This piece came by way of Mark Elf (Jews sans frontiers, England), who crossposted the article from Muzzlewatch, the Jewish Voice for Peace anti-propaganda site, about hypocrisy and disputes among Evangelicals waiting or not waiting for Armageddon to strike Israel, this of course pending an expected doomsday attack from Iran. Doomsday preachers like Benjamin Netanyahu and Dore Gold from Israel, and Joe Lieberman and Tom Delay from the US, have all been up this road pumping antiIslamic hate and war rhetoric, using Evangelicals as front men. Yes, that is Tom Delay, the Hammer, previously the bug Exterminator, of Republican House fame, now disgraced for doing what Republicans do.
All this happened at the Christians United for Israel’s annual Washington-Israel Summit in Washington, DC last month.
Although this news is at least on its third passage around concerning the religious bizzaro world brought to us by Bush-Cheney, the eyes and camera of Max Blumenthal, through Alternet, is incredible.
Said Mark Elf,
While good-friend-of-AIPAC evangelical pastor John Hagee swears up and down that his interest in Israel has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with end times belief, his followers who recently gathered in DC in the thousands tell a different story.
However, nothing was more to the contrary and revealing about the bizarre world of the Evangelicals shown inside of this conference tour than Max Blumenthal’s chilling video (click on):
The video begins with a brief interview of Tom Delay, of all people, but I was especially impressed by the dancer in the Blue Dress who ended the video. Was she just demonstrating Bill Clinton’s sinful folic or was she on loan from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, DC’s famous mental institution? In between, events, including a brief take of Joe Lieberman on the podium, are totally otherworldly.
Max Blumenthal’s commented in the attached article,
Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour
Posted on July 27, 2007.
I have never witnessed any spectacle as politically extreme, outrageous, or bizarre as the one Christians United for Israel produced last week in Washington.
On July 16, I attended Christians United for Israel’s annual Washington-Israel Summit. Founded by San Antonio-based megachurch pastor John Hagee, CUFI has added the grassroots muscle of the Christian right to the already potent Israel lobby. Hagee and his minions have forged close ties with the Bush White House and members of Congress from Sen. Joseph Lieberman to Sen. John McCain. In its call for a unilateral military attack on Iran and the expansion of Israeli territory, CUFI has found unwavering encouragement from traditional pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and elements of the Israeli government.
But CUFI has an ulterior agenda: its support for Israel derives from the belief of Hagee and his flock that Jesus will return to Jerusalem after the battle of Armageddon and cleanse the earth of evil. In the end, all the non-believers – Jews, Muslims, Hindus, mainline Christians, etc. – must convert or suffer the torture of eternal damnation. Over a dozen CUFI members eagerly revealed to me their excitement at the prospect of Armageddon occurring tomorrow. Among the rapture ready was Republican Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. None of this seemed to matter to Lieberman, who delivered a long sermon hailing Hagee as nothing less than a modern-day Moses. Lieberman went on to describe Hagee’s flock as “even greater than the multitude Moses commanded.”
Continuing with Mark Elf’s column:
Meanwhile, lots of other evangelicals are getting ticked off because it seems like the only evangelical position on Israel/Palestine is Hagee’s. Not so, they want you to know.
This open letter just appeared in the New York Times:
Letter to President Bush From Evangelical Leaders
Published: July 29, 2007
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20500Dear Mr. President:
We write as evangelical Christian leaders in the United States to thank you for your efforts (including the major address on July 16) to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to achieve a lasting peace in the region. We affirm your clear call for a two-state solution. We urge that your administration not grow weary in the time it has left in office to utilize the vast influence of America to demonstrate creative, consistent and determined U.S. leadership to create a new future for Israelis and Palestinians. We pray to that end, Mr. President.
We also write to correct a serious misperception among some people including some U.S. policymakers that all American evangelicals are opposed to a two-state solution and creation of a new Palestinian state that includes the vast majority of the West Bank. Nothing could be further from the truth. We, who sign this letter, represent large numbers of evangelicals throughout the U.S. who support justice for both Israelis and Palestinians. We hope this support will embolden you and your administration to proceed confidently and forthrightly in negotiations with both sides in the region.
As evangelical Christians, we embrace the biblical promise to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you.” (Genesis 12:3). And precisely as evangelical Christians committed to the full teaching of the Scriptures, we know that blessing and loving people (including Jews and the present State of Israel) does not mean withholding criticism when it is warranted. Genuine love and genuine blessing means acting in ways that promote the genuine and long-term well being of our neighbors. Perhaps the best way we can bless Israel is to encourage her to remember, as she deals with her neighbor Palestinians, the profound teaching on justice that the Hebrew prophets proclaimed so forcefully as an inestimably precious gift to the whole world.
Historical honesty compels us to recognize that both Israelis and Palestinians have legitimate rights stretching back for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine. Both Israelis and Palestinians have committed violence and injustice against each other. The only way to bring the tragic cycle of violence to an end is for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a just, lasting agreement that guarantees both sides viable, independent, secure states. To achieve that goal, both sides must give up some of their competing, incompatible claims. Israelis and Palestinians must both accept each other’s right to exist. And to achieve that goal, the U.S. must provide robust leadership within the Quartet to reconstitute the Middle East roadmap, whose full implementation would guarantee the security of the State of Israel and the viability of a Palestinian State. We affirm the new role of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and pray that the conference you plan for this fall will be a success.
Mr. President, we renew our prayers and support for your leadership to help bring peace to Jerusalem, and justice and peace for all the people in the Holy Land.
Finally, we would request to meet with you to personally convey our support and discuss other ways in which we may help your administration on this crucial issue.
Sincerely,
(signed by various religious leaders)
Okay, not all Evangelicals are insane. The point is rather this: just which Evangelicals is Bush-Cheney listening to. With Joe Lieberman and Tom Delay pumping up the bizarre ones, one can only guess.