Theopolitical Climate Change
Elul 19, 5767, 02 September 07 06:43
by Ellen W. Horowitz
(IsraelNN.com)
She literally
embraced Jimmy Carter, while baring claws at Jerry Falwell. Her
body language revealed her agenda - even when cloaked behind the
veil. With all of its inaccuracies and inconsistencies, Christiane
Amanpour's six-hour presentation of G-d's Warriors was as
slick and effective as it was slanted - and it did the damage.
Pro-Israel bloggers and media watchdogs can whine, and activists
can kvetch to the very heavens, but until we can go on the
offensive with effective presentations and magnetic personalities
of our own, Christiane rules the day.
Amanpour doesn't
play devil's advocate, she is the devil's advocate. That
makes her one of G-d's most dangerous warriors (as everything comes
from G-d and is under His direction - including CNN and the devil
himself). We should thank Amanpour for giving us a golden
opportunity to rise to the challenge, and to use our own intellect,
talent and resources to present a dynamic and corrective response
(because that's what G-d expects from us).
Amanpour missed
a golden opportunity to nail former President Jimmy Carter, the man
who - more than any other politician to date - bears responsibility
for unleashing the fanatics who have engulfed the world in global
Jihad. That Southern Baptist Carter campaigned as a Born-Again
Christian, and was hailed as America's first Evangelical president,
gave Amanpour every reason to pursue her theme by focusing on
whether or not demonstrative religious fervor in combination with
ardent political ambition plays a role in the wretched handling of
foreign policy.
In 1979, it was
the Carter administration that initiated an estimated $40 billion
covert program of training and aiding Islamic fundamentalists in
Pakistan and Afghanistan. In a 1998 interview, former National
Security Advisor to President Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was
asked if he regrets having supported Islamic fundamentalism and
giving arms and advice to terrorists. His response: "What is most
important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse
of the Soviet empire? Some stirred up Muslims or the liberation of
Central Europe and the end of the Cold War?"
President
Carter's shortsighted and faltering policies empowered a 1978
Iranian Islamic revolution by weakening the Shah, propping up
then-exiled Ayatollah Khomeini, and by mishandling the Iranian
hostage crisis.
Carter's lauded,
but faulty, Camp David Peace Accords of 1978 brought Israel a cold
peace and a hot Egyptian border with Gaza. The new lines drawn in
the sand enabled massive arms smuggling and support of the
terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. Egypt is now well-positioned to
fight Israel via its proxy Palestinian army.
During Carter's
presidency, his brother worked as a foreign agent of the Libyan
government and received a $220,000 "loan". His dealings led to a
1980 Senate investigation dubbed "Billygate".
Billy's defense: "The only thing I can say is there is a hell of a
lot more Arabians than there is Jews." He also argued that the
"Jewish media [tore] up the Arab countries full-time," and defended
Libya against charges of state-sponsored terrorism by saying that a
"heap of governments support terrorists and [Libya] at least
admitted it."
And it was Jimmy
Carter who inadvertently exposed the shortcomings and dangers of
ramming American-style democracy and liberty into a region aching
for the rule of law and authority. It was he who, as an election
observer, praised the 2006 Hamas victory over Fatah as being
"completely honest, completely fair, completely safe and without
violence." The very antithesis of today's
reality.
It was Oslo
facilitator Bill Clinton who, as a presidential candidate in 1992,
managed to garner a staggering percentage of the Jewish Republican
vote by evoking his dying pastor's warning, "If you abandon Israel,
God will never forgive you." Those words reassured Jews who were
disgruntled with the Israel-hostile administration of President
George H. W. Bush.
US elections are
fast approaching and the very pious and dynamic duo of Carter and
Clinton have joined forces in order to redeem G-d from His
Christian Right captors. Meanwhile, the gospel according to the
very scholarly team of Walt and Mearsheimer has deemed Israel a
liability.
A multi-cultural
America is ideologically floundering and can offer no dynamic and
determined alternative with which to counter Evangelical zeal and
influence. When coupled with the purported strength of the American
Jewish lobby at a time when America is mired in a Middle Eastern
war, the Jewish-Christian alliance becomes downright threatening.
So, an unholy trinity of Judeo-Evangelaphobic media, political and
academic personalities have picked up the gauntlet and they promise
to make the upcoming election year hell for those Jewish Americans
who still have a spot in their hearts for Israel. Christians united
for Israel are also on the line, and will have to run the gauntlet
over their dual devotion to Israel and America.
Not all
Americans are ready and willing to join hands with Israel and go to
the brink over global terror and the Iranian nuclear threat.
Attributing the source of concern and hesitation to liberal
politics, anti-Semitism, a media smear campaign or denial is not
totally fair. It could simply be that some citizens are not
"rapture-ready."
The Christian
Right may have overplayed the televangelist End-of-Days card. Hosts
of preachers have made their deepest, darkest Armageddonish
thoughts available via cable, satellite, and radio channels; on DVD
at Walmart; in print through Amazon; and in cyberspace through
blogs and YouTube. Rapture has been lampooned by The
Simpsons and harpooned by Max
Blumenthal, while being seriously discussed in White House
prayer meetings and consultations.
I believe most
Americans just want to make sure that, if faced with an awesome
decision, those charged with picking up red phones and pushing red
buttons will be able to come down from their heavenly fog, close
the book of Daniel, and use their G-d-given earthly sense to make a
wise choice for the good of mankind. The pastors are not immune to
public opinion or election fever, and one evangelical academic
recently expressed the need for a makover: "Many evangelicals are
tired of being painted as ignorant huckleberries who follow the
dictums of preachers with bad hair."
Suddenly,
progressive voices in the evangelical movement are stepping forward
and putting poverty and environmental concerns at the top of their
agenda. They are meeting with Arab ambassadors, distancing
themselves from Israel's national camp, and promoting a two-state
solution. Theopolitical winds could be shifting. Israel's storm
-tossed dinghy is floating amongst a lot of sharks, but that's no
reason to hop aboard any lifeboat christened the S.S. Jesus.
Those Israeli and Diaspora Jews already on deck may soon be obliged
to abandon ship - "unconditionally."
It's reckonin'
time for Israel and a change of strategies is called for. We should
focus efforts on strengthening an independent Israel, rather than
tying her to America - because we may have to go it alone. With
America in transition, our rock solid Biblical claim should be
presented in a way that enables a broad spectrum of individuals to
take a moral and heartfelt stand with the Jewish State. The
inspiration to do the right thing can come through theological
scripture, personal experience, philosophical or intellectual
exercise, heartfelt meditation, or by reading superhero comic books
. But it need not be shared with CNN, as it has to do with one's
personal truth and intimate relationship with
G-d.