'I foresee a rabbit hole the includes Abraham, Sara, Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael."

The other night I posted this, 'I foresee a rabbit hole the includes Abraham, Sara, Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael."  It was an offshoot of a "conversation" I was involved in concerning some things over in the Middle East and what should or should not be done.  During the conversation, I was struck by an interesting thought (well interesting to me), people really do not know history and are comfortable with that ignorance.  I say know instead of understand because that is a whole other story.

Ponder me this, what 3 religions claim to be heirs to Abraham?

A::Unlike Jews and Christians, Muslims claim their identity with Abraham through Hagar and Ishmael rather than through Sarah and Isaac.

And why would that obscure bit of biblical history be important in today's conflict?

A::Muhammad sought to give legitimacy to Islam by identifying with Abraham through Ishmael.   Ishmael if you remember was the legitimate first son of Abraham of whom Sarah was insanely jealous of, "and she said to Abraham, 'Get rid of that slave woman (Hagar) and her son (Ishmael), for that woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.'" (Gen 21:10, NIV)

And this is the root of the alienation that exists between Christians and Muslims, both of whom claim to be the heirs of Abraham.  Not the aftermath of 911. Not Operation Desert Storm, nor Iran-Contra, or the Iranian Hostage Crisis of the 70s.  It goes back 2000+ years and that is where I'm heading!!