From the editor's desk

As I write these notes, the expected backlash over the murder of Muslim cleric and leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, has not yet taken place, but tragically it will mean more innocent Israeli lives lost in this murderous dance of the deranged. One wonders about the strange "religious" rationalizations for suicide bombings and the utter stupidity of murdering a quadriplegic cleric as he was leaving a mosque. As Martin Luther King used to say, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth simply leaves people blind and toothless." Here, the Israeli leadership is blind and the desperate impotence of so many Palestinians renders them toothless, but willing to give themselves up in the prime of life.

As is so often the case, the answer lies in the heart of the faith community. In this case, the Passover and Paschal Mystery: no one can live in slavery without their humanity being diminished. See Rabbi Waskow's retelling of the ancient, but ever-green Passover Haggadah (p.16). See also Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb's powerful cry for open discourse as scared obligation in Jewish life (p, 14). For Christians at Eastertide, we identify with the broken Jesus, the oppressed and nonviolent victim. See how deeply native Papuans do this in Michael Doyle's remembrance (p.14).

Last issue, I promised an article on noted writer Karen Armstrong, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing. I am embarrassed to say that the tape has gone missing, but we will be reviewing the ebullient Ms. Armstrong's latest book, the Spiral Staircase.

Reporter Kevin Spurgaitis has done his usual thorough job in examining the oil pipeline reportedly threatening the Ecuadorian Amazon (p. 8).

Finally, a blessed Pasch to all as theological Sylvia Keesmaat asks, "Does our consumption of chocolate demonstrate the bitter sweet agony of Good Friday or the resurrection joy Easter?"

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