2.7.26
Hey, Calvary Fremont –
It is no Herculean task to support the State of Israel and disagree with how she is conducting the war against Hamas. Evangelicals can support the State of Israel while at the same time question her political decisions and military strategy. Disapproval of how Israel is conducting the war does not logically lead to questioning the legitimacy of her existence. If so, you have to question the legitimacy of America’s existence. (And probably every other nation on earth.)
In August of 1945, America dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Though it forced the immediate surrender of Japan, the morality of the event is still vigorously debated. 38,000 children were incinerated or died of long-term radiation sickness. Could the U.S. have dropped those bombs on less strategic centers and still have achieved the desired effect? Who knows? In my thinking, what America did was morally reprehensible. Why? Because it is always wrong to intentionally incinerate babies. It is estimated that the American bombing of Dresden in Germany during WW2 was responsible for 25,000 civilian deaths – many of them babies and young children. One of the main reasons was to support the Soviet advance from the East. But again, it is always wrong to intentionally incinerate babies. America has been immoral in the prosecution of many wars, but I do not question the legitimacy of America as a nation. And though one might hit hard against a particular administration – a rotten administration does not delegitimize a country – it may destabilize it, but it doesn’t delegitimize it. If someone is adamantly against the Netanyahu administration, this does not result in the illegitimacy of the nation.
Antisemitism is the new (and old) sexy. Yet if an antisemite condemns Israel for stealing the land, if they were consistent with their premises, they would also have to be anti-American; and anti-Canadian; and anti-Mexican; ad nauseum. Not only is nature red in tooth and claw – so is history.
Israel is not more or less moral than any other nation on earth. To paint Israel darker than all other nations is intellectual dishonesty and self-deception. This is one of my main objections to antisemites – they inconsistently apply their premises of national morality. Any nation has a right to defend itself against aggression. And if they overstep the boundaries of morality in that defense, they will be held to answer for it – whether in the legal courts or in the court of public opinion. Yet when public opinion is blind to the faults of their own nation, and is puffed up with a pseudo-elitism that artificially elevates their moral self-perception – watch out! The ‘moral’ judgments coming from the moral elite fall far short of the justice they seek to bring about. When a moral principle is not consistently applied, justice is not achieved. What is achieved is yet another injustice that cries out for justice.
“Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate! Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:15, 24
Be blessed and stay healthy and follow Jesus – Pastor Tim
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