Why Israel should break ranks from Armageddon hawks

Because Christian Zionists are, in Don Wagner's words, intrinsically and pathologically, "anxious for Armageddon" (pg 183 of Stephen Sizer's Christian Zionism)
Some among the apocalyptic right express their love for Israel as in

"I pray that even if it takes anti-Semitism in America, God may use it to get his millions back to Israel." -Jan Willem van der Hoeven (as cited pg 223 Christian Zionism). Willem is an Armageddonist Activist & Founder of International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and director of The International Christian Zionist Center.

He is saying that anti-semitism may be tolerated or justified if it serves the higher end of forcing Jews to return to Zion so that what has been prophecied should come to pass. Heaven forbid that a few million Jews' desire to live in America thwart Armageddon by not reaching God's quorum for the inevitable Apocalypse.
The only reason the deranged lunatic - Jan Willem - continues to operate in Israel is that he has convinced the settler movement he is their friend by encouraging settlements on the one hand and on the one hand putting forward propaganda which disconnects the inequities caused by the disenfranchisement of the Palestinians from the conflict. Here's a quote from this creep and another from a Benyamin Netanyahu, which represents the worldview that any well-meaning Jewish person would have if over-exposed to the filthy ideas of Armageddonism.

Jan Willem van der Hoeven

Benyamin Netanyahu

Today, most of the relatively uninformed journalists and politicians in the West are of the misguided opinion that as long as Israel withdraws from the “occupied territories,” namely Gaza, Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”) and the Golan Heights, there will be a chance for peace in the Middle East. The reason they think this is there false perception of the conflict as basically over land - rather than the reality that what is being sought is the elimination of Israel from the map of the Middle East. (van der Hoeven 1993: 133)

Today too we are told that it is we who provoke terrorism. We provoke it by building apartments in Jerusalem, we provoke it by providing for the natural growth of our communities... The real provocation … is not a housing project, it is not the settlements. The real provocation is pure and simple. It is our existence here. That is what is causing the provocation. It is not a provocation. This is our country, this is the Land of Israel; it is the country that belongs to the people of Israel, and we have an inalienable right to this land. (Netanyahu 1997)

The conclusion van der Hoeven wants to empart to his Jewish audience is that it's your destiny to fight Armageddon. There is no other route to peace.
Van der Hoeven believed that Muslims want to eliminate Israel from the map. This has an ounce of truth to it and a pound of lies. The cloak and dagger technique employed by van der Hoeven leaves out the fact that it's the nature of the democracy in Israel which many chafe at rather than a reaction to the presence of Jews. The nature of this democracy is a topic for discussion elsewhere. The point here is that van der Hoeven evokes the memory of the Holocaust here by evoking the memory of Hitler's attempt to eliminate Jews.
All this because van der Hoaven believes in a certain interpretation of prophecy which leaves him with a theology of history. In turn this belief shapes his perception of reality. And when it comes to identifying friend from foe, percepiton is reality.
He believes that non-Jews surrounding Israel must be destroyed so that the glory of God may be known. The fact that they happen to be Muslim is incidental.
Van der Hoeven and those like him - Hagee, Limbaugh, and well meaning pundits from the right and the left - all accept this line of thinking at face value. What else is one to do when you are told you are under attack? That's what Hitler told the Germans to get them to take up arms against their neighbors.
If you look at the news, you will indeed see news of Jews being attacked. What van der Hoeven asserts is that the cause of this conflict is something enherent to the inferior mind of the Palestinians. And his conclusion is that therefore, there is no way of avoiding armageddon. According to van der Hoeven, the ceansing of the earth is inevitable. People such as van der Hoeaven manage to find niches of acceptance within the Jewish community precisely because they manipulate the Jewish patriot's fears.
Van der Hoeven spends a lot of time explaining, for instance why Palestinians fire rockets. Israeli politicians take on the role of responders to the crisis. In effect, the situation on the ground as seen through the lense of the Armageddonist ideology provides the world-view to which the Jewish state responds.
What would happen if a Jewish politician differed from this script? If we look at history, Ariel Sharon for instance, during his final years, attempted to do just that by attempting a land for peace deal. Although I believe this soluiton is doomed to failure because it's a lot like separate but equal. Be as it may, he was mocked and rediculed by the base in America for even thinking of peace.

