Israel and 2012 Elections
Richard Land, who opened the Response meeting in Houston, has stated that support for the modern state is a biblical mandate. Perry's good friend John Hagee is the chief protestant cheer leader for the Jewish state. Hagee believes in a version of the prosperity gospel that teaches support for the secular state of Israel brings in gifts of money to the local church. It certainly has in his case. Moody Bible Institute once had a heritage of anti-Semitism. This changed with the new version of end of times belief systems . End of times versions of the Dispensationalist theory brought with it a new support for the current state of Israel. The late Ed McAteer, from a large Southern Baptist Church in Memphis, wanted President W. Bush to appoint him ambassador to Israel. This was to allow Israel to retake all the lands she desired. Moderate Baptist Jimmy Carter wants the Oslo agreements to remain in place and has drawn the wrath of the Anti-Defamation League. Hagee and crowd are encouraging resettlement of these regions. I have received several offers to visit Israel with the motive that getting me and my people to these regions will bring sympathy towards the idea of resettlement. Oklahoma University professor and scholar Charles Kimball reports that "Policies discriminating against non-Jewish citizens in Israel are no secret. In addition to annual reports by various nongovernmental human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the U.S. State Department publishes annual country reports on human rights practices. The reports on Israel and the Occupied Territories detail how Israel policies create institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country's Arab citizens." (See, When Religion Becomes Lethal pg. 42.) A nation of new evangelicals now sees support for Israel as a doctrinal mandate. This was not true a generation ago. Perry is plowing into a harvest on fertile soil. Kimball once worked as a consultant with the World Council of Churches on the Mideast. He notes that Jewish groups often strike back at politicians who question motives and policies. They now have an ally in the Religious Right. Rolling Stone author Matt Taibbi notes that Hagee Jr. compared global warming to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. The preacher made the point that Jews were wrongly blamed for problems in Europe much in the same way industry is blamed for global warming. Even though his father laces his writing with myths about Jewish banker conspiracies, the family has found a new fondness for Israel.
The secular press has missed the influence Tim LaHaye, Moody Bible Institute, Dallas Theological Seminary and etc. have had on the nation's evangelicals. Politics makes strange bed fellows. It is yet another example of how the Religious Right is having an impact on the nation's politics.
Israel and 2012 Elections | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 hidden)
Israel and 2012 Elections | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 hidden)
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