Prince of Peace is Being Asked to Promote War

defending the First Amendment against the Christian right ...

... because if Jews don't speak out, they'll think we don't mind

Web JewsOnFirst

Optional Member Code

Please email us
(click here)
catcher@JewsOnFirst.org

And "bookmark" us at
JewsOnFirst.org

Jews on First
P.O. Box 2283
Rockville MD 20847

310-910-9153

Prince of Peace is being asked to promote war

Opinion article by Steve Gushee, The Palm Beach Post, August 18, 2006

A growing number of benighted Christians promote the God of peace as a blood-thirsty warmonger. A profoundly misguided preacher from Texas leads them.

John Hagee is the latest cheerleader of a belligerent and wholly non-Christian God. Nevertheless, many evangelical Christians agree with him.

They believe that military conquest, death and destruction are God's avenue to the Promised Land. They work to bring about Armageddon, the last great biblical battle that will destroy unbelievers and usher in the reign of Christ.

Since they believe that mythical cataclysm must take place in a Holy Land ruled by Jews, they vehemently support Israel and clamor for the destruction of her enemies.

Their aim is not to help Jews or safeguard Israel. Their purpose is to trigger the events that enable Jesus to return and convert or kill all Jews and other unbelievers.

The biblical Armageddon is akin to the final mythic battle between good and evil found in many religious traditions. Neither God nor the author of Revelation where the battle is described intended it to shape contemporary geopolitics or military strategy.

Those who so misuse Christian Scripture are no better than Muslims who pervert their faith to one that encourages suicide bombers. Hagee promotes just such warped nonsense from his Christian perspective.

The graduate of something called the Southwestern Bible Institute is the founder of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. He claims a congregation of more than 18,000 people and an audience of millions on more than 160 radio and television stations.

He organized and presided over a meeting of more than 3,500 evangelical Christians in Washington in July to insist that God enthusiastically supports the slaughter taking place in Israel and Lebanon.

The idea that Israel might show restraint in military operations is a violation of "God's foreign policy," according to Hagee. To prove his point, he cites a verse from the earliest chapters of Scripture that says God will curse those who curse the nation Abraham creates (Genesis 12:3).

He overlooked a word from Jesus that teaches him to "bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you" (Luke 6:28).

Israel makes whatever military decisions she thinks necessary. Hagee, however, blasphemously invokes the God he calls the Prince of Peace to encourage violence in that blood-soaked land.

Islamic extremists do no less.

Fair Use Statement: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.