Roots of Armageddonist Support for Israel

• "The return of the Jewish people to their homeland was prophesied in the Bible. Their return to the Land is of great importance to Christians as it heralds the Coming of the Lord"
  - Christian Friends of Israel
• "The founding of Israel as a nation in 1948 was ordained of God to provide a homeland for the Jewish people and to prepare for the future return of Jesus Christ."
  - Jerry Falwell, Armageddonist Televangelist
• "The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West... a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ."
  - John Hagee, Armageddonist Televangelist
• "Persons of biblical faith are called to 'pray for the peace of Jerusalem' (Ps. 122). The ideology of Christian Zionism celebrates violence and the defeat of peacemaking efforts. It blesses neither Israelis nor Palestinians."
  - The Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism
• Pat Robertson published The End of the Age, a book he calls his first work of fiction — although he says it is "based solidly on the Bible." In the book, Robertson paints a bleak picture of the end times he says we are about to enter. He writes about a Christian militia-type group raised up to fight a tyrannical American government, and the dropping of a neutron bomb on Israel. Then, glory be to God, Jesus comes back with a company of angels and destroys the enemy, and the saved live happily ever after
  
  Based on this vision of current events, Robertson not only opposed Rabin's peace efforts, but claimed that God removed Rabin because he stood in the way of God's plan.

Reaction of Non-Armageddonists

• “God save us from these people... When you see what these people are encouraging Israel and the U.S. Administration to do that is, ignore the Palestinians, if not worse, if not kick them out, expand the settlements to the greatest extent possible, they are leading us into a scenario of out and out disaster.” - Yossi Alpher, who served 12 years in Israel’s intelligence agency, the Mossad. Later, he became Israel Director of the American Jewish Committee
• "Some Christians who I know very well, very devout people, believe a certain interpretation of Revelations, that in my opinion are quite weird, in that in the coming of Christ that the holy land has to be occupied by the Jews and not by anyone else and then in the end that all Jews will have to be killed or either converted to Christianity. This is a very seriously distorted interpretation of the Scriptures that I am very familiar with.
  -Jimmy Carter
• "...as a reflection of their End Times theology, the message of the Christian Right to U.S. policymakers is ‘don’t be involved in getting the parties to the negotiating table,’ then they certainly are... an impediment to the peace process, and that isn’t helpful."
  - Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

Glen Beck and John Hagee Discuss Iran and the Second Coming

Glen Beck, a radio personality who has a show on CNN by his name, exposes fundamentalist reading of history which drives his understanding of the world. This is part 1 of 6:

In this series of videos, Hagee prophecies that the end of the world will (they add the refrain "as we know it" to circumvent criticism) will be within 20 years; that he is looking for candidates who are pro-Israel; that we live in the end times. And at the end of all this, Glen tells him that he has been saying the same thing for a long time now.

Here's another video to be watched in the context of the above belief system:

For Rapturists, the Middle East is not Foriegn; It's Personal

For 85% of the US electorate, the Middle East is a foreign issue, and therefore of secondary interest when they enter the polling booth. For 15% of the electorate, the Middle East is not just a domestic matter, it's a personal one: if the president fails to start a conflagration there, his core voters don't get to sit at the right hand of God. Bush, in other words, stands to lose fewer votes by encouraging Israeli aggression than he stands to lose by restraining it. He would be mad to listen to these people. He would also be mad not to.

-The Guardian Unlimited

Armageddonism's vicious in logic

"[The Pre-Trib Rapture] is built on a postulate, vicious in logic, violent in exegesis, contrary to experience, repudiated by the early Church, contradicted by the testimony of eighteen hundred years...and condemned by all the standard scholars of every age."
- Nathaniel West (1826-1906), The Apostle Paul and the "Any Moment" Theory, p. 30.

Armageddonism, Daniel Pipes, and his "Analysis"

How does Armageddonism affect his analysis of middle east affairs?

There are one of three possibilities:

1. Either he ignores Armageddonism all-together because he does not know about them; which makes him a pawn in the hands of Armageddonists.
2. Or he knows of them and allows himself to be used by them; which means they turned him into a survivalist (with their constant talk of everyone is trying to exterminate Jews).
3. Or he knows of them and attempts to use them for his own ends; in which case it is a case of "the means justify the ends."

