Comments | mary_j_59: What's wrong with Christian Zionism? (If not now, when?)

mary_j_59

What's wrong with Christian Zionism? (If not now, when?)

Jul 24, 2014 23:00

I am deeply upset by the news of the world, and thus I'm posting something rather controversial. One of the driving forces in U.S. politics is Christian Zionism. I have many problems with that philosophy, if philosophy it can be called ( Read more... )

politics, real life

Comments 13

litlover12 July 25 2014, 03:07:33 UTC

That's weird. I know lots of Christians who favor the cause of Israel -- I don't think I've EVER met one who thought all Jews should go live in Israel. I must lead a very sheltered life!

mary_j_59 July 25 2014, 14:23:37 UTC

Oh, the philosophy does exist, and it unfortunately drives a lot of our governmental attitudes, or so I understand. There are, I believe, more Christian Zionists in the U.S. than there are actual Zionists. As to Christians supporting Israel - yes, that's a knee-jerk reaction with several causes, some good, some not so good, and many unexamined. One of the causes of this, frankly, is that a majority of the Palestinians -- not all, by any means, but a majority -- are Muslim. And too many Christians see Muslims as intrinsically "other". We see them as hostile, barbaric, primitive, anti-Christian, etc., just because they are Muslim. This isn't right, and we need to examine it. From what I have observed in the past twelve years or so, there is very little difference between the attitudes of right-wing Muslims, right-wing Christians, and right-wing Jews. And Richard Clarke - I'm pretty sure it was him - was absolutely right when he said that the Palestinians were the best-educated, most moderate people among the Arabs of the Middle East. He ( ... )

Long time lurker here... vermouth1991 July 25 2014, 08:19:31 UTC

I thought that the whole deal with Isreal was that the Jewish people may have a nation-state (民族国家) of their own - assuming that the Palestinians would agree on who gets what part of the land - not that all Jews should go live in that place. By that line of thought everyone who are not "Indians" or "Eskimos" out to clear out of Canada and America. Which ain't never gonna happen. On the other hand i've been ignorant of the concept of "christian zionism" until just now. I know that in some aspects America is being controlled (or at least heavilly influenced) by certain Jewish families and personages (such as the movie business) yet at the same time the US has its own share of anti-semitism ( ... )

Re: Long time lurker here... mary_j_59 July 25 2014, 14:28:27 UTC

Thanks for your comment, and you are SO RIGHT about American (and Israeli) exceptionalism. That may be part two of this post. I have much more to say, but will probably throw some links at you, starting with this one:

www.ifamericansknew.org.

Re: Long time lurker here... litlover12 July 25 2014, 17:58:16 UTC

I Googled that and found this. Would you say it's a fair assessment?

http://archive.adl.org/israel/anti_israel/alison_weir/if-americans-knew.html?m_flipmode=4

Re: Long time lurker here... mary_j_59 July 26 2014, 03:08:36 UTC

Actually, no. Ms. Weir may represent one side of the issue, but she is trying to get out facts that have long been suppressed or denied. The Palestinian viewpoint has been completely absent in U.S. dialogue for decades. The ADL, however, is quite right-wing, so much so that they actually call her an anti-semite because she is critical of Israel and its policies. They are extremely biased, and, IMHO, not entirely truthful.

eeyore6771 August 2 2014, 03:19:34 UTC

Very well said, Mary. Well done. I don't think most people really understand why some Christians are so enthusiastic about Jews moving to Israel.

mary_j_59 August 2 2014, 04:00:42 UTC

Thank you!! I do wish these people would examine their beliefs; I just cannot comprehend how they think committing crimes against innocent strangers can possibly be God's will.

BTW, I have enjoyed your posts, especially about your little grandson. He's a doll! (If one can say that about a boy.)

As an outsider... vermouth1991 August 2 2014, 14:38:56 UTC

I would really like to ask: at least among Catholics, what is the "general idea" of gauging God's Will? For instance, all those LGBT- and women-oppressing things are being done in God's name, what sort of "karma" is supposed to befall onto these bigots to maybe let them rethink their ways? This is rhetorical, actually, I've been thinking that they keep doing that kind of gleeful sh*t because nothing bad's happening to them therefore God must approve, nevermind that a lot of people are actively against them. Apparantly to them "Vox Populi, vox Dei." means squat. Well, there's always hell to look forward for them, I guess.

Re: As an outsider... mary_j_59 August 2 2014, 16:07:35 UTC

Is this rhetorical? I'm not really being snarky; I'd like to know if you'd like an answer. The short answer is that Catholicism, in itself, is very varied. So you can't necessarily tell what a person will think about something when they proclaim, as I just did, "I'm a Catholic". There is, of course, some common ground. I'm not a theologian and I don't want to lead you astray, but these are the basics, as I understand them ( ... )

Thread 7