In explaining his staunch support for Israel, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper frequently cites the lessons of history: that those who make Jews “a target of racial and religious bigotry will inevitably be a threat to all of us.” The truth of that statement is visible throughout the Islamic world today, where countries that first got rid of their Jews are now turning in vicious fury on their Christians. Yet many Christian churches seem blind to the connection.
Christianity is currently the world’s most persecuted religion, and the heart of that persecution is the Islamic world. Churches have been attacked in Iraq, Egypt and Libya, among other countries; Christian ministers have been assassinated; and thousands of ordinary Christians have been killed. In Iraq, fewer than 500,000 Christians are thought to remain, down from 800,000 to 1.4 million a decade earlier (estimates vary widely). In Egypt, about 100,000 Coptic Christians have fled just in the last few months. This isn’t a new development; scholars estimate that “between a half and two-thirds of Christians in the region have left or been killed over the past century.” But it has accelerated greatly in recent years.
There’s a clear line running from the disappearance of the Islamic world’s Jews in the mid-20th century to today’s accelerated persecution of Christians. When these Jewish communities still existed, they were the favorite target on which enraged Muslim mobs could vent their fury: See, for instance, the pogroms in Baghdad, Cairo and Tripoli in the 1940s. But in the years after Israel’s establishment in 1948, all these Jewish communities either were driven out or fled.
For a while, the Jews of Israel served as a substitute: Arab regimes launched three full-scale wars against Israel, provided bases and funding for Palestinian terrorists, whipped up anti-Israel sentiment through state-owned media, and encouraged anti-Israel demonstrations, thereby channeling popular discontent away from themselves. But while anti-Israel (and anti-Jewish) outbursts are still common in Arab countries, Israel’s insistence on growing and thriving despite these efforts made it an unsatisfactory target for mobs who actually wanted to see their victims suffer.
So, stymied on the Jewish front, they increasingly turned to the next target on their list, which had the advantage of being nearby and vulnerable. As the old Islamic taunt puts it, “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.”
Yet rather than understand, as Harper has, that the same religious intolerance and dysfunctional political culture is behind both anti-Israel sentiment and the persecution of Christians–and that consequently, if Israel disappeared tomorrow, this victory would only provide a tailwind for the war against the “Sunday people”–many Christian churches seem to think the solution is to win the Muslim world’s love by joining the anti-Israel onslaught: See, for instance, the disgraceful report published by the Church of Scotland earlier this month, which said that Christians shouldn’t support Jewish claims to the Land of Israel on either biblical grounds or “as a compensation for the suffering of the Holocaust”; a similar document issued by a Catholic bishops’ synod; or the Presbyterian Church’s Israel Palestine Mission Network, which has pushed resolutions equating Israel with apartheid and vocally supports the boycott, divestment, sanctions movement.
The truth is that Muslim persecution of Christians won’t end until the Islamic world abandons the fantasy that others–whether it’s Israel, Christians or the West–are at the root of their problems. Yet by adopting the Muslim habit of blaming Israel for all the region’s ills, Christian churches are actively feeding that fantasy. And they are thereby ultimately encouraging their own coreligionists’ persecution.
The "Binding of Isaac" has an interesting meaning to the Abrahamic religions. Jews regard the story as an end to child sacrifice, which remained a pagan custom throughout the ancient world. Christians regard the story (as they regard all OT stories) as a foreshadowing of Jesus' sacrifice per the will of his own Father (though Christians imperfectly understand this message, and many Christians blame Jews for the inevitable result). Muslims regard the story as an event in the life of Ibrahim and Ishmael, and regard both Jews and Christians as spiritually confused untermenchen, or dhimmi, worthy of violent abuse. n nThe "Binding of Isaac" does have another meaning to secularists. It reveals the state of mind required for absolute religious faith, that is, a willingness to kill and be killed, even when every tender thought or human connection says otherwise. That is in fact the state of mind of Jihad today, and no amount of appeasement will end such thinking. WW2 ended such thinking, but only by making war so terrible for the enemy that its name must not be spoken.
Well, many with high levels of knowledge, intelligence, or self-esteem presume they know others' religion better than the adherents. n nHere, secularists and others ill-informed on biblical doctrine make the mistake of omitting the single most important thing in the Bible itself – the character of an all-powerful God perfect in mercy and justice- which is described (or at least claimed) in the text. Clearly, Abraham knew his God's character. This is why he was perfect in his faith, perfect in his obedience, and perfectly reasonable in his next expectation (in lieu of an alternative sacrifice.) n nAs for Christian doctrine, letter to the Hebrews, chapter 11: Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
So far as I can see The American Conservative is a magazine where Liberals and Leftists put on funny clothes and pretend to be Conservatives. Some of the contributors may be among the least Leftist in the English Department of their University (and thus are considered by their closest associates and themselves to be [relatively] conservative); or they may genuinely reject Marxism and even some of the things that Obama says and does; but I do not believe most of the contributors are sincere conservatives or sincere about being conservative and would be really uncomfortable at a Tea Party meeting.
I am shocked speechless that people who purport to be Christian would rationalize Muslim violent anti-Semitism, then profess surprise (and often denial) that those very same Muslims progress to persecuting Christians.
. . . ?!?
I’m also embarassed at the past behaviour of some Christians persecuting Jews based on stupid stories and a *very* bad reading of scripture. Sure ‘the Jews” killed Jesus, but he *was* a Jew living amongst fellow Jews (plus a few Roman Imperialists), and his offense was publicly stating that some of his fellow Jews (particulary those in religous leadership positions) were not being good Jews!
The Old Testament is not just a prologue to the New, it is a collection of scripture that recounts the origins and history of the Jewish people, and God’s (Yahweh) covenant with Abraham. God’ sacrifice of his son Jesus refects his deliberate decision to both offer his love to all people as a gift of Grace.
News flash, there’s lots of reasons for Christians throughout history to make corellations bewtween the Old Testament and the New, and one of those reasons is to ground the New in the previously accepted and revered scripture.
Best Regards,
It is sweet Evelyn desires to open the eyes of the Christian churches/denominations who are "blind to the connection." However, if their own Bible has not, then she has little hope. n nThese anti-Israel denominations disregard biblical teachings everywhere. They see no everlasting covenant between God and Abraham to respect today. They see no fulfilled prophecy when Israel was re-established to respect yesterday. And, they believe they have replaced Israel in God's eyes for the future. n nIn the 70s, they become pro-choice on abortion. In the 80s, we could count on them as lead regiments in the "blame America First" crowd to excuse the Communist bloc – even (especially?) while it persecuted these same Jewish and Christian targets. n nThey are liberals first. If today's liberal politics conflicts with words in their Bible, then they disregard the Bible and their religion's previous teachings. Their religion is liberalism and should be argued (against) as such.
Insightful to resurrect the "blame-America (and Israel) first" description. No doubt, the same churches Evelyn is decrying were actively soldiering in the World Council of Churches and other groups blaming America (and Reagan, conservatives) in the 70s/80s. I think most anti-Israel sentiment in America today can safely be said to be of the left, however.
It would seem that Canada is the true clear eyed leader of the west. Europe and the US dither. For "Christians" to ignore the plight of co-religionist shows that as long as is not them, they do not care.