Reality is probably somewhere between options 2 and 3. He is likely both a survivalist and attempts to use Armageddonists for his own purposes. Either way, he becomes complicit in their war-mongering and agitation for Armageddon, though he does not himself believe in Armageddon.

Who would you want to stand with at Armageddon?

One need only look at the way Jesse Helms described Bolton, "the kind of man with whom I would want to stand at Armageddon, or what the Bible describes as the final battle between good andevil", to see that Bolton was being sold by the religious connotations of the act. Bolton was a political way of saying "Screw the U.N., we stand with the Christians".

References

• Biblical Prophecy and Christian Zionism, by GARY LEUPP
• The Ugly Un-American: End Times and American Foreign Policy
• Bolton: ‘This is Put Up or Shut Up Time For Iran,’ Unilateral Military Action Is ‘On The Table’
• John Bolton: the Undiplomatic Diplomat, By GARY LEUPP

CUFI hosts a who's who banquet of Armageddonists

John Hagee, founder of Christians United for [Armageddon in] Israel (CUFI), an astounding group of heads of state, senators, and other leaders gather to pay homage to the theological cancer eating away at America's civilized foundations.

Watch The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour by Max Blumenthal.

So who is tossing their weight behind the destructive Armageddonist theology?

Senator John McCain, Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Newt Gingrich, Ambassador Dore Gold, Senator Joe Lieberman
- [McCain Openly Courts Hagee]

Famous Armageddonist: Lord Balfour & Woodrow Wilson

“After the Reformation, there was a small group of Christians who began to read the Bible much more literally. They were opposed to making it abstract. So when they read the word Israel, this meant a real biological people, the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If Israel means the Jews, the Bible is a Zionist document because the Bible says the Jews will inherit the land of Israel.

Accordingto Brog, the rejection of replacement theology meant that in order for a Christian to do God’s will on earth, he must bless the Jewish people.

“Now, what was always a minority group in Europe, became a majority group in America. The dominant strain of Christianity in America today is still evangelical,” emphasized Brog.

Evangelusm’s historical impact

In his book, Brog writes of three world leaders who, because of their belief in the Jewish biblical right to the land of Israel, expedited the establishment of the State of Israel: Lord Balfour, Woodrow Wilson, and Harry Truman. While a big supporter of Israel, it is unclear if Truman was an evangelical (of the Armageddonist brand).

Source: A blessing or a curse? American evangelists explained. A conversation with David Brog, a Rabbi who is executive director of Christians United For Israel, an evangelical Christian lobby group lead by popular Pastor John Hagee, demystifies intentions, beliefs of 'Zionist Christians' and their support for Israel David Brog

Hagee & Fox News on an Anti-American Rampage

John Hagee had the audacity to propose a war scenario which is in-line with his Armageddonist Ideology. And what's wrong with FOX NEWS that they let this happen?

Has FOX News exposed itself as the quintissential anti-American news show? Isn't John Hagee really saying "Death to America" by advocating policies which in his belief system should destroy the world in the process of bringing back Jesus.

Jerry Falwell: Dark Legacy

Some people in their rush to scrub clean Falwell's legacy ignore the fact that when all is said and done, Falwell advocated a speedy destruction of the world due to his staunch support for Armageddon. Very disappointing.

Here is Christopher Hitchin's summary of Falwell's legacy:

If only Barack Obama would stand up to this menacing Armageddonism so many evangelicals rally around instead of trying to "reach out" to them. Unless of course by reaching out he means to correct their tendency to support the road to Armageddon. I think this may be the direction he should take, but somehow I imagine it is too hot of a topic to touch even for Obama. To his credit he does mention that Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are negative influences on the evangelicals:

"...if we don't reach out to evangelical Christians and other religious Americans and tell them what we stand for, Jerry Falwell's and Pat Robertson's will continue to hold sway." [source]

However he does not, and I believe no politician is able to directly criticize the addiction to Armageddon which these bible thumpers spew from their pulpits.

