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We’ve Got “Clowns and Baboons in Washington” Threatening War

Those of you who have read this blog for sometime will know that I try to keep track of Lawrence Wilkerson, his interviews, lectures and writings, as

Retired Col. Lawrence Wilkerson

diligently as possible.

You may recall that Wilkerson is a retired Army colonel, former chief of staff to Colin Powell during the Bush Jr. administration.  He is now a regular contributor to The Real News Network.

He is a rare breed.  As far as I know, he is the only member of that administration to have promptly admitted to the wrongheadedness, stupidity, deception, illegality, and wholesale systemic, political failure that led up to the disastrous and immoral Iraq war.

The United States is now teetering on the brink of a major conflict, perhaps even an outright war, with Iran.  Those of you who have followed the recent history of US relations with Iran will not be surprised to hear Col. Wilkerson describe this administration’s current anti-Iran saber rattling as a repetition of the horrific boondoggle that led us into the Iraq war.

I won’t take the time to rehearse that sorry story-line here, rather I will simply quote a few of the more telling words from Col. Wilkerson in the hopes that you will be motivated to watch the entire 17 minute interview available here and here.

Below are a few gems from Wilkerson:

“I wouldn’t doubt for a moment that we [the US government] would manufacture another Gulf of Tonkin incident…” [Remember, the Gulf of

Vietnamese children fleeing their village; it had just been hit with napalm.

Tonkin incident was a fictitious “attack” on an American ship that became the official excuse for US military action in Vietnam.]

We are being governed “by clowns and baboons in Washington…”

“The world now sees the US as insane…warmongers…”

I believe that every follower of Jesus is called to be a pacifist. Consequently, the Christian’s public posture must always be in favor of peace, combating war and violence whenever, wherever it tries to raise its ugly head.

The necessity of public, anti-war protest is especially urgent when our “leaders” agitate for war on the basis of lies, misinformation and propaganda.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for the United States to see Iran as a hostile power, much less an enemy in need of a good bombing.

Know this: You and I are being lied to regularly by the MSM every time they discuss Iran.

I urge you to please do what I have done — call and/or write your elected officials and urge them to say NO to any and all efforts to attack Iran.

Only Congress has the Constitutional authority to declare war.  Tell your senators and representatives, at the very least, to insist on the enforcement of the War Powers Resolutions of 1973.

The Counterfactual Narrative of Growing Christian Persecution and Expanding Marxism in America

For some reason, religious conservatives in America insist on viewing themselves as a persecuted minority.

Gene Veith complains regularly about the persecution of American Christians at Patheos. His most recent post in this vein is entitled “Dehumanizing Christians.”

Though he thankfully, and quite necessarily, exhorts Christians never to dehumanize anyone, the focus of his piece centers nonetheless on a supposed increase in the dehumanization of traditional Christians in this era of expanding “neo-Marxist” politics.

Veith’s arguments depend largely on a related piece by Alfred Kentigern Siewers at The American Conservative entitled “What Christians Face in a Neo-Marxist World.”

There is MUCH to be explored here, but I will limit myself to only two brief  points:

First, my current bedtime reading consists of Professor Jason Stanley’s book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them (Random House, 2018). It’s a good book, not hard to read, and I highly recommend it.  Professor Stanley offers a boatload of historical material, both old and new, to illustrate his description of fascist politics and its affects throughout modern, western history.

Last night’s reading consisted of Stanley’s many examples of right-wing, fascist political parties expanding throughout Europe today.  An attentive reader can’t help but notice close similarities to the current atmosphere in American politics during this era of Trump’s presidency.

Stanley’s is not the first book I’ve read in the past few years discussing the history and characteristics of fascism — think of guys like Hitler, Mussolini and Franco.

I confess that I had a difficult time falling asleep as I contemplated, with a very downcast frame of mind, the many features of American public life that make this country overly ripe for our own slide into fascist territory.  In fact, some would say we have been there for some time.

So, here is a BULLETIN for Veith, Siewers, and similar conservative fear-mongers: the world is not threatened by the spread of neo-Marxism at this moment in history, neither are American Christians a primary target of extremist violence.

To begin with, there is no Marxist movement of any sort, whether neo, paleo, crypto, or psycho, in America today. Period.

In fact, the United States does not have a genuine leftist, left-wing, authentically liberal political party any more, despite the faux warnings of people like Laura Ingram, Shawn Hannity and Tucker Carlson.

