Homer wrote:
Whether they are killing Christians or not, the Palistinian Christians, a minority of a minority, have long lamented the lack of concern that Christians in the US have for them. They are our brothers and sisters, the unbelieving Jews are not. That the Palistinian Christians have endured much suffering and unjust treatment is beyond question.
I can see your point here, Homer. But most of these Christians are the sort that "bible Christians" would trash-talk about if they were here in the US. These are not your bible-totin', CCM-hummin', PowerPoint-lovin' sort of Christians. These are Eastern and Oriental Orthodox. Many "bible Christians" will not feel a sense of brotherhood with such Christians.
Homer wrote:
Our former pastor, now retired, once took a tourist trip to Israel. He was sympathetic to the cause of the Jews. A few years later, he travelled to Ramalla as part of a mission to help poor Palistinian children. After being in the company of ordinary Palistinians, he came home appalled by the contemptuous treatment he and his Palistinian companions received at the hands of Israelis. His favoritism for the Jews was gone.
When I went to Israel, my guides were Palestinian. My outlook upon returning was not entirely dissimilar to your pastor's. (
N .b., this was before I migrated out of Christianity.)
But it is easy for Americans to adopt a position that favors their homies. We do not live in the harsh context of smoldering warfare, and fundamentals of our lives are not at stake. I imagine that if America were ever subjected to circumstances like that of Israel, that American shortcomings in nicety would be appalling to non-Americans. Just look at how some parties view our treatment of belligerents and suspected belligerents in the post-9/11 context.
steve 7150 wrote:
Yes i'm jewish and i think jews should have a homeland
Homer wrote:
Why? Why can they not live among gentiles? They seem to be welcome and do quite well in the US. They are free and generally prosperous are they not?
This is a grossly ignorant perspective. There are parts of the United States where Jewish people are welcomed, and parts where they must endure disapprobation and harassment. I suppose that you have never been a Jew in rural America?
Rather beyond that point – although Jews have enjoyed a season of relative safety in the United States, there is no guarantee that this will last forever. And an eminent lesson of Jewish history is that it is a poor long-term strategy to rely on the favor of gentile overlords. After centuries of denigration and expulsion and massacre, it is apparent that time and again the Jewish people find themselves with nobody willing to stand up for them. And so they must stand up for themselves.
The purpose of a homeland is to afford a strong apparatus for standing up in such a manner: to have military agencies with an undivided commitment to Jewish defense; to have the opportunity to secure and fortify territory within which to live; to allocate material resources in a way that advances Jewish strength and security. If you think these things to be of casual import, then how’s about turning the United States over to a non-American power – say, the British or the Japanese? Surely they would allow Americans to be “
free and generally prosperous,” would they not? What need do Americans have for a homeland, or for political independence?
