Sandbox

This is going to get REAL-didactic. Sorry.
Also, if I were cooler, I'd give you more history or at least a sampling of those biblical sections that are relevant, but I'm not.

So for years I just could not understand this conflict in the Middle East. It's a big hot sandbox-who the fuck WANTS that? What are these people thinking and why don't they move somewhere colder?

Now, in retrospect, biblically restrospective, I'm pretty sure when this shit first went down, maybe it wasn't a big stupid sandbox. It was probably really hot still but like goats and cows have to eat and we had thousands of them ergo, there was grass.

Not to belittle all the love and millenia of affection but the Jewish relationship with G-d is practical. We do what G-d says, G-d gives us rain for our crops and babies for our wombs.

Why is it a desert?

Now I firmly do not believe, though some do, that praying three times a day—or worse, killing a bunch of goats, ox and pigeons—will end droughts. Contrary to my relationship with G-d, I find this impractical (and kind of creepy). However, the dozens of sections in ye olde testament clearly state a cause-and-effecthood between our actions and the results of those actions.

Why is it a desert?

The bible stories were written literally, when they were written, but a story is seldom about what happened as opposed to why it happened or how, or how it made us feel or changed us. So maybe it sounds hippy and liberal to say the bible means we should take care of the earth. But maybe if we spent more hippy, liberal time taking care of the earth—we wouldn't end up fighting over a sandbox.