When I hear Palestine, I think terrorists and terrorism. The picture above is linked to an article outlining Palestinians training children to be suicide bombers.
Yasser Arafat’s Message to Children
– “Be a Shahid”: Arafat explains that dead Palestinian children- Shahids – are “the greatest message to the world”
A Google search on Palestinian terrorist groups gives over 9 million links. The ten second video below shows what the Israeli people face every day:
On Saturday October 29, 2011, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization fired numerous rockets from Gaza into Israeli territory. This video shows what the P.I.J. claims is the first ever multi-barrel launch of rockets from Gaza. The method of fire – out of barrels situated atop a pickup truck – is reminiscent of the way Hezbollah regularly fires katyusha rockets at Israel from inside Lebanon and may signify a significant increase in the threat capacity that rocket attacks from Gaza now hold.
The Kairos Palestine Document gives a different view of the “Palestinian Suffering” which the Presbyterian Church in the United States has “embraced”. I would like to point out that not all individual Presbyterian churches may agree with this position.
I find it strange that the Presbyterian Church will not stand up for Israel, does stand up for Palestine and does not stand up in the United States to preach morality and virtue. The following two excerpts gives an overview of the Kairos Palestine Document and the views of Presbyterian Church supporting Palestine.
The people of the United States have focused their attention on the current administration’s lack of support with Israel. We know the consequences of government sponsored takeovers of religion in Nazi Germany. We now have to expand our efforts to include the churches which have decided to support evil instead of the Bible.
David DeGerolamo
A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering
Introduction
We, a group of Christian Palestinians, after prayer, reflection and an exchange of opinion, cry out from within the suffering in our country, under the Israeli occupation, with a cry of hope in the absence of all hope, a cry full of prayer and faith in a God ever vigilant, in God’s divine providence for all the inhabitants of this land. Inspired by the mystery of God’s love for all, the mystery of God’s divine presence in the history of all peoples and, in a particular way, in the history of our country, we proclaim our word based on our Christian faith and our sense of Palestinian belonging – a word of faith, hope and love.
Why now? Because today we have reached a dead end in the tragedy of the Palestinian people. The decision-makers content themselves with managing the crisis rather than committing themselves to the serious task of finding a way to resolve it. The hearts of the faithful are filled with pain and with questioning: What is the international community doing? What are the political leaders in Palestine, in Israel and in the Arab world doing? What is the Church doing? The problem is not just a political one. It is a policy in which human beings are destroyed, and this must be of concern to the Church.
We address ourselves to our brothers and sisters, members of our Churches in this land. We call out as Christians and as Palestinians to our religious and political leaders, to our Palestinian society and to the Israeli society, to the international community, and to our Christian brothers and sisters in the Churches around the world.
US church versus Israel
Ynetnews special: America’s Presbyterian Church increasingly anti-Israel, anti-Semitic
Most of America’s presidents since James Madison were members of the Presbyterian Church. It has the reputation of being the wealthiest and most mainstream among US churches. Presbyterians gave to the United States dozens of presidents, Supreme Court justices, secretaries of state (Condoleezza Rice is daughter of a Presbyterian priest,) cabinet officials and members of Congress. Even pastor Billy Graham, known as “the ear of US presidents,” has been a dedicated Presbyterian.
However, in recent years, the US church appeared in the headlines for a virulent anti-Israel campaign in which money, theology and politics are mixed together.
Pro-Palestinian activists, allied with anti-Jewish Protestant zealots, won a victory in 2004 when the church divested its $8 billion portfolio from companies doing business with Israel. A few days ago the Presbyterians and three other US Protestant denominations endorsed the Palestinian UN bid for statehood.
Meanwhile, the church just hold a conference in Louisville titled “Bible, Land and our Theological Challenge”. It embraced the “Kairos Document,” which says that Israeli security policies are “a sin against God”, likens the security fence to “apartheid”, rejects the Jewish State, supports terrorism when it talks about the “thousands of prisoners who languish in Israeli jails”, and proclaims that “resistance to the evil of occupation is a Christian’s right and duty.”
At the Louisville’s symposium, Rev. Eugene March, professor emeritus of Old Testament at Presbyterian Seminary, said the Jewish right to the holy land is “invalid,” while Rev. Gary Burge, professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, said that “Jesus subverted the land politics of Judaism” and criticized “the territorial worldview of Judaism.” It is hard to imagine uglier slander.
The Presbyterian Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment just urged the General Assembly to fully embrace the so-called BDS movement and to divest from Caterpillar, Inc., Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola (a decision is expected in few months.) The Presbyterians own hundreds of thousands of shares of stock in these companies through their pension fund for retired workers and through foundations. The church accused these companies of selling helicopters, cellphones, night vision equipment and other items Israel uses to enforce its “occupation.”
The Christian Palestinian speaks of “their country.” There is no Palestinian state. But for the goodness of the Jews, allowing them to occupy Gaza, they would have no place to even call home, as the other Arab nations are not offering land for them to call a state. How about the Saudis giving them some land to make into their very own state. Could it be they don’t want such a violent people either?
This movement by the Presbytery shows that churches aren’t afraid to stand up and speak politically, as so many individual churches have claimed, for fear of losing their IRS standing. So someone tell me, if an entire sect will become that political, why not individual churches?
In my opinion, the church has lost its moral compass in exchange for political expediency and their 501(c)(3) status.
When churches accepted their 501c3 tax exempt status starting some 50 years ago, in exchange they abdicated their prime purpose which was to preach the Word, Christ, and the Bible. Instead, they became government employees as such, and joining FEMA as per the KLOS reports. Also, they have warped Romans 13, claiming Christians must have allegiance to the government. This is a deliberate mis-translation just as Hitler used this against the churches in Nazi Germany. He actually hired “theologians” to rewrite the translation, and make him God. seriously.
The denominational 501c3 churches of today will betray the people both in spirit, soul, and even physically, enabling the government to murder Jews, Gentiles, Christians, whatever. We do not need to be concerned with a Muslim takeover, the apostate churches are already doing this. Beware of ANY church that is a 501c3.
Tyranny establishes itself by disarming the population and taking over/destroying the church. Bonhoeffer established the Confessing Church in German to counter Hitler’s takeover of the German State Lutheran Church. Our churches have failed the people, this nation and the Lord. We have to take back our churches, schools and government in order to regain our freedom and country.
in addition: there is a clause put in AFTER the 501c3 that churches cannot become political. The “powers that be” inserted a clause about that. Since Presbyterians essentially are a government church, well…go figure. The denomination is LOSING members every year.