Christian
Zionism: Terror
In Jesus' Name
By Yoginder Sikand
30 September, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Represented
by literally hundreds of small denominations and churches today, particularly
in America, Christian Zionism is today a formidable force and a major
actor in global politics. Christian Zionism comes in various shades,
but the core of its message is total, unflinching support to the state
of Israel and the Zionist imperialist project. Christian Zionists today
exercise an enormous clout in the Bush administration. Bush, too, may
himself be characterised in some sense as a Christian Zionist, for his
policies in the Middle East and elsewhere clearly reflect or tally with
the Christian Zionist agenda.
War, conquest and imperialist
domination, based on a fanatic insistence on the absolute truth of Christianity
and the racial superiority of the Jews lie at the very heart of Christian
Zionism. Christian Zionists believe that the Jews are God's 'Chosen
People' and that God has given the Jews the absolute right to complete
control over not just Palestine but, indeed, a vast stretch of territory,
extending from present-day Egypt to Iraq, the so-called 'Greater Israel'.
God, they claim, has selected the Jews above all other people. Hence,
they insist, those who oppose the imperialist project of the advocates
of 'Greater Israel' or the Zionist occupation of Palestine are 'God's
enemies', deserving to be crushed by every available means, including
outright war and decimation.
Advocating Israel does not
mean, however, that Christian Zionists accept Judaism as a legitimate
means of salvation after Jesus. Nor does it translate into genuine love
for the Jews, a departure from the traditional teachings of the Church
that, for centuries, viewed Jews as 'Christ-killers'. Since Christian
Zionists believe that Christianity is the only religion acceptable to
God, and that, as the Bible claims, salvation is possible only through
Jesus, they insist that Jews cannot be 'saved' unless they convert to
Christianity. Yet, because Christian Zionists are dogged defenders of
the state of Israel and are fiercely anti-Arab and anti-Muslim, they
have been able to establish a close nexus with right-wing Jewish groups
and with the Israeli state and are today an integral part of the American-Israeli
axis.
Christian Zionism is a call
for global war. The belief that Christianity is the sole truth, that
all other faiths are 'Satanic' or 'false', that the Jews must all gather
in Palestine to fulfil so-called Biblical prophecies, and that a grand
global war will soon erupt leading to the massacre of hundreds of millions
and heralding the 'second coming' of Jesus, who will establish his Christian
kingdom extending till the four corners of the world, clearly indicate
the hate-driven, global expansionist project of Christian Zionism.
John Hagee is a prime example
of a Christian Zionist zealot. He is the founder and pastor of the Cornerstone
Church, in Texas, USA, which claims some 16,000 members. As with numerous
other similar American Christian fundamentalist preachers, his church
is richly endowed and media savvy. Hagee is the president of the 'Global
Evangelism' media company that broadcasts his daily programmes on television
and radio throughout the USA and around the world. He is the author
of numerous books on Christian Zionism, some of which have been reprinted
by Christian fundamentalist publishers abroad as well.
'Final Dawn Over Jerusalem'
is one of Hagee's major writings on Christian Zionism that well exemplifies
the imperialist agenda that lies at its very core. The aim of the book
is to defend the Israeli occupation of Palestine, to denounce those
who seek to protest Israeli atrocities, and to advocate the cause of
'Greater Israel', all this in the name of Christianity and premised
on the notion of the Jews as being allegedly God's 'Chosen People'.
Racism is integral to the
Christian Zionist message, as Hagee makes amply clear. The Bible, Hagee,
says, describes the Jews as 'the apple of God's eye' [Zech 2:8]. He
quotes the Bible as addressing the Jews and declaring, 'For you are
a holy people to the LORD your God' and 'the LORD has chosen you to
be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who
are on the face of the earth' [ Deut.14:2]. This means, so Hagee argues,
that those who harm the Jews or the state of Israel or stand in the
way of the design of 'Greater Israel' will 'experience the instant wrath
of God'. To those who dare to challenge the oppressive Zionist state,
Hagee announces, 'The man or nation that lifts a voice or hand against
Israel invites the wrath of God'. Such people will, Hagee insists, be
'cursed' by God.
