Surely the boomers can agree on this

(". . .and stop calling me Shirley.")
I knew it was risky wading into the Israeli-Palestinian issue in a recent post here. Even my bold declaration at the start that I'm not a racist wasn't sufficient protection from some vitriol, as it turned out.
One of my fundamental assumptions was questioned. A critic stated that the Jewish people are not a "race," rather they represent a religion. I was also told that I shouldn't try to speak for my generation - the boomers - on the subject.
Inspired by Dave Barry, I asserted that boomers have gotten weary of the drumbeat of conflict-ridden news from the Middle East. I suggested that almost any resolution to the conflict would be welcomed by the boomers if it would make the conflict go away.
We grew up with the Viet Nam War and it went away. We grew up with inflation and it went away. Richard Nixon went away. Those were festering, irritating and even tragic matters but ultimately they faded.
Now that the boomers are pushing down the door of retirement, we're wondering if the Middle East could ever become a relatively placid place without such stifling conflict - so stifling it's nigh impossible sometimes to have a reasonable discussion about it.
I don't care what the Bible says. Unspeakable suffering has been caused by religion down through the ages. Those who say the Jews are fulfilling some sort of divinely-crafted grand plan are in a world I cannot relate to. It's not a world of reason and logic. It's the kind of thinking that can throw gasoline on a fire.
Many evangelical Christians embrace that thinking. It's a supreme irony because in the very long run, they would argue that Jews aren't saved anyway. They only seem to serve some sort of short-term purpose.
This perspective is so alien to me, I have a hard time describing it. Jews join hands with that evangelical element (typified by John Hagee) because they like the short-term advantages. They disregard the bad news - damnation - at the end. I don't blame them for seizing the pragmatic angle.
Preacher Hagee emerged as a curiosity in the 2008 presidential election campaign after he endorsed Republican John McCain. McCain made the mistake of accepting it. Hagee was on the record making some comments very offensive to Jews even though he was an ardent crusader for their current Israel aims.
Reading about Hagee's taped comments that "Hitler and the Nazis were sent by God to chase Europe's Jews to Isreal" is enough to make me want to embrace famous Morris atheist PZ Myers.
I haven't gathered extensive background on Myers' beliefs but I think it's safe to say he asserts that much suffering in the world has been inflicted in the name of religion. Hagee's comment should put up a red flag and be shunned. But a man like this commands so much attention from the pulpit.
The campaign controversy was a good lesson for many Americans. McCain had to reject the endorsement.
Vince Bugliosi has written that one of the reasons for the horrific 9/11 attack was America's historic strong support for Israel. It wasn't as George W. Bush explained it so condescendingly: "The terrorists hate our freedom."
If the U.S. support of Israel were based on empirical-based aims and diplomatic logic, fine. But religion had better not be the buttressing element. My point when writing previously was that if the Jews "going home" could end the headlines about suicide bombings and the like, it would be a good thing.
The "going home" suggestion was put out there by journalist Helen Thomas. The fact that she was destroyed within hours as a professional proves my whole point. The intensity of this conflict is disturbing and has given an unfortunate backdrop to the boomers' life experience.
Consciousness of race or religion has never helped people get along better. The opposite has been quite true.
I'm no theologian nor social scientist. But I have the impression that Jewish people are highly motivated, setting high standards and valuing education. It would be nice if they could find their place in the big scheme of things without the need for a refuge nation like Israel.
Was Thomas saying, in effect, "it's safe to go home now?"
Is the strife of the 1930s and 1940s, which afflicted so many others in addition to Jews, distant enough in time now? Are the causes of World War Two, including profound economic strife (leading to despotism), no long relevant - not to be repeated?
Has our world civilization advanced beyond such unspeakable misery and conflict?
One would hope "yes."
Maybe neither I nor Dave Barry speak for all boomers, but one can hardly relish a continuing drumbeat of intense conflict in the Middle East. The suffering of the Palestinians is sad. One of the reasons that George W. Bush could portray Saddam Hussein as a terrorist was Hussein's apparent sympathy for Palestinian suicide bombers. No one can defend those bombings. But I don't think Americans wanted to launch a war on the basis of this.
Mark Dayton is now campaigning for Minnesota governor proudly claiming that he voted against the Iraq war.
Israel should fight its own battles for as long as it can. And if in the end they have to "go home," it might be a resolution in the best interests of everyone - religion be damned.
-Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com