I was taught by my father that religious belief was the root of all conflict. The events in the world throughout my life have rarely disproved him. He told me that he would get in trouble in Sunday school when he would insistently ask the priests probing questions that they couldn't (or wouldn't) answer. Like if, all non-believers are going to hell, then what will happen to the millions of Hindus living in India? Is it fair that they will suffer eternal damnation because of an accident of birth? He spent his life seeking answers to questions and read the Koran, the Torah and the Bible to see what answers they had to say. An American politician recently blamed the lack of God in schools and politics for the high number of mass shootings in the US. There's no pint looking that one up. It's an iron-clad falsehood. If knowledge and belief exist on opposite ends of the spectrum then those on the conservative side of the electorate here in the US seem all too comfortable wrapping themselves in beliefs - about God, guns, homosexuality, the economy, criminal enterprises and patriotism - that exist outside logic. A belief you've grown up with all your life feels good and is comforting. A fact you discover that upends your world view is upsetting. Let that happen to you too many times and you tend to feel a little off balance. Lost. Sometimes when I see someone who is a true believer - in anything - I can almost feel a little jealous. Life for them must be like driving with GPS on at all times telling you where to turn at every intersection and how far to your destination. Within my own family I hear articulated definitive pronouncements about what's happening now in the world - in Gaza for instance - and think, "Yes, but." When the topic of the crisis came up among friends and family years ago the group was agreeing on a clear-cut point of view assigning blame in one direction and my father offered balance by saying, "yes, but" in reference to incidents he witnessed that put things in another perspective. You can of course be a devout theist and a clear-eyed realist as former president Obama proved. There's always a bit of hope if you know where to look for it.