Painful thoughts on the attacks on the Jewish state

October 13, 2023

I was aware of the physical frailties of old age—my parents lived to 88 and 89, my four grandparents late 80s and early 90s, and my great grandparents late 80s. I knew them all. I also knew my husband’s parents, grandmother and his step-grandparents all living to mid-80s and early 90s. Today is my brother-in-law’s 100th birthday. What I didn’t expect was this feeling of helplessness.

I didn’t expect to feel the promises of God’s mercy and caring to ring so hollow. After all, most of these dear ones of my past had lived through the Panic of 1893, the Spanish American War, WWI, The Spanish flu epidemic, the Great Depression, the scourge of polio, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. I even called my Dad on 9/11 for some comfort. Maybe they felt as helpless as I do now, and never mentioned it?

Today I was reading Psalm 25 in my morning devotions. I thought about those beautiful words such as TRUST, TRUTH, SALVATION, MERCY, LOVE, GOODNESS, UPRIGHTNESS, FAITHFULNESS, PARDON, FRIENDSHIP, COVENANT and FORGIVENESS. I couldn’t help but think back to Saturday’s assault on civilians in Israel. Where was God? Where were our elected politicians, our counterintelligence, our high-tech smarties who can shut down any opinion about Covid or pronouns they don’t like, but couldn’t find “chatter” of killers of Jews? It was Nazis in the ghettos of the 1940s.

What happened to the “rules of war” and the lessons of WWII we heard about in high school and college?

Also, I can't help but think of the silence of our churches—not just about the Israeli/ HAMAS/ Hezbollah/ Iran situation, but my own church's failure to speak out or call a prayer meeting on ANY issue—social, economic or political—from Covid to abortion to local bond issues, to the border crisis to transgenderism. I suppose it's understandable with 35,000 “protestant” and “Bible only” groups many of whom have split on secular issues, including slavery and feminism. It is still an eerie silence for anyone who reads the paper or watches the evening news. It’s possible in the 1930s we didn’t know about the Soviets starving the Kulaks or the Nazis invading Poland and killing Jews until it was too late. Today we have HAMAS uploading their crimes in real time on the internet for all to see. Today we know the U.S. returned $6 billion to Iran who has sworn death to Israel. We've bought their oil for untold billions. We funded this!

There’s an ugly dividing waste land that runs through our wealthy, educated metropolitan congregations. The same Christians who support abortion and “a woman’s right to choose,” sanctuary cities, open borders, climate change laws that hurt the poorest economies, demonization of half of America’s voters and the sexual mutilation of children in the LGBTQ spectrum, also have been willing to excuse over the years Palestinians and deny that the Islamic hatred and beliefs about Israel’s existence is a real threat to Jews and the U.S. It’s the elephant in the sanctuary. Right here in Columbus (specifically 2021, 2014 and this week) there were large demonstrations in support of Palestine and against Israel. Was anything said—prayer—discussion? Is there a direct line from our silence to beheading babies and shooting the elderly at bus stops?

If our churches can’t even object to the Governor or Board of Health about violations of our religious rights in 2020 and 2021 during the lockdowns, how can I even suggest we have the moral authority and strength to say anything about the Russia Ukraine war, or the tribal warfare in South Sudan among Christians, or the Ethiopian crisis, or the invasion by millions at our Southern border, or HAMAS attacking civilians?

Well, I do suggest it. Can I sit through one more Bible study or sermon or hymn and not be sickened by our silence, and my own feeling of weakness while we dither about hiring women pastors (an issue from the 1970s) or how many millions we can raise to keep our buildings up to date?

Unity in the church

Is there a solution for the conflict in the unity appeals in Paul's letters, like 1 Corinthians 1:10 and the divisions in the church--not only THE church, but our local church congregation? It's not much comfort to see the local churches of the first century were very divided on many issues. Even if read in context about who baptized whom, Paul confirms the message in other letters. But in the 21st century, it is no better and Christians have had 2000 years to get it right.

The abortion conflict really does not allow for "unity." And we are at least a decade or two behind grappling with the genetic manipulation problem that technology has wrought. But the abortion/race/climate/border/gender factions are keeping us putting out fires so we don't have the energy or time to work together on other issues. If we can't agree that a 9 month old baby in the womb is a "life" worthy of protection, we're certainly not prepared to deal with designer babies, or using body parts of aborted babies to correct defects.

I can not pray for unity with people who say conservatives are perverse and obsessed with sex when they destroy life and believe the sexual abuse of trans surgery is OK.

When the U.S. has enough fuel to keep others from starving and we're asked to have unity on Biden's death policies, I just see no good in that.

Running drugs and sex trafficking when it could be stopped but Christians fight each other on what to do and take government grants to assist, is serving God how?

That's defiling the whole concept of unity in Christ. Maybe mercy. Yes, I can ask for God's mercy and grace for all of us. When I read of David's battles, I don't see him asking for unity with those who defy God's will.

Churches using government money to fulfill their promise to Christ

Christian relief groups, particularly churches like the Catholics and Baptists, are really in a bind. Christ commanded us to help the poor, imprisoned, hungry, etc. but NOT by taking grants from the government to do it. We Christians are cooperating with evil by providing humanitarian care for the caravans--many funded by traffickers and drug cartels. And it isn't just this administration, it really geared up under "thousand points of light" of GHW Bush, although it was common before that with building contracts to help clean up poverty and farm surplus for food pantries run by churches.

 
When Jesus comes back and asks how we followed Matthew 25, I fear he'll find the churches there with the goats, and not the sheep who know him. We're not to be siphoning off tax money and becoming dependent on the government.

Unfortunately, this invites anti-Catholic hostility from other Christians, while tying the Catholics even closer to poorly managed, dead end government practices.  Plus, many Christians who are critical of this, are ignorant of what their own denomination is doing with government money.

Dissenting Catholic Charities: Separating Church & Welfare State? - Capital Research Center

Catholic Church collects $1.6 billion in U.S. contracts, grants since 2012 - Washington Times

Churches Take Action to Help Children at the Border As Leaders Debate (churchleaders.com)

Critical race theory and the churches

This is the racist/Marxist target and idea behind critical race theory (CRT). If you are a member of a Christian of Jewish congregation--Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Bible only, non-denominational centered on your pastor, you are the target. If you are ethnically a distant German, Scot, Lebanese, Slovak, Spaniard, Greek, etc., you are a target. If you are ethnically an African American, middle class or higher, and college educated, you are a target. It's Marxism, and it is coming for YOU, especially you males. 

"Critical theory is a Marxist idea developed in postmodernity in which absolutes, objectivity and absolute truth are no longer accepted. Critical theory purports to explain the world in terms of power, and its proponents believe those with the least power have the most moral authority to speak. Power is, therefore, mapped through intersectionality -- race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. The white male heterosexual Christian has the most power and therefore has the least moral authority to speak in society." (Erick Erickson column in Town Hall, March 5) 

You can confess or humble yourself, cower, scrape and bow, or pay big bucks to offer CRT reeducation camps, it won't make any difference, because reconciliation isn't the goal. The intention is never forgive, never offer forgiveness and never have peace. Some liberal churches played with this when it was James Cone and Black liberation theology back in the 70s. It has simply been resurrected.

American Evangelicalism's Critical Theory Problem by Erick Erickson (townhall.com)