The Christian Right's fundamental problem

If you believe in Armageddon, you don't need to save the planet. That's
a concern if you also influence the White House and US foreign policy.

By Terry Lane

04/10/05 "The Age" - - Does it matter to us that there are 70 million
Bible-believing, born-again Christians in the US who believe the second
coming of Jesus is imminent?

There are two consequences of having so many Christian fundamentalists
near the levers of power in imperial America.

First, it is a precondition of the return of Jesus that all Jews return
to Israel and that the territory of that country should coincide with
that promised to Abraham by God. Until Israel retakes its promised
land, expels all the Arabs and welcomes back all the Jews of the
diaspora, Jesus can't come.

The so-called Christian Zionists are influential. According to The
Christian Science Monitor they "have access to the White House and
strong support within Congress, including the backing of the two most
recent majority leaders in the House of Representatives". In Genesis,
God promises Abraham all the land "from the river of Egypt to the great
river Euphrates", an area which includes a part of Egypt, a large slice
of Iraq and Syria, not to mention all the land from the Mediterranean
to the Jordan River. There is no room for Arabs in this promised land.

Village Voice reporter Rick Perlstein came into possession of "an email
we weren't meant to see" describing a meeting between the extremist
Apostolic Congress and the National Security Council director for Near
East and North African Affairs, Elliott Abrams.

Calling itself the Christian voice of the nation's capital, the
Apostolic Congress opposes the withdrawal of Israeli settlements from
Gaza because it opposes the surrender of any of the territory God
promised to the Jews. Three weeks after the meeting President George
Bush changed US policy and approved expansion of Israeli settlements in
the West Bank. Apostolic Congress leader Pastor Robert Upton boasts:
"We're in constant contact with the White House. I am briefed at least
once a week."

As the peace of the world twists around the territorial war between
Jews and Arabs, and as it is Australian Government policy to follow the
US wherever it goes, we are certainly affected by American Middle East
policy. And if that policy is based on ancient superstition we are
entitled to be alarmed.

There is more. Forty-five senators and 186 representatives in Congress
get the seal of approval from Christian right-wing advocacy groups that
compile a legislative scorecard on politicians. The same legislators
get the lowest scores on the cards compiled by the League of
Conservation Voters. In other words the majority of US politicians are
indifferent to the future of the planet. And why should they care?

If you expect Jesus to come at any minute then the planet has already
served its purpose. God provided just enough of everything, from clean
air to oil, to last humankind from creation to Armageddon. In fact the
degradation of the life systems of the planet is to be welcomed because
it is another harbinger of the end of time.

As Australian environmental policy is also made in Washington it is
clear that the bizarre beliefs of a highly motivated, rock-solid voting
bloc of between 40 million and 70 million American voters who believe
that the universe was created on October 23, 4004 BC, at 9am and is
about to be destroyed in an apocalyptic conflagration matters to us.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8500.htm

The Christian Right's fundamental problem

If you believe in Armageddon, you don't need to save the planet. That's
a concern if you also influence the White House and US foreign policy.

By Terry Lane

04/10/05 "The Age" - - Does it matter to us that there are 70 million
Bible-believing, born-again Christians in the US who believe the second
coming of Jesus is imminent?

There are two consequences of having so many Christian fundamentalists
near the levers of power in imperial America.

First, it is a precondition of the return of Jesus that all Jews return
to Israel and that the territory of that country should coincide with
that promised to Abraham by God. Until Israel retakes its promised
land, expels all the Arabs and welcomes back all the Jews of the
diaspora, Jesus can't come.

The so-called Christian Zionists are influential. According to The
Christian Science Monitor they "have access to the White House and
strong support within Congress, including the backing of the two most
recent majority leaders in the House of Representatives". In Genesis,
God promises Abraham all the land "from the river of Egypt to the great
river Euphrates", an area which includes a part of Egypt, a large slice
of Iraq and Syria, not to mention all the land from the Mediterranean
to the Jordan River. There is no room for Arabs in this promised land.

Village Voice reporter Rick Perlstein came into possession of "an email
we weren't meant to see" describing a meeting between the extremist
Apostolic Congress and the National Security Council director for Near
East and North African Affairs, Elliott Abrams.

Calling itself the Christian voice of the nation's capital, the
Apostolic Congress opposes the withdrawal of Israeli settlements from
Gaza because it opposes the surrender of any of the territory God
promised to the Jews. Three weeks after the meeting President George
Bush changed US policy and approved expansion of Israeli settlements in
the West Bank. Apostolic Congress leader Pastor Robert Upton boasts:
"We're in constant contact with the White House. I am briefed at least
once a week."

As the peace of the world twists around the territorial war between
Jews and Arabs, and as it is Australian Government policy to follow the
US wherever it goes, we are certainly affected by American Middle East
policy. And if that policy is based on ancient superstition we are
entitled to be alarmed.

There is more. Forty-five senators and 186 representatives in Congress
get the seal of approval from Christian right-wing advocacy groups that
compile a legislative scorecard on politicians. The same legislators
get the lowest scores on the cards compiled by the League of
Conservation Voters. In other words the majority of US politicians are
indifferent to the future of the planet. And why should they care?

If you expect Jesus to come at any minute then the planet has already
served its purpose. God provided just enough of everything, from clean
air to oil, to last humankind from creation to Armageddon. In fact the
degradation of the life systems of the planet is to be welcomed because
it is another harbinger of the end of time.

As Australian environmental policy is also made in Washington it is
clear that the bizarre beliefs of a highly motivated, rock-solid voting
bloc of between 40 million and 70 million American voters who believe
that the universe was created on October 23, 4004 BC, at 9am and is
about to be destroyed in an apocalyptic conflagration matters to us.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8500.htm