Evangelical Zionists Meddling Peace Process

Evangelicals Call Christian Zionist Uncritical Support for Israel Appalling and Intolerable - Religion Dispatches 9/20/11

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A very wordy title for a very charged article. Amazingly, some on the evangelical right are calling for a temperance to the unbridled support for Israel. This Zionist movement is really causing a lot of issues with the peace process between Israel and Palestine. Evidenced by today's speech to the U.N. by president Obama. He really is walking a fine line calling for a Palestinian State without neglecting our obligations to ally Israel and its stability in the region. What everybody in the room doesn't want to talk about is the real reason the Republicans are so in bed with the Israelis. It is this christian belief that once all the jews can return to their homeland and be converted to christianity, jesus christ can return and redeem them all and destroy this world in fire and brimstone.

This is what is driving our foreign policy folks. Trying to balance a just and equal peace negotiation on one side with loons who are only pro Israel for their own christian views on the other side. And Israel is eating this right up, they are taking advantage of all the love from the U.S. evangelicals to engage in very sneaky construction projects over the borders and drag out this process so when it comes time to negotiate land deals, they will have already occupied a good chunk. Israel has a right to be concerned over its precarious position in the middle east and its security from islamic forces, but this constant meddling and dickering and procrastination is trying the nerves of the whole world and people are getting absolutely fed up with it. This is an issue that should have been resolved years and years ago and it continues to be the biggest headache for the middle east and for us because we can't seem to let go of our first love. It's time we acted like adults, worked out a deal of compromise and move on. Palestine has a right to statehood and sovereignty and to exist, just like Israel does. This delaying is only restraining the good people of Palestine from getting started on building their nation and improving their own lives. This is absurd and it needs to come to a T soon.

A good start is for us to reject the ungrounded influence of the christian evangelicals who only see it from a religious point of view, an end times point of view, an apocalyptic point of view and that is just as scary as any islamist extremist trying to solve this complex issue. It should be solved from a humanist point of view, a societal point of view. For the betterment of the human race, for all people involved ,not just one side or the other. Its time these zionists listen to the words of some of their brethren from this article and take a step back to realize what is at stake here. The stability of this region is at a tipping point and it can either get really good or really chaotic from here. The world is watching.

Blurry Lines

Elusive Line Defines Lives In Israel and the West Bank

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In what many people consider one of the main roots of conflict in the middle east, the "line" separating Israel from the West Bank is getting more blurry as time passes. Later this month, the U.N. may very well vote to give Palestine statehood. People are getting terribly frustrated with this lack of compromise on both parts of the line. This has been a national policy of the U.S. for years, trying to foster a peace agreement in this area can bring much stability to the world and both sides are fighting like children over the same toy. Earlier this year, President Obama suggested this 1967 line as the boundary for negotiations between the two parties with obviously some swapped lands based on where settlements have arisen since 1967. I don't understand how this has to be so difficult, it takes decades or more to sort out. Israel has a right to exist, as does Palestine. Israel has a right to protect itself from attackers and so does Palestine. Unfortunately, what it all boils down to (AGAIN), is the religious aspect of considering these lands "holy" and given by god to their people. All three major religions are to blame for this discord, with judaism, islam and christianity all laying claim to the land being a gift from their god to them. What they fail to understand is that the earth has provided the land to all people who treat it with respect. We all need to treat each other with respect and recognize that there is no solution until everyone compromises. Compromise means giving up something of value to get something of value. Giving up a little land, giving up the stranglehold religion has put on all of us for the sake of mutual respect and co-habitation on this planet. It's that simple, really. People want to be able to live their lives, the stories in this article of people living right in the crosshairs of this struggle just want to exist without and unnecessary hardships. I do feel that there can be a happy ending for everyone if we can just let go of the thing that tears us apart from each other as humans: organized religions.