Leftist strains of American politics died as viable political options long ago, with the demise of leaders like Frances Perkins (FDR’s Secretary of Labor), Dorothy Day, (Founder of the Catholic Workers Movement), Eugene Debs (5

Henry A. Wallace (1888 – 1965), one of my political heroes

times presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America), and Henry A. Wallace (vice-president for FDR).

However, we DO face the very real and very dangerous threat of fascism. But conservative pundits will rarely, if ever, recognize the dangers posed by this problem because of their own authoritarian  instincts. (One of the great failings of the American church, in my view, is its strong preference for authoritarianism and social control over freedom and liberty, but I digress.)

The fascist threat has already expanded throughout central and eastern Europe, and it could easily emerge vestigially in this country too, like the creepy, embryonic crab creature that latches onto your innocent face and then bursts your bowels in the Alien movie franchise.

Don’t be too skeptical. Large sectors of the American public have thrown their arms around fascism more than once in our history. Recall Sinclair Lewis’ famous (purported) statement, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

The right’s fraudulent neo-Marxist label is merely the favorite boogeyman

If you have never read Sinclair Lewis’ novel, _It Can’t Happen Here_, I encourage you to do so. He predicts what American fascism will look like.

conjured up by conservative pundits in order first, to scare their followers and second, to smear whomever they wish to attack at the moment.

Notice, for instance, how the neo-Marxist “threat” is also the favorite whipping boy for another current conservative phenom, Jordan Peterson. (Personally, I can’t understand his popularity, especially in the church.)

Second, as numerous studies have documented, the greatest rise in domestic terrorism and politically motivated violence in America has come from the right wing, not the left.

In 2009, the Republican-controlled congress suppressed and eventually pressured the Department of Homeland Security to repudiate its own report warning about the growing dangers of extreme right-wing violence in American. (see here, here and here).

You can read the full DHS report here; it’s entitled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.”

Well, folks. What they predicted in 2009 is coming true in 2019.

I clearly remember the times when candidate Trump encouraged and even praised public violence at his campaign rallies.

Trump applauded those who punched his critics and pledged to pay their legal expenses.  I watched the coverage at the time. He stoked his followers’ anger at the news media, calling out specific journalists covering his campaign, and “blessed” anyone who would teach them aside in order to teach them a thing or two.

In 2018, the Anti-Defamation League published a report entitled “Murder and Extremism in the United States” documenting the sharp rise in politically motivated, violent crimes in this country. The report’s executive summary begins with this sentence:

“2018 was a particularly active year for right-wing extremist murders: every single extremist killing — from Pittsburgh to Parkland — had a link to right-wing extremism.” (emphasis mine)

 I urge you to read the report for yourself. You will never hear about the dramatic increase of this problem from conservative pundits or cable news.

God’s people are called to deal in truth, which requires investigating the facts, all the facts. It means being honest; doing our best to critique our own biased tendencies; remembering that our primary allegiance is to God’s kingdom, not a political party, an ideology, or secular movement of any stripe.

We can never deal in fear-mongering or false accusations. The truth of the gospel is our standard of communication.

So, here are the simple facts:

First, neither Christians nor political conservatives are the primary, or the expanding, targets of politically or religiously motivated violence in America. To say otherwise is to perpetuate a myth.

The prize for being targeted by political violence goes to American Muslims, African-Americans, other people of color, and immigrants — including legal immigrants.

The bottom line is, white Christians need to stop their whining and abandon their self-pitying victim mentality. It is more than unbecoming. It is ungodly.

Second, you and I are about as likely to be harmed (whether physically, emotionally, psychically or rhetorically) by a rabid “neo-Marxist” as we are to be hit by an asteroid.  In fact, we are more likely to be struck by lightning.

If any of us (God forbid) is ever injured in an incident of domestic terrorism, the perpetrator, in all likelihood, will be a right-wing, ultra-conservative conspiracy theorist (who will probably imagine that he has been victimized by various and sundry neo-Marxist assailants.)

I firmly believe that Christian social and political engagement is important. But we need to understand what is actually going on in the world.  We dare no live in a dream world.

Such understanding requires stepping outside of the Christian media mis-information bubble, reading widely, studying broadly, and keeping our eyes focused on the kingdom of God.

Our only hope is in Jesus, and he never asks us to mislead others or to misrepresent the facts.

