As
of today, about 1800 Palestinians, mostly civilians including children, have
been killed by Israel, while Palestinians have killed only about 70 Israelis,
mostly soldiers. It is clear that both sides are committing horrible acts, but
the about 25-to-1 disparity shows that the main result of this conflict is the
death of Palestinian civilians. The Israeli prime minister has made it clear
that he has no interest in what the rest of the world may think about his
response to this crisis.
The
reason that this matters to many Americans is that American conservatives
consider Israel to be (second only to the USA) God’s nation on the face of the
Earth. Israel, in their view, can do whatever they want to do, because God has
approved of them in advance. And conservative American Christians base their
views on the Old Testament. This raises the question about what the Biblical
response to the Palestinian crisis might be—a response that American
conservative Christians should clearly champion.
The
Old Testament makes it clear that God led the tribes of Israel into the region
that some of their descendants now possess, told them the land was theirs, and
not only authorized but commanded them to slaughter every Canaanite man, woman,
and child. In fact, in some instances, when they left a few Canaanites alive,
God took retribution against Israel for disobedience. Genocide was, according
to the Bible, God’s clear command. And if, as Christians believe, God is
unchanging forever, then genocide must still be God’s command. In order to be
consistent with their Biblical literalism, American conservative Christians
should demand that Israel carry out a campaign of genocide against the
Palestinians (who are Arabs, not Canaanites, but are still residents of the
land the Bible says God gave to Israel). And the Republican Party, based
solidly on whatever the Christian Right wants them to do, should demand that
the United States support this genocide. As it is, Israel is just playing around;
just 1800 Palestinian deaths? This can only mean that, despite his
protestations, the Israeli prime minister does in fact have some fear of world
opinion.
Of
course I do not believe genocide would be the right solution. The very idea
makes me personally sick, especially since one of the best students I ever had
was a Palestinian American woman and whom I very much respect. But I also do
not believe the Bible is a set of commands for what we must do. I believe the
Old Testament is a record of the primitive and often evil actions of people who
used God’s name to justify whatever they wanted to do. I believe the incomplete
genocide carried out by ancient Israel is exactly the wrong, not exactly the
right, thing to do. What I do not understand is why American conservative
Christians do not wave their Bibles in the air and demand a campaign of
genocide against the Palestinian people.
American
conservative Christians today seem to consider physical force to be the
preferable option in nearly every case. They were happy to have the Bush II Administration
use torture against detainees (which they now blame on Obama). I vividly
remember Pat Robertson calling for air strikes on Iran years ago. This is very
different from the fundamentalist experience I had back when I was in high
school. The Church of Christ sect of which I was a member was pacifist. Back
when the draft was still in effect, nearly every young man in our sect
published a prepared statement, “My position on carnal warfare,” in our
nationwide newsletter, Old Paths Advocate, stating that the Bible clearly
forbade us to kill our enemies. I think we were right, but virtually NO
conservative Christian leaders today reflect this idea. Today, the Christian church
seems to be primarily an arm of the military-industrial complex. Just think of
all of the weapons we could sell to Israel if they took their Old Testament
duty seriously and began a campaign of genocide that they have so far resisted.
No comments:
Post a Comment