Turning the Tide
Monday, January 14, 2008
I read posts like this one over at Israpundit that make pretty clear points about the way the world really works and I wonder how long it will be until this tick pops and the entire population is forced to face reality.
In the above-linked post, Ted Belman points out, "For that matter, one wonders why US is the chief sponsor of Fatah? Oh, we know that they also have Nazis roots. For that matter so does the CIA." Belman's far from the first to draw attention to the sad, but true fact that the United States government hasn't always fought on the side of truth and righteousness. Political conservatives, Christians (especially the Evangelical ones), members of the Greatest Generation, and even older Jewish Americans have a tendency to view America through rose-coloured glasses.
A few years ago, I attended a Pesach seder that was punctuated not with the classic "L'Shanah Haba B'Yerushalayim" toast, but with a chorus of "G-d Bless America" instigated by one elderly lady who said, "Jerusalem is lovely, but America is our home." I attended the seder with a few fellow Hillel members. At the time, we were establishing a watchdog group to monitor increasing levels of Muslim anti-Jewish and anti-Israelness on campus. The group was renegade at best, unable to even count on Jewish support after an explosive Parents' Weekend Hillel meeting at which more than one 50-something professional Jewish American declared, "I don't want my child involved in anything controversial on campus! They should just keep their mouths shut!" We kept our mouths shut, alright: we could conquer the hatred espoused by Muslim exchange students at on-campus events, but how could we respond to the American patriotism expressed by our Jewish elders?
Liking America isn't a bad thing. Using your appreciation of the nation as a whitewash to cover over the many faults and poor choices of American political officials can, however, be quite a dangerous thing. Especially when you're Jewish. How do you reckon your love for America with the actions taken by the American government (actions dating back to 1947 and before-- to FDR's Administration and their response to the Holocaust) to purposefully ensure the destruction of the people and the State of Israel?
The other night I was flipping the channels and came across a rebroadcast of The 700 Club. Pat Robertson's son, who apparently now hosts the show, was remarking on Bush's visit to Israel and his statements about "ending the occupation that began in 1967" by saying that he wasn't sure why the President was doing what he was doing, and saying what he was saying, but he hoped that Bush would rethink things, because his actions certainly didn't bode well for America, given the truth of the Biblical prophecies about Israel. His comments were benign, but they also carried with them a great deal of confusion. After all, how could the President of the Evangelicals go to the Holy Land and tell the Jewish people that they had to give up Jerusalem? It just doesn't make sense. And it certainly doesn't bode well for the pro-Israel Evangelicals, especially not the rapture-ready crowd.
What will be the event that tips the scales, that pops the tick, that forces people to wake up and face facts for what they truly are and not what they seem to be based on history, or politcal platforms, or sermons, or popular opinion? Or will it be like the days preceeding the last century's world wars, when current events forced chaos and panic to overrule logical thinking?
Labels: America, Bush, Evangelical Christians, Israel, Jewish, United States, Zionism
posted by Shoshana @ 7:15 PM
