the war on terrorism not always black and white

Now to the more political... Today's NYT reports that Israel's interim PM says peace negotiations cannot succeed if Hamas is politically involved. This is more tricky than it sounds, I think. Yes, Hamas is most definitely a terrorist group (i.e., a group that has uses terrorist methods--in my view defined by targeting civilians--to send a political message); but are they not also, in large part because of the absence of a responsible state in the occupied territories, esp. Gaza, a social work and local governance organization? If, as such, they are really recognized by a fair number of Palestinians as their political representatives (this point is of course debatable), how can a sustainable political solution then be negotiated without their involvement? Hmmm.

While we're on the topic, I still cringe when I hear the phrase "war on terror"? It is first of all an even scarier way of saying "war on terrorism," which is in turn just a fight against a method of conflict. Shouldn't the U.S. government say what it really means, which is a war on armed islamism?

still recovering

We had such a great end of December - with my parents here for Christmas, Katie's baptism, Christmas with Peter's whole family here in Denmark - that afterwards I got sick and am still trying to get fully up to snuff again!

Some of you may be surprised that we had Katie baptised as a baby. Peter and I had talked about whether to baptise our kids since we were engaged, since it is part of his tradition, but not mine. But in the end we decided that since we right now are active in the Lutheran church here, where it is normal, and I came to believe that there are grounds for it in Scripture (with whole households being baptised together) as well as for adult baptism, we would go ahead with it. It was a really joyful occasion! She was baptised and formally named in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and welcomed into God's grace in the faith community. And it was also our chance as parents to commit to raising her in the faith. We also enjoyed having family and friends there with us to celebrate the day and her!