Protests Against Israeli War Based on Fear

Have you ever heard the expression, "No matter how flat you make a pancake, it has two sides?" That expression cannot be truer than with the war between Israel and Palestine. People are choosing sides, and only their side matters. Israel says it has the right to defend itself from attackers, such as Hamas, and people say innocent civilians not involved in the attack on Israel has the right to live and not be part of a genocide. Both sides are right at the same time. WHAT IS A PRESIDENT FORCED TO REMAIN LOYAL TO ISRAEL TO DO? That is the problem President Biden is facing.

Those who support the Republican party, are in large numbers Christian Evangelicals supporting the Israeli War. They are not those who will re-elect Biden for president. Those against giving aid to Israel to continue their war against the Palestinians are supporters of the Democratic Party and the group in which Biden will receive his large number of votes. America has a long history of supporting Israel for religious reasons. FEAR of repercussions from God is a driving factor for those, regardless of Israels actions, supporting Israel no matter what. 

For many “Christians Zionists,” and particularly for popular evangelists with significant clout within the Republican Party, their support for Israel is rooted in its role in the supposed end times: Jesus’ return to Earth, a bloody final battle at Armageddon, and Jesus ruling the world from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. At the heart of Christian Zionism is not a love for Israel but rather Christian nationalism. Christian Zionists maintain that the Book of Genesis says that God will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse it. They insist that if America, as a country, does not “bless” Israel (that is, offer its government its unconditional support), God will curse America.

Genesis 12:3 states, "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed". This verse means that God will bless those who bless Israel. Some ways to bless Israel include taking a stand for Israel, speaking up for Israel, standing up for Israel, and praying for Israel.

In this interpretation, settlers’ further control of the occupied West Bank, which they call by its biblical names Judea and Samaria, is a fulfillment of God’s plan for a Jewish return to Israel — one of a sequence of biblical prophecies that culminates in the Second Coming. White evangelicals “are the religious group most likely to express a very or somewhat favorable view of the Israeli government (68%),” according to a 2022 Pew Research Center poll.

When Trump moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, even he admitted that most Americans, including Jewish Americans, opposed the decision. But Trump made the move for his evangelical supporters, who were ecstatic. Popular Evangelical Pastor John Hagee claimed he had helped convince Trump by telling him at a White House dinner that Jesus is coming back to Jerusalem to “set up His throne on the Temple Mount where He will sit and rule for a thousand years of perfect peace.” Hagee claimed he had helped convince Trump by telling him at a White House dinner that Jesus is coming back to Jerusalem to “set up His throne on the Temple Mount where He will sit and rule for a thousand years of perfect peace.” This made Trump a champion for the Christian religion and their beliefs, elevating him to an almost god-like status. He became the "MAN" for Christianity; thus, he could DO NO WRONG HIMSELF in the eyes of many Christians.

History has shown where religion is concerned, rationality can get thrown out of the window and we are in such a time now. According to the Encyclopedia of Wars, out of all 1,763 known/recorded historical conflicts, 121, or 6.8% had religion as their primary cause. Matthew White's The Great Big Book of Horrible Things gives religion as the primary cause of 11 of the world's 100 deadliest atrocities.

You may say that is a bygone time. But the fear of going against established religious ideology has dire consequences for those of the Christian faith. For example, it has been estimated by careful and reputed historians of the Catholic Inquisition that 50 million people were slaughtered for the crime of "heresy" by Roman persecutors between the A.D. 606 and the middle of the 19th century. People were killed throughout history for not believing and complying to what religious leaders had established was "biblical." Christians are still told not to go against the religious establishment in modern religion.

The Church stood for centuries at odds against science and if you were a Christian, you were expected to also. Church officials feared that as people began to believe scientific ideas, then people would start to question the Church, making people doubt key elements of faith.

Church officials feared that scientific ideas would threaten the powerful influence of the Church. They persecuted scientists who formed theories the Church deemed heretical and forbade people from reading any books on those subjects by placing the books on the Index of Prohibited Books. A type of war between science and religion was in play but there would be more casualties on the side of science. 

In 1600, the Catholic Inquisition condemned the philosopher and cosmologist Giordano Bruno for heresy, and he was then burned alive in the Campo de’ Fiori in Rome. Historians, scientists, and philosophical scholars have traditionally held that Bruno’s theological beliefs led to his execution, denying any link between his study of the nature of the universe and his trial. 

In 1610, Galileo published his Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger), describing the observations that he had made with his new, much stronger telescope, amongst them, the Galilean moons of Jupiter The Galileo affair, (Italian: il processo a Galileo Galilei) began around 1610 and culminated with the trial and condemnation of Galileo Galilei by the Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1633.

It is hard to believe once, the church and the Christian religion, stamped slavery as biblical. In the modern era, Christianity and slavery are seen as oxymoronic. But for much of Christian history, many saw no conflict between keeping the faith and keeping or trading slaves. From the first century until the Civil War, the Bible itself was often used to justify slavery. The “popes and their friends” accepted “gifts” of enslaved Black people shipped from Africa to Rome. Through Transatlantic trafficking, the church systematically extended its influence. European enslavers baptized millions of enslaved people whose labor they used to amass vast wealth.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS are powerful. RELIGIOUS FEAR is powerful. Even though those beliefs may be wrong and outdated, they remain powerful.

So, what is a president to do when faced with engrained religious fear and potential genocide? That remains to be seen. Israel wants to teach Hamas and their supporters a lesson, but believing they will get rid of HAMAS will never come to pass. As soon as the bombing stops, Hamas will regroup and have more supporters than before. Only a genocide will ensure Hamas will not rise up again and as we are witnessing, Americans are against genocide and rightly so.

My guess is Biden is waiting on Israel to recognize this FACT and cease its fighting. It is taking way longer than President Biden anticipated. Sit-ins and protests in America are pushing for Israel to stop its response to the horrific attack from Hamas. On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas (a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, or FTO) led surprise attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip. More than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals (including at least 35 U.S. citizens in Israel) were killed. Anti-Sematic rhetoric is reaching a critical point on college campuses across America so much so, classes and graduations have been cancelled. In standing with the Jews in Israel, the American Jews have become almost outcasts. 

 PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST has been a long-time chant always meaning the same thing at different times.

The Christian Right is being driven by a FEAR based ideology, while the Left is being driven by humanitarian concerns. Many times, people believe you must choose a side, that two things live in opposition to one another. Hopefully, this is one case where you don't have to choose one or the other as in history past.