Why My Posts Have Recently Become More Erratic

Perhaps you always thought my posts were erratic (…which reminds me of a story: back in the days when I was working with college students, I once met a young woman for coffee who asked me to define the word erotic. I thought this a bit odd, but answered her question and then asked one of my own.  Why do you ask?  “Oh,” she said. “I was trying to explain an idea to one of my professors. I was getting flustered and said, ‘Sorry, sometimes my thoughts become so erotic.’ I didn’t understand why he blushed and walked away.”  Ok. End of story.)

Even if you have always thought my postings were erratic – yes, I have erotic notions too, but I will never share them here with you – I feel the need to explain why they are now more erratic than usual.

I am trying to work diligently on my current book project, which means less time is available for blogging.  I will continue to post my occasional thoughts on theology, politics, world affairs and the church for you, my readers, who, for some odd reason, find my thoughts worth considering.

But, at least for the time being, the majority of my time will go to a new book addressing the damaging contributions made to the Israel-Palestine conflict by the advocates of Christian Zionism in the American church.

The book will have three interwoven streams of argument.

The first will discuss the history of Zionism and its implementation in Israel. The second will tell a few of the many heartbreaking stories I have personally encountered during my visits to the West Bank and Israel. The third will open up the Bible and explain how Christian Zionists (i.e. Christians who believe that modern Israel is God’s chosen nation) misinterpret Scripture with disastrously immoral consequences.

I am now working on chapter 4 (of a projected 12). After completing the first chapter that includes a personal story of Palestinian suffering, I sent a copy to my friends in the West Bank for their review. I have promised them that I will not publish anything personal without their approval.

So, after writing the story of a friend who was shot in the face, for no particular reason, by an Israeli soldier, I sent off the first draft.

Below is a short excerpt from his response:

You have presented a summary of our plight in the strongest way ever… It’s heart felt with facts and legal dimensions. It’s not biased with empty weak claims, but in defense of justice and humanitarian rights that’s rightfully presented. You made my soul cry and screaming…enough injustice…How the world is really blindfolded intentionally and unintentionally… I could never present our case any better…. thank you, brother…

Completing this book is my mission right now. It is one small thing that I can do. It may not be much, but just think of how different the world could be if everyone did the one small thing that they alone could do to improve the lives of others who were suffering.

I won’t disappear altogether, but I felt the need to tell everyone what I am up to.

My blog’s home page tells me that I have 485 subscribers. I find that hard to believe, to tell you the truth. I suspect that someone at Bluehost is pulling my leg. But I do appreciate those of you who actually exist out there is cyberspace and take the time to look at what I write.

I am extremely blessed. Yet, every day my blessings remind me of the unjust suffering endured by others whom Terry and I dearly love in the land of Palestine.

I am incensed at the way American Christians can use the Bible and theology to excuse the blatant oppression of an entire group of people. As I work my way through volumes of Christian Zionist literature I must periodically stop and take a break so as not to give myself a coronary.

Healthy theological debate is always worthwhile. But there is nothing healthy about any theology that teaches us, no matter how inadvertently, not to care about others.

No follower of Jesus Christ is ever justified, no matter what his/her theological argument may be, in siding with the strong against the weak; in enabling the powerful to exploit the powerless; in blessing the oppressors standing upon the neck of the oppressed; in using God’s word as a cover-story for murder, racial discrimination, and ethnic cleansing.

So, I’ve got to complete this task while I can.

Thank you for understanding.

The Poverty Stricken People of Gaza Continue to Threaten Israel’s Existence

Rockets have been fired from Gaza and Israel again worries about its imminent destruction…

Now for a word of sanity from Gideon Levy. His latest article is “The Gaza Ghetto Uprising.” You can read the article by clicking on the title above or take in the excerpt below:

“Everything is completely disconnected from context and reality, intentionally and willfully. Half a week after Holocaust Remembrance Day,  the knowledge that 2 million people have been locked up more than 12 years behind barbed wire in a giant cage doesn’t remind Israel of anything and doesn’t arouse anything. Half a week before Independence Day, the struggle for freedom and independence of another people is perceived as murderous terror for no reason.

“Even the desperate attempt to prevent the brink of starvation is perceived as greed; the effort to somehow impart the appearance of a holiday in the holiest month of the year is depicted as extortion. That’s how low the brainwashing goes and no one protests. Everyone accepts it with a shrug.  Anyone who doubts how hollow and destructive the inculcation of the Holocaust is in Israel should look at the responses in Israel to this Gaza Ghetto Uprising. Anyone who ignores the reality in Gaza or tries to deny its disaster has learned nothing.

