Terrorism seems an odd topic for the Christmas season . . . until one recalls one of the most famous biblical accounts of the Christmas story.

According to Matthew, the entire holy family became refugees, shortly after Jesus' birth, fleeing to Egypt, to avoid falling victim to their own government's plot to kill vast numbers of innocent civilians, most if not all of them, citizens.

The Wise Men themselves warned Joseph of King Herod the Great's intentions, which they themselves had triggered, by asking where they might find the new born "King of the Jews."

Hearing from such reliable sources that this new "King" had been born, Herod clearly believed he had little or no choice. Herod, not some newborn kid, was "King of the Jews." National security interests alone (not to mention greed and dynastic interests) demanded action.

King Herod thus decided to have his soldiers kill all the new born male children in his kingdom.

The news leaked (the Wise Men ostensibly heard of the plan from Herod's own lips) and in the best Wise Man tradition the three travellers from the east warned Joseph.

No doubt bearing gold, frankincense, myrrh, and whatever else they could carry, Joseph and his family fled south as the killing began.

More than two thousand years later variations of this sad story continue to repeat themselves.

All over the world, though perhaps most notably in the Middle East and Africa, men, women, and children are fleeing self-righteous pursuers, armed with moral certainty, murderous intent and the means to execute both.

Perhaps worse, some refugees are fleeing people who don't mean to kill them at all . . . but manage to do so anyhow . . . knowingly, but with the best of intentions.

These refugees fear becoming "collateral damage" . . . a term that could just as well have been applied to the "innocents" of the biblical account, none of whom were destined to become "King of the Jews," but were doomed . . . because they were born in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in areas controlled by folks who saw their deaths as the sad but unavoidable result of efforts to protect the nation from an existential threat.

Madness. Madness.