health15

Design: Anders Kjellmark & Bo Norberg

According to the convention of Geneva, ambulances in battle are military targets. However, hunting of ambulances occurs outside military activity. In order to reduce such shooting, Anders Kjellmark, company physician and artist from Stockholm and Bo Norberg, The Rondel, suggest a global ambulance sign. The token is designed to replace the Red Star of David, the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Anders, I think your interpretation is excellent! Some mixtures of religion and politics are explosive. However, in many cultures the synagogue, the church, and the mosque have been situated in the center of the village, in peace (1-2).

Democracy provides the natural solution of political problems. Voters are allowed to vote and re-vote for the smooth shifting of political power, like the antilock brakes of modern cars. Religions are more complex. Although Jewry, Christianity, and Islam have the same history and structure, these religions are basically incompatible.

The three monotheistic religions have their roots in Jewry. All three religions have a hard core (nomenclatura), with a right to exclude and include in the common tradition (preferential right of interpretation). Around the central core, there are layers of more or less devoted followers. This structure has persisted for thousands of years. "The fool thinks that there is no God" (Psalms 14:1).

We Christians believe that Jesus from Nazareth is the Messiah, who is still expected by Jews. The Jews crucified Jesus; the doom was correct, since he claimed to be Messiah. The sentence was confirmed by the political power for political reasons.

The resurrection of Jesus means to the Christians that Jesus was acquitted by The Supreme Court. The decision of The Supreme Court does not abolish the basal courts, which followed their premises. In fact, all Jew-baiting is always unchristian (Rom 11). But is Muslim-baiting unchristian?

Muhammad was 600 years younger than Jesus from Nazareth was. Muhammad confirmed the Old Testament of the Jews and the New Testament of the Christians. As far as I understand different translations of the Koran, Muhammad had no problems with the resurrection of Jesus; he confirmed all prophets of the Bible and Jesus as one of the great prophets.

The interpretation of Jesus from Nazareth differs among the three monotheistic religions. The prologue of the gospel of John identifies Jesus with the Wisdom of God in the literature of the Jews (John 1:1-3, Prov 8:25-36). In an analogous manner, a Christian would be inclined to believe that Jesus is the eternal Koran of Islam (cf Sura 20:11-14).

It is the righteousness from God – Jesus as sacrifice, great high priest, and governor (Hebr 1-13), which splits Jews, Christians, and Muslims; the credit righteousness is abominable for Jews and foolish for Greeks. On this issue, Islam provides a movement back to original Jewry. Thus, every Muslim-baiting is unchristian, like other religious persecutions.

It is reasonable to assume that Jew colleges and Muslim colleges may be able to demonstrate that religious persecution is against the true nature of their own religion. However, this hypothesis is their quest, not mine.

My hypothesis is that our common traditions – the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Koran – would serve as vaccine against violence, if given to the peoples in intelligible translations, spoken and written (cf 3). Each individual citizen should be allowed to choose or reject his own faith or his own disbelief (Psalm 14:1).

There is a consensus that The Sender (Wisdom, Word, Koran) is perfect. We receivers may each have our own limitations (cf 4). Your ambulance sign, Anders, respects every faith.