“Gaza is a ghetto and what’s happening in the south is a ghetto uprising. There’s no other way to describe it. You can make claims against Hamas but you can’t make any claims against Gaza. It’s fighting for its freedom and no struggle is more just than its struggle, and Hamas is its leader.

“The countdown to Hamas’ death has already begun: Only seven more months until the UN report, until Gaza is unfit for human habitation. But Israel yawns and its spokespeople only know how to tout “deterrence,” that monster we’ve created to justify every killing, closure and bout of destruction, as we lie ourselves to death that there’s something to deter 2 million unemployed, desperate, humiliated people, some of whom are hungry or dying for lack of medical care, and all of whom are locked up…

“A country that is established on the memory of the ghettos, which only a few days ago sanctified that memory, hides its face from the much larger ghetto that it built with its own hands and doesn’t want to see, one hour from the center of that country. A country that was established in a bloody struggle will not recognize the justness of the struggle of another people and wonders whether that people even exists. A society that considers itself exemplary, which was established on the world’s indifference to its suffering, shows monstrous heartlessness to the suffering it is causing…”

Israeli Soldiers Shoot, Nearly Kill, An Unarmed Shepherd Boy

The Palestinian teenager was handcuffed and blind-folded, thrown to the ground.  When he tried to stand a soldier shot him and hit a major artery in his right leg.

He began to run. He was shot a second time, again with live ammunition.

Fortunately, a neighbor filmed the entire event. You can see for yourself in this Ha’aretz article.

The ever vigilant Gideon Levy has a follow-up account, giving more detail in today’s edition of Ha’aretz. Y0u can read the entire piece here, or check out the excerpt below:

“It all started last Thursday with a road accident in which Fatima Suleiman, a local teacher, was killed. Lately most of the access roads to the village have been blocked by the IDF, leaving one entrance, which opens dangerously onto the main road. That’s where Suleiman was killed. Osama Hajajeh attended the funeral, along with most of Tuqu’s residents, who are angry about their village being choked off by roadblocks. After the funeral, the young people went to demonstrate, some of them by throwing stones at military vehicles.

“Suddenly Hajajeh, a shepherd boy who had never been arrested, felt someone grabbing him from behind and throwing him to the ground. Between the olive trees, soldiers from the IDF unit had laid an ambush for the stone throwers. There were four to six soldiers, and after hurling the boy to the ground they handcuffed him behind his back, blindfolded him and began to drag him toward their jeep. At one point he remained kneeling on the ground, a soldier standing over him. The ground was thorny, Hajajeh relates now, from his hospital bed, so at one point he tried to get up for a minute and shake off the thorns. He now tells us, contrary to the published reports, that he had no intention of escaping – only to stand up. “How would I escape? With hands bound behind me and blindfolded?” he asks.

“The moment he stood up, a shot rang out. He says he didn’t feel anyone trying to grab him before the shot was fired at him. The bullet hit him in the right leg. Frightened to death, Hajajeh started to flee for his life. He didn’t yet feel pain in the leg, he says now, but he knew he was wounded. He had stumbled only a few steps before the second shot came, the bullet slamming into his left leg. Both shots struck him in the thigh, by the groin, but the second one hit a major blood vessel. He collapsed to the ground.

“He didn’t black out, but in the video clip he looks stunned. He remembers only that the woman from the village who reached him – also a teacher – removed his blindfold as he lay there.

“Ali-Mohammed Hajajeh, a construction worker of 47 with six other children – Osama is the third oldest – is a smiling man who understands that his son’s life was saved almost by a miracle. Osama remembers lying on the ground as the soldiers fired tear gas and brandished rifles at anyone who approached and tried to get him out of there. He was finally placed in the car of a village resident who rushed him to the local clinic; from there a Palestinian ambulance took him to the hospital. About half an hour passed from the moment he was wounded until he was evacuated.”

Hear the Gazan People Explain Their Protests

The Electronic Intifada posted an article yesterday where young men and women participating in the ongoing Day of Return Marches along the Gaza Imprisonment Fence explain why they continue to face down Israeli bullets week after week.

The article is entitled, “Why We Protest.” Click on the title for the entire article or read the excerpt below:

It is always important to listen to the ways in which others explain themselves, their actions and their attitudes.