Hagee's notion of God thus
appears to be that of a tribal Jewish deity, who functions as a willing
tool in the pursuit of Jewish expansionism. The Bible was written by
Jewish hands, and given that, as many liberal Christians would themselves
concede, much of it is a human product, numerous Biblical verses were
written in order to legitimise the interests of the community from which
its writers were drawn. This would seem obvious to any discerning layman,
but Biblical literalists like Hagee vehemently disagree. For them every
word of the Bible is sacrosanct and divine. Biblical literalism is pressed
into the service of the Christian Zionist imperialist and racist agenda.
Drawing upon numerous verses of the Bible, Hagee argues, 'God watches
over Israel as a protective parent hovers over an only child'. 'The
nation of Israel', he makes so bold as to declare, 'was created by a
sovereign act of God. All other nations were created by an act of war
or a declaration of men, but Israel was intentionally created by God
so that He would have a physical place of inheritance on the earth'.
Accordingly, Hagee would have us believe that for this god, who is seen
as in need of a 'physical place' for himself, non-Jews or Gentiles,
are second-rate human beings or less, and so can easily be dispensed
with if they are seen as coming in the way of Jewish imperialism.
The tribal Jewish version
of God that Hagee presents appears entirely unjust and arbitrary, far
from being impartial in the way he deals with His creation. Given the
fact that the God of the Biblical literalist imagination is a Jewish
deity, and not the universal God who looks upon His entire creation
impartially, he is seen as blessing Jewish conquests of territories
of their enemies. Thus, quoting the Bible, Hagee writes that God gave
the land of 'Greater Israel', a vast swathe of land stretching from
Egypt all the way till Iraq, to the Jews, descendants of Isaac, forever.
That being the case, Hagee suggests that people living in those territories,
millions of Arabs, both Muslims and Christians, have no right to live
there or else must accept to live under Jewish rule. Although Hagee
does not say this explicitly, what this means is that those who refuse
to accept Jewish rule must, therefore, be either killed or expelled.
The god of Hagee's imagination
appears as an entirely whimsical real estate agent. 'God established
Israel's national geographic boundaries', Hagee writes. 'The exact borders
of Israel are detailed in Scripture just as our heavenly Father dictated
them', he goes on, adding, 'The divine Surveyor drove the original stakes
into Judean soil and decreed that no one should ever change these property
lines. The real estate contract and lands covenants were signed in blood
and stand to this very hour'. Hence, he argues, 'Jews have the absolute
right as mandated by God to the land of Israel and, more specifically,
to the city of Jerusalem'. Hence, he suggests, Palestinians have no
claim to their own historical land, and must make way for Jewish occupiers.
Hagee's defence of Zionist
imperialism goes to ridiculous lengths. Laughable as this may sound,
he argues, 'Israel has a Spy in the sky'—God Himself. God, he
claims, provides Israel, the Jewish people and the state of Israel,
with special protection. 'No nation in the world can match the defensive
force guarding the State of Israel. The archangel Michael has a special
assignment to guard Israel '. And those who, for any reason oppose Israel,
and this includes Palestinians fighting Israeli occupation and oppression,
are said to incur God's wrath. 'The Lord stands watch in the darkest
night with an eye trained on the nation of Israel and, more specifically,
Jerusalem. Those who fight with Israel fight with Him', Hagee asserts.
So central is Israel to Hagee's
tribalistic version of God that he goes to the extent of arguing that
the fate of each and every person on the face of the planet depends
essentially on his or her attitude to the Jews. 'Prosperity or punishment
depends on how we treat Israel', he alleges, because, he claims, the
Jews, as descendants of Abraham 'enjoy heavenly favour'. To back his
claim he quotes the Bible as saying that when God entered into a covenant
with Abraham, He gave him an 'awesome promise', saying, 'I will
bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you. And
in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed' [Gen. 12:3].
Hence, Hagee insists, the United States, and, indeed, anyone else who
wishes to please God, must consistently engage in 'compassionate support
of the State of Israel', adding that, 'The quickest and most effective
way to be on God's side is to stand with the State of Israel and the
Jewish people in their hour of need'. By doing this, he claims, one
can win God's favour, because, 'God blesses the man or nation that blesses
Israel or the Jewish people'.