Winston Chuchill's Armageddonism

I always thought of Winston Churchill as a man of peace. When I read his visions of war in the middle east, I found myself having to read and re-read his words to make sure I didn't misread it. It leaves no doubt in my mind of the influence of Armageddonism on Churchill's mindset. What did Winston Churchill say that raises this irksome cloud over his head? Robert Fisk, a british journalist, delved into history and here's what he found reading Winston Churchill:

I’m going to read you a very brief paragraph by Winston Churchill, not about the Battle of Britain. It is Churchill prophesying the future from 1937, eleven years before the Nakba. This is Winston Churchill writing in a totally forgotten essay.

He reflected upon the future and wrote of the impossibility of a partitioned Palestine. And he talked of how, I quote -- this is Winston Churchill in 1937 --“The wealthy, crowded, progressive Jewish state” -- see, it doesn’t exist yet, but he’s already getting it right --“lies in the plains and on the sea coast of Palestine. Around it, in the hills and the uplands, stretching far and wide into the illimitable deserts, the warlike Arabs of Syria of Transjordania, of Arabia, backed by the armed forces of Iraq, offer the ceaseless menace of war. To maintain itself,” -- 1937, remember, -- “To maintain itself, the Jewish state will have to be armed to the teeth and must bring in every able-bodied man to strengthen its army. But how long will this process be allowed to continue by the great Arab populations in Iraq and Palestine? Can it be expected that the Arabs would stand by impassively and watch the building up, with Jewish world capital and resources, of a Jewish army, equipped with the most deadly weapons of war until it was strong enough not to be afraid of them? And if ever the Jewish army reached that point, who can be sure,” Churchill asked, “that, cramped within their narrow limits, they would not plunge out into the new undeveloped lands that lay around them?”

“Ouch,” I said when I read that. 1937.

-Robert Fisk [Sources: Pacific Views, Democracy Now]

The question that must be answered now is: what ideology did Churchill subscribe to which made him such a supporter of conflict? The bitter answer is that he was most likely influenced by the teachings of John Nelson Darby - the father of modern day premillenial dispensationalism (AKA Armageddonism).

Hagee's Obsession with Israel's Destruction

If you look at the main menu of Hagee's website, you'll find the peculiar placement of "Supporting Israel" in the main menu. Is this genuine love for Israel or is it a yearning for Armageddon trying to mask itself as pure Love? Hagee is meticulous in avoiding reference to Armageddon or his faith in Israel's role in the return of Jesus Christ. You need only look in the store where to find this item which shows the apocalypse mentality which motivates this man

Sean Hanity & Rush Limbaugh: Distorted world-views

Religious dogma fogging up prospect for peace. Sean Hanity, a right wing radio talk show host, interviewed the Jeff Rosenberg, about his new book, the Ezekiel Option. To the mainstream, this book is marketed as just a harmless fiction. In reality it is about giving prophetic support to the idea that

• It's God's plan to create the state of Israel.
• Those who support a different type of Israel (than the present gerrymandered 'democracy') are in fact anti-God, and therefore evil.
• The evil anti-Israel countries will be destroyed according to prophesy.
• Jesus Christ will return after that destruction.
• Our foreign policy must be crafted so that we are against evil, hence we should support the destruction of the countries prophesy says will be destroyed..

How does the right media react to this: wild applause. How does the leftist liberal media react to this: as if it doesn't exist.

Wake up people. These people have a distorted vision of the world. They dictate policy based on it. If they are not countered, they will certainly deliver the rest of us to hell in a hand basket.

Rosenberg says to Sean Hanity about the purpose of the Ezekiel Option:

"Anyone listening to your show today I think will resonate with the Ezekiel Option; because it's a political thriller, but it certainly comes from a Christian and a Jewish perspective on world events... Really at the heart of these books is the fear that if you don't understand the nature and threat of evil, a person risks being blind-sided by it. That's what happened on 9/11. And we cannot afford to be blind-sided again by Iran, by Russia, by Syria, or honestly by those in Washington who have a modern secular liberal perspective who may not see evil until it hits them."

US News calls him: "A modern Nostradamus."

And Sean Hannity of course just adores this guy and treats him as a prophet, not just an author saying "You're very gifted and talented. There's something that's just eerie about how your book fits into current events."