When it comes to understanding Israel and Palestine, this is especially important because the Western media rarely tells the entire story, substituting Israeli government talking-points for real investigation.

The worst source of information, in this regard, is Christian media. Listening to the so-called “expert analysis” provided by Christian newscasters always makes me want to scream, shout, and pull my hair out because they are no different than the mainstream when it comes to mindlessly repeating the propaganda fed to them by Israel’s government.

Here are the typical explanations for why thousands of Gazan residents gather every week, offering up their bodies for Israeli army target practice:

  1. The vast majority of the Gazan’s who march are Hamas terrorists seeking to destroy Israel.
  2. Hamas completely controls the marches, directing everyone who participates.
  3. Israel is only defending its southern border from a hoard of would-be, foreign invaders who want to enter the country illegally. (Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)
  4. The Palestinian Authority from the West Bank is trying to take control of Gaza away from Hamas so the people are out to defend Hamas.

Yes, I have heard each of these ignorant and utterly false “explanations” expressed by some Christian “expert” providing his/her insights into the “Palestinian problem” on Christian radio.

You can also read them all in any number of Christian news magazines, both in print and online.

However, I am willing to bet my bottom dollar that not a single one of these pontificators has every been inside of Gaza, or lived with a Gazan family, or interviewed any of the people who brave the live ammunition and tear gas shot at them by Israeli soldiers week after week.

How often do these spokespeople for Christian media let their audience hear, first hand, the words and the voices of the people who are being killed and wounded week after bloody week?  Never.

Folks, this is not journalism.  Nor is it Christian.

God’s people are supposed to care about Truth. If we care about the truth, then facts matter. If we want to know the facts, then we have to engage the people who are actually involved. We have to do research. We have to investigate. We have to listen to all sides, AND be open to hearing things we never expected. We have to be even-handed. We must be willing to change our minds. We’ve got to be willing to admit that we have been wrong, that we misunderstood. We have to stop repeating the things that others tell us to believe and learn to think for ourselves.

More than that, we must be ready to repent, to confess our past errors. We must speak Truth to Power as we Speak Up for those who suffer, who are marginalized and ignored.

We have got to call sin sin, identify evil as evil, and condemn atrocities even when committed by those we call friends.

Here are only two of the stories from this article:

“More than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the launch of the Great March of Return along Gaza’s boundary with Israel on 30 March 2018.

“Palestinians participating in the protest series are demanding their right to return to the lands on the other side of the boundary from which their families were expelled decades earlier.

“Every two in three Palestinians in Gaza is a refugee.

“Protesters are also calling for an end to Israel’s land, sea and air blockade on Gaza, now in its 12th year, which has plunged the territory into poverty and despair.

“Mohammed Zaanoun, a member of the Activestills photo collective, has documented the Great March of Return since its beginning.

“Here protesters tell their stories and explain why they come back to the boundary week after week, despite Israel’s brutal crackdown.

Husam, 25, from Khan Younis, southern Gaza

“Last Friday, when I had the Palestinian flag painted on my face, I was hit by a gas canister directly in my back. I was badly injured and transferred to a hospital. I’m now being treated at home. I wish to recover so I can go [back to the protests] next Friday.

“Despite the killings and the injuries, I am still going. I think I will keep participating even if it lasts for nine years, not just nine months. One of the worst things I’ve seen was one of the Fridays during which about 60 people were killed, when they [soldiers] were killing youth randomly and shooting towards heads and legs. It was a horrific day. I felt like I was in a nightmare.

“It was so hard when I could not save one of my comrades who was bleeding on the ground after being injured by an Israeli sniper, and then he died. I can’t understand how they can kill unarmed people.

“After nine months, the world is still not doing anything. We need them to stand with us and to stop the killing of the unarmed youth by the occupying forces…

Aya, 21, from Gaza City

“I participate because it is our duty to demand our full rights, as the Palestinian people, despite the killing and the injuries. This is the march of a nation.

“I ask Avichay Adraee [the Israeli army spokesperson who advised Palestinian women on Twitter that it was best for them to stay at home] to sit next to his wife instead of spreading foolish speech. I have witnessed so many scenes of children being killed and the targeting of women, medics and the press. My oldest sister was seriously wounded but thank God she survived and she returned to the protest again. After all that time, the Return march continues and will not stop.