At no time before, Hagee
firmly believes, has support for Israel and Zionist imperialism, been
more crucial than today. This is because, he claims, Jesus is returning
to the world soon, and Israel must be protected in order to welcome
the Messiah. Hagee's image of Jesus in his 'second coming' bears no
resemblance to the familiar notion of the suffering, loving Jesus. Rather,
in his description Jesus appears as a fierce warrior, rallying Christians
to arms and heralding the final, global war, ironically in the name
of the 'Prince of Peace'. In the doomsday scenario that Hagee outlines,
what he calls 'fanatical attacks' by Arabs on Israel, particularly Jerusalem,
would mount. In response, Christians the world over, he says, must rally
behind Israel. At this hour, he insists, 'we must let the world know
that if a line has to be drawn, it will be drawn around Christians as
well as Jews. We are united and indivisible'.
The city of Jersualem, Hagee
believes, is the crux of the final battle before Jesus' 'second coming'.
This city, considered sacred by Jews, Muslims and Christians alike,
has been ordained, so Hagee argues, by God to be 'under the exclusive
control of the Jewish people' until Jesus arrives again. The final battle
of Armageddon will, he writes, be centred on this city, with Arabs or
Muslims seeking to wrest control of it from the Jews. In this regard,
Hagee says, Christians, for their part, must staunchly defend Israel
and must refuse any peace offers, such as allowing for a shared Jerusalem
or joint control of the town by Jews and Arabs. In particular, he appeals
to the United States to do everything in its power to back Israel and
to crush its opponents, claiming this is the only way to win God's favour.
If America fails to do this, he warns, it would be crushed by God Himself!
Quoting various verses of
the Bible, Hagee describes what he sees as the unfolding of events of
cosmic proportions, ushering in a global war the like of which has never
been witnessed hitherto and heralding the 'second coming of Jesus'.
In this global war, he says, Muslims, whom he regards as followers of
a 'false' religion, would ally with the Russians to fight against Israel.
This would lead to a global nuclear war, with hundreds of millions being
killed. At this point, the 'Anti-Christ' will appear, attack Jerusalem
and will take over the reigns of the world, falsely claiming to usher
in peace. But, this grand deception will not last long, and, instead,
will only lead to even more devastating wars. At this time, Hagee says,
Christians must defend, by every means possible, the Jews and Israel,
and wage war against the armies of those opposed to God's 'Chosen Race',
the Jews. Only then can they be saved, he insists.
After years of global war
and terrible destruction, Hagee writes, Jesus will be sent by God to
deliver the world. Mounted on a white horse, he will arrive at the battlefield
at Armageddon. Defeating the 'Anti-Christ' and his army, he will establish
his global kingdom with his capital in Jerusalem, there to 'rule and
reign forever'. Hagee's description of Jesus' future global kingdom
offers little cause to cheer for non-Christians, including, ironically,
even the Jews whom he so ardently defends. It would, as he himself makes
clear, be nothing short of a global Christian empire, and an antiquated
one at that, with kings and queens and presidents still in place! How
they would continue to be around when Jesus rules the whole world is
a mystery that Hagee leaves unsolved.
Ruled by Jesus, Hagee writes,
'Jerusalem, the apple of God's eye, will become the joy of the world.
The city will become the international worship center, and people from
all over the world will make pilgrimages to worship in the holy temple.
Kings, queens, princes and presidents shall come to the Holy City' to
adore Jesus. Presumably, these all will be Christians themselves, for
Hagee quotes the Bible as predicting that 'at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow…and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father'.
As Hagee's book clearly indicates,
Christian Zionism, rooted in tradition of the Crusades and a long history
of Church triumphalism, is a recipe for global war and Christian imperialism.
Moreover, it reflects a total lack of genuine spirituality, seeking
to reduce the notion of God into a petty, whimsical and racist dictator
who willingly urges the slaughter of innocents in order to protect the
expansionist designs of his supposedly 'Chosen People'. Of course, Christian
Zionism is hardly unique in its use of religion for such blatantly political
ends, but given the immense clout enjoyed by its advocates today, especially
in America, it is a much more menacing threat to world peace than is
sometimes imagined and cannot be simply dismissed as the ravings of
lunatics on the fringe.
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