the way of peace.

We are Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

And we are friends... 

The next beatitude we will look at is the eighth and final beatitude: "Blessed are those who are mocked and misunderstood for the right reasons, for the kingdom of heaven comes to earth amidst much persecution."