“I wish that the world would stop the oppression of the occupation and the killing of innocent, unarmed people. The difficult thing in my life is that I’m looking for a future amid the darkness. I wish to live in a society like any other Arab or Western society where there are no wars or killings, only justice, equality, love and peace….”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naturally, many folks (including many Christians) will accuse these people of lying. They will say, in effect, that they are not worth believing…

But why? Because they are Palestinians?

Are Palestinians not capable of telling the truth? Are they not able to think for themselves, to make up their own minds?

Such popular accusations of lying or serving as useful Hamas stooges not only express the crudest form of racism, they also reveal that the one expressing such foolishness has never put his/her life on the line for a heartfelt conviction.

How many people do you know who are willing to die for something they know is a lie?

U.S. Media Ignores Israeli Chants for Genocide While Condemning Legitimate Criticism of Pro-Zionist Lobby Groups

I am offering this post to highlight the stark contrast that exists between the way U.S. news outlets cover criticism of Israel (think of Rep. Ilhan Omar) vs. the way it covers, or fails to cover, truly horrific, racist events in Israel itself.

The difference is telling.

The events described in the article below occurred in 2016.  Think back two

A large anti-Palestinian rally in Tel Aviv. The sign says, Kill Them All

years ago. Can you remember hearing a news story describing these anti-Palestinian rallies in Tel Aviv?

Compare the number of times you’ve heard a public figure suggest that Ilhan Omar is an anti-Semite with the number of similar condemnations you’ve heard of these despicable Israeli demonstrations.

The article was written by Whitney Webb, a reporter for Mint Press News. She describes an anti-Palestinian rally in Tel Aviv, Israel.  The article is entitled, “Thousands of Israelis Take to the Streets Calling for Palestinian Genocide.”

Israel in 2016 was no different than it is today. No, I take that back. Israel in 2019 may be worse.

While mainstream America, including too many of our politicians, are ready to muzzle Israel’s critics, a sizeable portion of Israeli citizens publicly advocate racist violence against Palestinians.

So, which is the more “dangerous” type of speech?  Ilhan Omar’s criticism of the power of pro-Zionist lobbying groups in D.C.?  Or large public rallies in Israel calling for the genocide of the Palestinian people?

You can read the entire article by clicking on the title above.  I also provide an excerpt below:

“Israeli government concern over recent violence has led them to arrest Palestinians for social media content that could potentially lead to crimes. So far, 145 Palestinians have been arrested this year for ‘pre-crime’ via social media ‘incitement.’ This practice eventually led to a collaboration between Facebook and the Israeli government, whose joint effort to curb social media ‘incitement’ has led to the banning of several Facebook accounts of Palestinian journalists and news agencies.

“However, social media, as well as mainstream Western media, have failed to condemn Israeli ‘incitement’ against Palestinians, a practice that is surprisingly

Another anti-Palestinian rally in Israel, photographed by Dan Cohen, a Jewish-American journalist. The crowd was chanting, Death to Arabs.

common considering the little to no attention it receives. Often these anti-Palestinian posts, pictures, and rallies are rife with calls for genocide, with cries of ‘Death to the whole Arab nation’ and ‘Kill them all’ surprisingly common.

“Even the Times of Israel ran an op-ed article about ‘When Genocide is Permissible’ in reference to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Though the post was eventually taken down, it points to an all-too-common and dangerous mentality that social media, the Israeli government, and Western media ‘conveniently’ ignore.

“An Israeli news agency even put the then-suspected preferential treatment to the test and found that Facebook and the Israeli authorities treated calls for revenge from Palestinians and Israelis very differently.

“Even massive rallies calling for Palestinian genocide have been ignored entirely by social media and the corporate press. Earlier this year in April, a massive anti-Palestinian rally took place in Tel Aviv where thousands called for the death of all Arabs. The rally was organized to support an Israeli soldier who killed an already-wounded Palestinian by shooting him execution-style in the head…

“A Jewish reporter at the scene remarked that it seemed ‘more like a celebration of murder than anything.’ Despite the obvious animosity and incitement made evident at the rally, it isn’t difficult to imagine what the response would have been if this has been a pro-Palestinian rally calling for the deaths of Jews. The stark divide between what is permissible for Palestinians and what is permissible for Israelis should concern us all as the widespread bias of social media, the press, and many governments threaten to blind us from the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

I’m Feeling Doubly Blessed This Easter

I felt at least doubly blessed this Easter morning while worshiping with my local church.

