Biblical view conflicts with American perspective
Editor:
It is quite alarming that a Christian movement exists that wants to perpetuate the violence in the Middle East and deny the establishment of a Palestinian homeland, the only viable solution for a peaceful outcome. These people are no better than the terrorists who send children to their deaths, and the Jewish settlers who blatantly steal legally owned property from Palestinians. It is also alarming that this same movement seeks to hide behind American principles, claiming that all red-blooded Americans must never support a Palestinian state.
Lets clear up the difference between what is American and what is Biblical.
Biblical: So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded (Joshua 10:40).
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American: The earth was given to mankind to support the greatest number of which it is capable, and no tribe or people have a right to withhold from the wants of others more than is necessary for their own support and comfort (James Monroe).
Biblical: And he said unto them, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men (Exodus 32:27-28).
American: God has formed us moral agents... that we may promote the happiness of those with whom He has placed us in society, by acting honestly towards all, benevolently to those who fall within our way, respecting sacredly their rights, bodily and mental, and cherishing especially their freedom of conscience, as we value our own (Thomas Jefferson).
From the American perspective we value each other and respect our diversity. From the Biblical (specifically, Old Testament) perspective we ruthlessly obey what someone told us is the word of God. Now look within yourself, and ask, Which of these ideals best sums up my moral outlook on life? Or even ask: What would Jesus do?
Yes, the Bible does proclaim the Israeli people as the chosen people of God, and grants them the land between the Nile and the Euphrates. But isnt it a coincidence that it was written by the Hebrews? Why do we doubt Japanese history books on Japans role leading into World War II, and yet unquestioningly accept the Hebrew account of its history, much older and less well-documented? Doesnt it arouse suspicion?
We are not a nation founded on the Bible. Please read the inspiring words of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, George Washington, and John Adams. They all were Deists, not Christians, and they set down the very core of American ideology, concepts found nowhere in the Bible, the shining goals that America should be striving for.
Joe Fausnight
Evans