Sherry's War - Part V

Conflict in the Middle East is not the fault of either Arab or Israeli citizen. Nor can it be blamed on the willing American politicians who finance the conflict or the corrupt and brutal Israeli regimes that benefit from it, though both exacerbate the war for their own purposes. No, the 52-year-old war in Palestine is primarily the handiwork of celebrity leaders and thoughtless followers of the religious subset, which we call Judeo-Christianity. It is probably the largest sub-set in America, and it is militant. It is entirely fair to say that the celebrity leaders of Judeo-Christianity (as opposed to Jesus-Christianity) are the Pharisees of our day.

It is long past time to examine the most basic and misunderstood premise that fires the huge religious sub-set that calls itself "Judeo-Christianity." Whether its celebrity Christian leaders admit it or not, the crux of Judeo-Christianity is the conscious practice, if not the stated belief, that eternal life, or spiritual salvation, is somehow attached to the worldwide political agenda known as Zionism. Into the Judeo-Christian's subconscious has been implanted the belief that "the love for Israel and Jews worldwide characterizes all true Christians." (See: A Letter from Sherry)

Some who hold this Judeo-Christian view of the Middle East think of themselves as "dispensationalists" or as pre- or post-millennialists, but we simply use the expression Judeo-Christian, as we have throughout this series.

Sherry is an aggressive and committed Judeo-Christian layman, but she is unusual in that she is not afraid to enunciate her views and write them down. We appreciate her candidness. Sherry's amazing, but widely-believed, statements mean that she believes that without an active, demonstrated love for Israel, there can be no salvation for those who might otherwise be saved. At the very least, those who fail to do so will be cursed while on earth. Is this what Judeo-Christianity is all about? Let us find out.

Judeo-Christianity is characterized by a preoccupation with prophecies of "the end times" and "the rapture. "One new book with a great title, "The Last Days Are Here Again," by Richard Kyle, suggests a repetitious end times theme. Various shades and shapes of Judeo-Christianity combine repetitious litanies of Biblical prophesy about the Middle East and a fear of being "left behind," in the vernacular of the best-selling books, all containing the admonition to love the State of Israel or else! Adherents believe they might be excluded from "the rapture" if they fail to love the State of Israel as much as Jerry Falwell does.

Many Judeo-Christians are uncomfortable in the presence of people who do not demonstrate a love for Israel and Jews in general or even people who oppose America's disproportionately extravagant military aid to Israel. Most Judeo-Christians justify or excuse Israel's incredibly brutal, atheistic government and tend to vilify all Muslims, as does Sherry.

It is not coincidental that Judeo-Christian beliefs are also a root cause of the rise of anti-Christianity in our culture, since Talmudic Judaism is anti-Christian. Sherry is a disciple, not a Celebrity or Pharisee leader; she does not make her living at it. But she obediently absorbs and regurgitates what her Celebrity leaders tell her, and she wants to share her good fortune at being saved and safe from earthly curses.

Celebrity Icons and many local church leaders manipulate the words in the Bible to justify acts that they consider to have a positive world political impact. Most abhor killing and are sympathetic to innocent victims, but there is at least one exception to this rule: Every true Judeo-Christian must accept without question the daily murder, arrest and torture of the Palestinian Arabs by Israelis. They must look the other way while those who call themselves "the Chosen People" steal the homes of Christian Arabs like Selwa Doany, as we described in Chapter IV of Sherry's War.

Let us repeat Sherry's amazing statement: "Such love for Israel and Jews worldwide is taught not only in the Old Testament but in the New as well and characterizes all true Christians." How can anyone really believe this?

While Celebrity leaders usually stop short of stating that salvation itself depends upon the love of Israel, they imply otherwise. The words and actions of men like Falwell, Robertson, Graham and Hagee imply it so strongly; it is no wonder Sherry has come to believe it. And because she believes it so strongly, she says with total confidence that love for Israel and the Jews characterizes all true Christians.

In order to support her belief, Sherry must alter Scripture, and she does. Like many celebrity preachers, she denies the Pharisees and Chief Priests crucified Jesus, using the same argument the Pharisees used 1965 years go and Rabbis still use today. They claim, "the Romans, not the Jews, were in power and could have released Jesus instead of executing Him." This is like saying the husband who hired the hit man to kill his wife is not a murderer because he did not pull the trigger. While all civilized law holds to the contrary, Talmudic law seeks a way out. The Rabbinical Talmudists, including those who killed Jesus, believe they have absolution if a Gentile like Pilate does the dirty work. Sherry's position is Judeo, but not Christian.