Not only did I have the opportunity to be a part of a wonderful congregation that was singing and praying to our glorified, resurrected Lord Jesus. We all had the opportunity to watch numerous new believers be baptized into Christ’s body.

We heard that over the course of the church’s Easter services this past weekend over 50 people were baptized.  These are the men, women and children who have taken that step of faith to entrust their lives to Jesus.

Now, that was a blessing to watch.  In fact, it was a double blessing.

First, I am blessed to be a child of God, rescued and redeemed by the crucified, resurrected Savior who gave His life for me.  And second, I am blessed to be a part of a Christian ministry that understands how the local church is home base for God’s mission in the world.

As I watched people pass through the baptismal water, I was also happy to have come across the painting of Jesus included with this post.  The artist is a Mexican Roman Catholic priest who portrays Jesus as an Amerindian.

I was blessed to be reminded that Jesus is who He is, not whomever I want to make him out to be. He is neither white nor American. He is a Jewish man born and raised in ancient Israel-Palestine.

Yet, as the Savior who came to share in human existence, he came for us all, whoever we are, wherever we live. Whatever our race, ethnicity or national heritage, the resurrected Jesus died and rose for us all.

The Day I Met a Kenyan Saint

I had obviously taken the wrong bus. I thought I was going to the Kenyan Museum of Natural History. Instead, I was let out on the side of a road facing a large open savanna with a few scattered trees.  I decided to try again tomorrow, but in the meantime, the savanna was new to me and waiting to be explored.

As I wandered into the grass, I quickly noticed a woman off in the distance praying beneath a tree. She was shouting with a loud voice in Swahili with her arms in the air.  I decided to pray for her. Having no idea to whom she might be praying, I asked the Lord Jesus to show himself to her if she were praying to another deity, and to bless her with positive answers to her prayers if she were praying to him.

Wandering further into the open grassland, I discovered a large warthog who seemed quite comfortable with approaching strangers. So, I sat down close enough to share in his morning activities.  After all, how often does one get a chance to share a seat with a wild warthog?

I communed with my new, multi-tusked friend for no more than a few minutes when the woman who was praying approached me and asked to sit with me.  I said, Yes, of course, and asked her about her morning prayers.

A smile spread across her face as she told me about her relationship with Jesus Christ and her desire to preach the gospel, in America if possible.  I quickly began to ask about the Lord’s work in her life. How did she become a follower of Jesus?  Where did she live?  What about her family?

I then heard a very sad but revealing story about faith and suffering.

She lived in the nearby slum; tin roofs covering cardboard shanties

A Nairobi slum bordering opulence

bordering the prairie just visible on the horizon.  She had been a Christian for about one year.  During that time, her husband had left her and taken away her children.  He and his family objected to her faith in Christ and wanted nothing to do with her. The children were forbidden to see her.

She shared one successive story of heartbreak after another, yet each chapter of her loss was punctuated by some declaration about the goodness of God; how much He loved her, and how much he had done for her.

Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me. The details of her story were tragic. While the statements about the Lord’s goodness were non-specific.  I finally asked, “Can you tell me about one specific way in which God has shown His goodness to you recently?”

She paused.  I waited.  After several moments of thought, she looked at me, smiled and said, “My heavenly Father sent His one and only Son to die on the cross and rise again so that He can forgive me of all my sins.  Since my Father has done that for me, what more does He ever need to do to show me His goodness?”

I knew in that moment I was sitting in the presence of an African Saint.

Here was a poverty-stricken, maligned and persecuted disciple of Jesus who was also filled with the joy of the Lord.  She was daily experiencing the power of Christ’s resurrection and the hope of eternal life made possible by Easter morning.

She was suffering but not beaten down; oppressed but not defeated.  The world had been against her, but she knew that Christ was for her, and that was enough.

That woman will forever provide a model for me to emulate. I have never had reason to weep as she had. Yet, her eyes and her heart were set on Jesus, and no one could wipe the overflowing joy from her face.

I pray that this Easter season, I will take a few more steps to becoming more and more like her.

9/11 and the Pestilence of American Civil Religion

Religion is both unifying and divisive.  It’s the nature of the beast.

A set of shared beliefs and common acts of piety will consolidate a community of the faithful in shared devotion. But those religious practices will simultaneously exclude anyone who thinks, believes and behaves otherwise.

