"Christian Zionist" Foreign Policy
I know, I know. Perhaps I am slightly obsessive about all this weirdness with America's foreign policy and the pre-millenial dispensationalists under the bed, barely out of view, but it's a bit like global warming: if they're having even a tenth the influence on policy that one fears in the early hours of the morning, that's too much and we need to shine some light on God's Little Cockroaches.
Of course, I'm not the only; after all, I picked up the infection from Bill Moyers and that whole red-heifer thing. (As was pointed out there, it doesn't matter if I believe these absurdities as long as millions of others do and are willing to act on it.)
Today I'm reading Max Blumenthal's "Birth Pangs of a New Christian Zionism" (The Nation, online, 8 August 2006). He's talking about David Brog, the jewish lawyer, and his lobbying for John Hagee ("a fire-and-brimstone preacher from San Antonio who commands the nearly 18,000-member Cornerstone Church and hosts a major TV ministry where he explains to millions of viewers how the end times will unfold"), who is the leader of "Christians United for Israel" (a tellingly odd combination of religious traditions in that name), and the secret meetings that Brog claims to have been having with the White House. Doesn't matter if it's true so long as millions believe it is….
Anyway, CUFI
tells its members that supporting Israel's expansionist policies is "a biblical imperative."
and we know what that means they believe is happening in the Middle East and why they would not be overjoyed by a cease-fire (although they are good at building anticipation before the rapturous climax) or a diplomatic solution. "Bring it on!"
Blumenthal describes Brog's reactions to first meeting Hagee in 2005:
"I was just curious," he said, "are these guys really some evil people working for Armageddon as the media portrays them?"
Any concern in Brog's mind that evangelicals harbored nihilistic motives for supporting Israel was dispelled, he says, once he and Hagee sat down and chatted. It was then that Hagee revealed his vision of a massive new Christian Zionist lobbying organization. Brog expressed enthusiasm for Hagee's idea and touted his political experience. Hagee was sold. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. "I thought it was the most important thing I could do, not only for Israel but for America," Brog said of his decision to work for the preacher.
I'd say the question that leaves in my mind is: "Did Brog then think Hagee a non-evil person working for Armageddon, or as an evil person working for more than Armageddon?"
Brog was working on a book at the time he met Hagee and joined the evangelical crusade.
Brog's recently published book, Standing with Israel: Why Christians Support the Jewish State, expands his case for Jewish acceptance of evangelical political goals. Brog told National Review that his book has universal appeal and will help anyone to "better comprehend the birth pangs of what in time will be a very important alliance." The phrase "birth pangs" is clearly understood by evangelicals as a scriptural citation from Matthew 24, which refers to the apocalyptic struggle that will usher in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Mind you, most of the political successes described in the article are reported by none other than Brog himself, so one expects a fair amount of puffery is involved, not to mention self-delusion. At least, one hopes that's the case.
Despite his best efforts, Brog remains dogged by questions about evangelical reasons for backing Israel. Hagee has told his supporters that supporting Israel is a "biblical imperative," and proudly pronounces his belief that Israel is the future site of the Rapture. Hagee has even reveled in events that most Israelis would describe as tragic. For instance, in his 1996 book The Beginning of the End, Hagee described the murder of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as fulfillment of prophecy and suggested admiration for Rabin's assassin, Yigal Amir.
[…]
More recently, some of Hagee's allies, such as nationally syndicated evangelical radio host Janet Parshall, became ecstatic when Israel and Hezbollah commenced hostilities last month. "These are the times we've been waiting for," Parshall told her listeners in a voice brimming with joy on July 21. "This is straight out of a Sunday school lesson."
Even Brog, who claims that the Christian Zionist movement is about so much more than just Armageddon and end-time prophecies, seems a little defensive, even hysterical:
Brog dismisses concerns about the Christian Zionists' fixation on end times as a "misreading of Christian theology. "One sign of the Second Coming is that there will be widespread moral decay in society," Brog told me. "If Christians really thought they could speed the Second Coming, then why aren't Christians out there opening brothels and selling drugs? Quite to the contrary and quite to the chagrin of many liberals, they are doing the opposite."
Puhlease. For anyone brought up in the online age who's engaged in a single online argument, that strawman sticks out like a sore thumb above the spacebar and a dozen easy refutations spring to mind. Who does he think he'd kidding other than himself? From the article, we find that mostly he's hoping to fool gullible Jews whom he accuses of having a pre-Nazi mindset (sound familiar to anyone?) and seeing Christian bogeymen everywhere who wish them harm. Blumenthal doesn't mention whether Brog is also trying to sell the Brooklyn Bridge to the AIPAC, but it sounds likely.
"We want to speak to Washington and encourage support for Israel whatever the conflict may be," Brog said. He paused, adding, "Provided of course that Israel's cause continues to be just."
But the renewal of the peace process and rolling back the West Bank settlements would be an unjust cause. For Hagee and for CUFI, all roads lead to a "nuclear showdown: with Iran. Diplomacy would only make God angry. As Hagee warns in Jerusalem Countdown, "Those who follow a policy of opposition to God's purposes will receive the swift and severe judgment of God without limitation."
Of course, I remain guardedly optimistic. Knowing that the whole end-time thing is a delusional fever, I hope that sooner or later the pre-millenials will get tired of waiting for something that's not going to happen and go home. On the other hand, they've been expecting to see Jesus return come the weekend since the late 19th century, so it could a little while yet. GLCs seem amazingly resiliient.
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I welcome comments -- even dissent -- but I will delete without notice irrelevant, rude, psychotic, or incomprehensible comments, particularly those that I deem homophobic, unless they are amusing. The same goes for commercial comments and trackbacks. Sorry, but it's my blog and my decisions are final.
on Tuesday, 15 August 2006 at 19.05
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I'm getting the impression that since televagelism has gotten such a well-deserved bad name, a bunch of hucksters are out there working on alternative conduits to people's minds and, most important, to their wherewithal.
Writing books and lobbying, for instance.
on Thursday, 24 August 2006 at 19.25
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Dave MacPherson's "The Rapture Plot" uniquely documents the long hidden 19th century "seeds" of Armageddon theology which lately has moved from the abstract to advocating political and even military action to bring about the End. The "seeds" were in a British journal known as "The Morning Watch" which, in its September 1830 issue, had the first public teaching of the "pretribulation rapture" (the most popular feature of "dispensationalism"). In that issue one writer stated that the raptured Christians would then collectively become "the victorious ministerer of the great tribulation" upon those left behind! MacPherson adds that an 1832 issue taught that the "vials" of wrath in the book of Revelation "shall be poured out by the risen [raptured] saints," and that a few months later another issue went even further and declared that the collective group of raptured ones will "wield the thunders of its power against the dragon and his angels, and cast them down from heaven"! But where in the Bible did those British find support for such "Rapture Rage," and where are the followers of Jesus commanded to bear swords against non-believers – or even support sword-bearers? (Anyone wanting to obtain MacPherson's "The Rapture Plot" – the most detailed and documented history of the "rapture" merchandised by Hagee, LaHaye, Falwell etc. – and wanting the fastest delivery can call 800.643.4645. The author of "Plot," BTW, states that all of his royalties have always gone to a nonprofit group and not to himself.) Rocky