Judeo-Christians repeat the scriptural arguments they learn from their leaders, not those found anywhere in the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible is there a single line that suggests the key to salvation lies in loving Israel or any other political state past or present, or in loving any race or ethnic group. The New Testament tells us only that accepting and loving Jesus counts. The snug cocoon of Judeo-Christianity is built of bits and pieces of scripture stuck together with a gooey "end times" scenario and kept alive by constant repetition.

Judeo-Christianity is a self-protective cult that guards its weaknesses from opposing views by shutting out dialog and rejecting anyone who does not accept its invalid theology. Opposition is either ridiculed or ignored, but never answered. While Judeo-Christians like Sherry will expect others to listen thoughtfully to their point of view, they reject any opportunity to hear an opposing view. They follow the rule "see no other, hear no other, speak no other," because while they can quote scripture, they cannot argue the scripture they quote.

Judeo Christians quote scripture, more scripture and more yet, but they rarely debate the true meaning of any individual passage. Scripture to the Judeo-Christian is a salad that gets its taste out of all the parts, to them; most individual component has any meaning of itself. Its adherents learn to blot out horrors with the belief that " it must be in God's will" or, "the end times must be very close." The former is usually spoken in judgment, as when something terrible happens to someone who is not among those in favor with the "Chosen People." The latter is more likely to be applied when the persons wronged are deserving of sympathy, but none is available.

For instance, if Sherry thought Selwa was a Muslim Arab, she would declare the theft of her property and the murder of her neighbors was "God's will," perhaps citing an Old Testament verse relating to the justified slaughter of some tribe. But if Sherry knew Selwa to be a Christian Arab suffering the same fate, she might sigh, how evil the world, "end times" must be near. In neither case would a Judeo-Christian lift finger or voice to help the victim, because to do so would be to oppose Israel.

Sherry's War I & II examined the most glaring weaknesses of the beliefs about "blessings and cursings" in the Bible. What does the ultimate authority, Jesus Christ, say that relates to the idea that earthly Jews must come first in the lives of Christians? Let us examine a few of Jesus' remarks and compare them with Sherry's statements.

"He (Jesus) came to his own, and his own did not receive him, but as many as receive him, He will give the right to become the children of God to those who believe in his name." (John 1:11,12) This passage in John is supported by hundreds of like passages throughout the New Testament. There is no requirement to love a particular political entity, or to love any one race of people over any other, in order to become a Child of God.

In contrast, let us see how Sherry distorts the context of Scripture to prop up her claims, noting that Sherry's views are typical of those of Celebrity Judeo-Christian leaders, only more innocent and outspoken, lacking the added flourish of professional pulpit rhetoric. Sherry quotes Luke 19:41-44, stating that Jesus loved "his people" (the Jews) so much he wept over the city before entering it. Like Judeo-Christian leaders, Sherry concludes, "If Jesus loved his people (Jews), should we not follow his example?"

The answer to this question is that Sherry has left something out, which is that Jesus denounced evil wherever he found it, especially in the Synagogues and Temple. She carefully neglected to quote the next two verses, which give a different view of "Jesus attitude toward the "Chosen people." Luke 19:45-47 states, "And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves. And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him."

Sherry goes on to say, "The Lord has a covenant with Israel that He will not break. Why He chose these people is a mystery, but it is a fact that He did. God is sovereign and His ways are not our ways and it is not our place to question." subject, but hopefully this will give an adequate overview."

To support this, Sherry quotes only verses 37-39 of Matthew 23, which she says show that, "Jesus loves his people, and should we not follow His example?" Sherry means we should love Jews preferentially. She ignores the context of the entire chapter whereby Jesus lets us know exactly how he feels about the Pharisees of his day, stating:

"And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Matthew 23:12-15

Jesus wept over the corruption of the people--"the lost sheep of the house of Israel"--who claimed to have been descended from the Patriarch Abraham. But did He weep over the Pharisees and Chief Priests of that day who sought to destroy God for their own aggrandizement and power? Did he lament over the impending destruction of the Rabbinic system of Judaism whose table he overturned in the great Temple, soon also to be destroyed? As Jewish scholar and lecturer Cesar Aharon sums it up, "Judeo-Christians are more Judeo that Christian."

If Sherry really believes the state of Israel is sacred under God's protection, why not let God have his way? Why not withhold the billions of dollars of aid that goes to pay for the killing, torturing and maiming of innocent people every day? Why not see if God wants to protect and preserve the present Israel in his own way? Why not trust God?

The answer is that Judeo-Christianity is politicized Judaism within the Christian church; it is not Christianity. It is, in fact, anti-Christian--which is why it distorts Christ's words. Its leaders deserve to be called the Pharisees of our day, and they have the blood of both Palestinians and Israelis on their hands. Please share Pharisee Watch with your church. Our Christian religion and culture *can* be regained.