That’s why religious liberty and toleration have been crucial to the history of America’s experiment with democracy.  It is also why the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his book The Social Contract, insisted that Christianity must be replaced by something he called Civil Religion– that is, the citizens’ devotion to the State.

We are currently witnessing a very public debate over the inclusion of 9/11 and the destruction of the Twin Towers into the religious iconography and liturgy of American civil religion.

Rep. Ilhan Omar recently gave a speech (a very good and important speech, in my view) condemning the persistent discrimination experienced by American Muslims in the aftermath of 9/11.  She focused on the rise of Islamophobia in this country, which has been the dark-side of the aftermath of 9/11 in this country.

Unfortunately, the keepers of America’s high-and-holy civil religion were

Rep. Ilhan Omar

indignant about Omar’s remarks because, in their view, she was not sufficiently reverential when referring to the tragedy.  And a tragedy it was; a horrific tragedy.  But there is a world of difference between the tragic and the sacred.

Omar’s point was that “some people did something,” as she put it, meaning a few Saudi Arabians flew airliners into the Twin Towers, and as a result, every Muslim in America has been put under a microscope and viewed with suspicion as a potential “terrorist” ever since.

Speaking from the place of the underdog, a Muslim woman of color in post-9/11 America, Rep. Omar was condemning the overflow of injustice that has been meted out upon her community by those holding the reins of power in the American establishment.

The high priests of American civil religion are not happy.

Omar was immediately condemned for not genuflecting in the direction of the fallen Towers. She failed to cloth herself in dust and ashes.  She didn’t speak solemnly enough or kneel deeply enough while weeping a stream of tears. In short, she wanted to present a different perspective, speaking, not for the dead but for the living, for the many who continue to suffer needlessly because of the 9/11 tragedy.

As a result, Omar has been branded a heretic.  She has violated the central tenet of all civil religion – worship of the innocent nation as holy.  But Omar didn’t embrace America’s mythology about striding the globe as a paragon of innocence, attacked without cause or justification by the dark-skinned denizens of evil on 9/11.

Nor do I. And neither should you.

Now she is paying the price that every truth-teller pays when speaking Truth to Power.

At least one man has recently been arrested for threatening to kill Rep. Omar.

The president joined in with the uncivil chorus of civil religion choir boys by tweeting a short film linking Omar to the 9/11 attacks, implicitly accusing her of sacrilege. Rep. Omar’s congressional office is now receiving more death threats against the congresswoman than ever before. Her security detail has been increased.

Even Nancy Pelosi, the House majority leader, gave Rep. Omar a back-handed slap when she issued a statement condemning Trump’s tweet. She scolded,

The memory of 9/11 is sacred ground, and any discussion of it must be done with reverence. The President shouldn’t use the painful images of 9/11 for a political attack.

Spoken like a career politician and high priestess in the temple of America.  The standard of sacred discourse about America’s tragedy has been established for all to see.  It must be done with reverence as we approach holy ground…but excuse me while I toss my cookies.

We can read between Pelosi’s lines. Yes, the president is a hate-mongering sociopath who doesn’t think twice about fomenting more violence against an innocent woman whose family is already under 24-hour police protection.

But notice how Pelosi also smoothly sticks a shiv into Omar’s back.

Only an experienced priestess of power could issue a statement explicitly condemning the president’s grotesque bloviating, while implicitly condemning her party colleague for failing to offer up proper homage to American sanctity.

Of course, the fundamental problem with all of this is that civil religion is an abomination.  It is idolatry, plain and simple.  And we are currently witnessing another example of its destructive power.

God’s people cannot have anything to do with this kind of foolishness.

We certainly have no business cheering on either the cruelty and maliciousness demonstrated by the president, or the self-righteousness displayed by today’s Pharisees and high priests of American civil piety. Both the Left and the Right are equally guilty.

A pox on both their houses.

There is nothing holy or sacred about the ruins of the Twin Towers or the memory of 9/11.  God does not live there. He never did. It is certainly a place for people to grieve the massive loss of life and the thousands of loved ones murdered that day, but neither tragedy nor sorrow turns a renovated ruin into sacred space.

That sanctification occurs only in the presence of The Holy One, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

But the Ancient of Days has not built his temple in America.  Neither does civil religion give God glory.

But then, instigating violence and vitriol against a principled woman who speaks her conscience looks very much like the rotten fruit one would expect to issue from civil religion’s demonic tree.

Personally, I won’t speak of 9/11 in hushed tones, but I will stand with Rep. Omar.