"Wasn't Gaza where Samson died?" my son asked as we drove to school.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" I replied.

"They were talking about the Gaza Strip on the radio." The news had momentarily interrupted Terry Wogan's fatuous banter, and the main story was the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections.

An attentive ten-year-old had made the connection that had completely eluded this forty-year-old minister, over-familiar with Old Testament tales and modern Middle Eastern misery. Samson died in Gaza and the biblical record tells us that in his self-inflicted death he killed more Philistines than when he was alive - three thousand men and women. More than any Palestinian suicide bomber has ever killed in an Israeli supermarket or cinema. And yet while Samson is seen as a fit subject for Sunday School stories, Hamas is denigrated by Israel and the "Christian" west for its support of such suicide bombers.

Also Samson was a judge – a leader of Israel, yet Hamas (and other groups who are tainted with terrorism) are not fit, in the eyes of many, for government. That's the problem with democracy… The electorate don't always see things the way that we, the enlightened ones, do… Can they not see how immoral the use of terrorism in general and suicide bombing in particular is? Can they not see? Are they, to use Milton's phrase in his poem Samson Agonistes, "eyeless in Gaza"?

But do we see things any more clearly? How can we applaud the heroism of Samson, sacrificing himself to destroy the Philistines who were oppressing the Israelites, but condemn the descendents of the Philistines – the Palestinians – as they sacrifice themselves to destroy those whom they see as their Israeli oppressors? How can we applaud Samson toppling the twin pillars of the temple in Gaza to kill 3,000 Philistines, but condemn the use of commercial jets to topple the Twin Towers in New York, killing slightly less than 3,000 Americans and others? How can we condemn the latter and not condemn what might be as many as 10 times that number of civilian casualties in the Allied assault on Iraq? Among the 3,000+ dead in our own local conflict, how do we distinguish righteous from unrighteous deaths?

A firm belief that we are in the right – whether that is based upon the righteousness of being on God's side, or upon self-evident rights – can result in a certain level of blindness to the suffering of others and the effects of our words and actions. Would Samson have toppled the pillars if he could have seen the people around him rather than feel the cold, hard pillars?

I don't suggest that we abandon telling the story of Samson to our children, but I do suggest that we struggle with it and similar biblical stories as rigorously as Samson struggled with the Philistines. He is not a hero to be emulated but yet another flawed follower of God, struggling with personal temptation and arrogance as well as against the forces of evil and oppression.

We do not claim to follow Samson – sacrificing himself so that others might die. Rather, we seek to follow Christ, who gave himself so that others might live, to bring release for the oppressed and recovery of sight to the blind.

David Campton

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Jim Wallis, leader of the Sojourners Community in Washington, DC, is visiting Belfast to launch a new edition of his book, 'God's Politics'. During his visit, Zero28, CCCI, and the Corrymeela Community are co-hosting two events:
THURSDAY 16TH FEBRUARY
1-2pm: God's Politics: A Dialogue with Students and others led by Jim Wallis
6.30-8.30pm: Belfast launch of 'God's Politics: Why the Religious Right Gets It Wrong, and Why the Left Doesn't Get It', with Jim Wallis. Jim will speak and there will be an opportunity for substantial dialogue on how the issues raised in the book are relevant both in the US and northern Ireland.
Everyone is welcome to these events. For more information, please email info@zero28.org.

We are pleased to support 3 separate one day training courses being organised for charities and churches throughout Ireland by the training agency, 'Training People' during March / April 06. These are to be held at the Trinity Conference Centre at Lisburn, NI. The subjects are: Researching and Securing Grant Aid; A Step by Step Guide to Fundraising Planning and How to be a Confident Presenter. For further information on how to book see http://www.trainingpeopleni.com/forth20060308.htm

'Out of the Ordinary', a new devotional resource from the Centre for Contemporary Christianity for prayer and reflection leading up to Easter, will be available at the beginning of March.