And citing his previous fictional books, Joel Rosenberg gloats about his predictions in those books (suggesting he has an uncanny ability to look into the future in his fictional writings so the audience better treat his writings are prophetic):

"I rightly predicted the death of Yasser Arafat and Saddam is gone."
- Interview with Sean Hannity

Rush Limbaugh gives an enthusiastic two thumbs up for this book on the back cover, saying "If you only read one book this year, let it be this one." This is printed on the back cover of this armageddonist book. By a major right-wing talking-head. Think what that means to all the ditto-heads.

You may be interested to hear the interview Rush did with Rosenberg. Rush practically gloats that Rosenberg once worked at his headquarters - rather than being embarassed that such a strang ideology flourished in his own backyard.

Lesson from Billy Graham and Nixon

If you haven’t heard: Minister Billy Graham & President Nixon discussed jews and also of killing a million people in North Vietnam [google it]. Two points to consider:

1. Graham mentions that he supports Israel but has no love for Jews. Why? Watch his video The Road to Armageddon for answers. This point is key to unlocking the mindset of the Apocalyptic ministers and those they misguide.
2. Aren’t ministers supposed to advocate peace and love; how does he find the strengh to suggest the killing of a million people?

Because of point #1, it is important to not listen to the whispers of those infected by the Apocalypse desease and to seek solutions without their feedback. They hope for nothing but destruction, they hear nothing but themselves, and learn nothing from history. Israel would be well advised to shun them, and the Palestinian to take note of their intentions.

Problem: Apartheid Supporting Pat

The same Pat Robertson who supports Apartheid in South Africa, now supports Aparthied in Israel:

I think "one man, one vote" just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights. [click here for more of his stupid quotes]

No doubt he was thinking of Israel when he said this. If Apartheid in Africa is acceptable, Aparthied in the Middle East would also easier to defend.

Pat's secular arguments for religious inspired goal

Example of Pat Robertson's use secular arguments for religious inspired hate mongering cloaked in false piety and decency. Here is an except from Mr. Robertson's address to the National Press Club:

As a former candidate for the Presidency, the founder of a major Christian grassroots political organization, and as a newscaster with forty-three years experience reporting the attitudes of religious people, I believe I am qualified to offer a few suggestions... We were opposed to Detente with the Soviet Union in the 1980's, and we are opposed in 2005 to a policy of silent acquiescence to tyrannical regimes, like Iran and North Korea, which brutalize their citizens and threaten the world with nuclear holocaust.

What is the religious inspired goal? The fulfillment of his interpretation of all biblical prophesies which must come to pass before the second coming of Jesus Christ. This means making sure a confrontation in Armageddon happens by provoking wars.

Reverend Hagee, another Christian voice for War

S.A. pastor a champion for Israel: you must listen to the audio files in which he abuses the bible verses to prophesy that Muslims must be destroyed.

Pat Robertson's Apology to Omri Sharon

When you have time, please watch how Pat Robertson hijacks the Christian religion to advocate an Aparthied regime in Israel. This video is actualy his apology to Ariel Sharon's son, Omri Sharon, for saying that Sharon's deteriorating health condition is God's retribution for Sharon being not as extremist as Pat.

Jerry Falwell On Why Christians Must Support Israel

The good reverend (shown here with Senator John McCain) said* there are three key reasons why Christians must support Israel:

• For Humanitarian Reasons.
• For Political Reasons. The State of Israel has the only true democratic system of government in the entire Middle East and has been AmericaÂ’s most faithful supporter in the region.
• For Religious Reasons. The founding of Israel as a nation in 1948 was ordained of God to provide a homeland for the Jewish people and to prepare for the future return of Jesus Christ. The Abrahamic Covenant demands it.

Falwell presents his reasoning in reverse order than what his real motives are. If for example, it is for humanitarian reasons - isn't everyone human and therefore deserving the same kind of humanitarian treatment?

As for Israel being a democracy at all, that is arguably false, since it in reality is the only remaining apartheid regime in the world, according to intellectuals such as mandella.

Therefore, the only reason Falwell zealously supports Israel is so that it will serve as the landing pad for the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

* Note: (Original source for 3 reasons quoted was here on Falwells website but it is no longer there)