Monday, November 27, 2006
Pacifica Commentary For November 22, 2006
Christian Zionism
Welcome to Christian Zionism. This is a unique form of idol worship. It was born from the same people who made an idol of U.S. foreign policy and who identified that policy with the will of God. Call it manifest destiny if you wish. But the first commandment of God is that we should not have weird gods before us. And this one is really weird.
Using the name of the man who said, "This is my commandment, that you love one another," and who spoke of the Spirit reaching all of humankind including the Syrians and Samaritans, on October 21st of this year, Texas pastor and evangelist John Hagee had a special rally at the Church of the Cornerstone in San Antonio. You might remember the Reverend Hagee from his 1981 approval of Israel's bombing the nuclear reactor at Osirak in Iraq. Featured speakers at this year's rally were:
Former CIA director James Woolsey, former chief of staff for the Israeli Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, and Joseph Ginat, director of the Strategic Dialogue Center at the Netanya Academic College in Israel. Woolsey in his wisdom told the congregation that the United States is hated because of its freedom. Ginat told the congregation that the west has only six to ten months to take military action against Iran and he spoke of the culture of lies in the Arab world. Yalalon expressed his belief that an ongoing war had already started between the West and radical Islam and argued that opposition to Israel has little to do with the occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Brigitte Gabriel an Arab and former TV anchor for "world News" on the Middle East Television network said, "Our enemy is in the Islamic mosques throughout the United States." Messages thanking the Rev. Hagee and the congregation came from Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and were broadcast over two large video screens.
So here we have a nineteenth century millennial misinterpretation of the New Testament linked with the nineteenth century ideology of Zionism.
The only message I see revealed in such a gathering is the commonality of fundamentalist behavior. British historian Arnold Toynbee identified the problem over fifty years ago and warned us that once people are in an absolutist posture, they will kill. The goals of such behavior are void of any spiritual content. But the bastardization of religion is frequently rewarded by lucrative government funding.
What is obvious here is that the name of our religion has very little to do with our performance as human beings. The name of our religion, can be used to foster a humane future or an insane future. There is no authentic spirituality which can be based on hatred, racism, and perpetual war.
Thanks to Margot Patterson from San Antonio for her article on this Christian Zionist Rally.
Welcome to Christian Zionism. This is a unique form of idol worship. It was born from the same people who made an idol of U.S. foreign policy and who identified that policy with the will of God. Call it manifest destiny if you wish. But the first commandment of God is that we should not have weird gods before us. And this one is really weird.
Using the name of the man who said, "This is my commandment, that you love one another," and who spoke of the Spirit reaching all of humankind including the Syrians and Samaritans, on October 21st of this year, Texas pastor and evangelist John Hagee had a special rally at the Church of the Cornerstone in San Antonio. You might remember the Reverend Hagee from his 1981 approval of Israel's bombing the nuclear reactor at Osirak in Iraq. Featured speakers at this year's rally were:
Former CIA director James Woolsey, former chief of staff for the Israeli Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, and Joseph Ginat, director of the Strategic Dialogue Center at the Netanya Academic College in Israel. Woolsey in his wisdom told the congregation that the United States is hated because of its freedom. Ginat told the congregation that the west has only six to ten months to take military action against Iran and he spoke of the culture of lies in the Arab world. Yalalon expressed his belief that an ongoing war had already started between the West and radical Islam and argued that opposition to Israel has little to do with the occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Brigitte Gabriel an Arab and former TV anchor for "world News" on the Middle East Television network said, "Our enemy is in the Islamic mosques throughout the United States." Messages thanking the Rev. Hagee and the congregation came from Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and were broadcast over two large video screens.
So here we have a nineteenth century millennial misinterpretation of the New Testament linked with the nineteenth century ideology of Zionism.
The only message I see revealed in such a gathering is the commonality of fundamentalist behavior. British historian Arnold Toynbee identified the problem over fifty years ago and warned us that once people are in an absolutist posture, they will kill. The goals of such behavior are void of any spiritual content. But the bastardization of religion is frequently rewarded by lucrative government funding.
What is obvious here is that the name of our religion has very little to do with our performance as human beings. The name of our religion, can be used to foster a humane future or an insane future. There is no authentic spirituality which can be based on hatred, racism, and perpetual war.
Thanks to Margot Patterson from San Antonio for her article on this Christian Zionist Rally.
