Theopolitical Climate Change

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.

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