AND NOW…IDIOTS

from Midwest Conservative Journal by The Editor

It is never appropriate to invoke the name of Jesus to support your pet political cause. Ever. Except, says Carl Medearis, when your pet political cause is really, really important. Like the Middle East, for example:

This week at the United Nations, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has promised to ask for recognition of a Palestinian state. If he does, the United States will veto. Why?

Largely because of something we’ll call Christian Zionism, an American theological movement that preaches a Christian obligation to help Jews reclaim the biblical Promised Land.

As the Palestinians press ahead in their bid for statehood, prepare to hear from this crowd. These Christians number in the tens of millions and they go into a state of frenzy every time a politician so much as winks at the idea of Israel giving up a few settlements or withdrawing to pre-1967 borders.

They’ll tell you their concern has nothing to do with their particular interpretation of the Bible and everything to do with America and Israel’s national security interests.

Don’t believe a word of it.

Oh. Okay. Those of us who support Israel because it’s the right thing to do or because the Jews have the greatest historical claim on that place or just out of a simple sense of gratitude to the Jews for preserving the Word of God throughout the centuries and, well, basically writing most of our Bible for us are obviously lying to ourselves. REALLY nice of you to point this out, Carl, because I never would have known if you hadn’t.

Christian Zionists believe that when God told Abraham 4,000 years ago, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you” he was making a promise that extends to the modern state of Israel. Any nation that “curses” Israel will face God’s judgment.

When you hear some Christian politicians say, “The land belongs to Israel”, what they’re really saying is if America blesses Israel – that is, if it gives uncritical support to the Jewish state – God will bless America. If America curses Israel, God will curse America.

Because that’s sort of…you know…what it says? Carl, have you read Numbers or not or…

One of the reasons Jesus was crucified was because of his refusal to embrace a nationalist agenda. But Christian Zionism blesses military action by the modern state of Israel, under the banner of “national security,” including the demolition of Palestinian homes to pave the way for new settlements.

“One of the reasons Jesus was crucified was because of his refusal to embrace a nationalist agenda.” Really, Carl? I don’t know where in the Bible you’re getting that but I’ll take your word for it.

That being the case, it seems like it wouldn’t matter to Our Lord and Savior if “Palestinian”(a concept that effectively dates from 1967 when this writer was 11 going on 12) homes are demolished at all what with Him not embracing a nationalist agenda and not having any place to lay His head while He was on Earth and all that.

So how would Jesus vote this week if he had a seat at the U.N.?

Surely love, compassion, justice and peace-making would top his lists of concerns for all involved. Maybe he would give a new parable – the Parable of the Good Palestinian – offending all who would hear.

Since you just got done saying that Our Lord didn’t have a nationalist agenda, what exactly are you trying to say here, Carl?

Rather than allowing obscure Old Testament promises to dictate our foreign policy, what if we stuck to the clear commands of God – love your neighbor, your enemy and the foreigner in your midst – which appear in Exodus, Leviticus and three of the four gospels.

Many Christians in America think of Jews and Christians as “us” and anything that sounds Muslim or Arab as “the other.” But the call of Jesus is to be more loving towards the “other” than towards the people we think of as “us.”

Not quite sure where you’re getting that one, Carl. Last I checked, we’re supposed to love everybody; God is no respecter of persons, as Peter put it. But it’s tough to find anyone in the comfortable West who will grieve very long over those unfortunate Israelis who survived the grievous crime of taking mass transit one morning.

It’s true that there are elements of Palestinian society that do not want peace, no matter the price. They need to be isolated and dealt with.

You mean these people? The ones who cheered for Saddam Hussein twice and who celebrated when 3,000 people died on September 11, 2001?
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And this, of course, would be the same “people” who chose the mother of seven people who murdered or attempted to murder Israelis to deliver the “Palestinian” desire for “statehood” to the UN. Yeah, well, the Israelis have their extremists too, you know!

The same goes for elements of Israeli society that don’t want peace. The good news is that extremists are a minority on both sides of the conflict.

Have any of those Israeli “extremists” actually, you know, killed anybody, Carl? As soon as they do, get back to me, tough guy.

Mad props to Damian.