Exercise in National Hypocrisy

Christians Laud Historic U.S. Bill Tackling India's Caste Problem

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a historic resolution that calls caste discrimination illegal and prohibited and that is likely to have an outcome on organizations in India that do business with or receive funding from the U.S. government.

Mon, Jul. 30, 2007 Posted: 19:46:18 PM EST

It is interesting how the Congress of the United States can pass these non-binding resolutions that either send messages to nations that have no political clout or reward those that do have political clout…

On June 23, 2004, the House of Representatives passed by a vote of 407 x 9, HCR 460, a ratification of the Israeli wall through the West Bank and East Jerusalem…Thus, the Congress of the United States put its imprimatur on apartheid in the Middle East…This is a caste system that has rendered the original inhabitants of the Holy Land virtually homeless…This was done with under pressure from the Jewish lobby (AIPAC) and the Christian Right (McChurch)…

It depends, I would guess, on whose camel is being gored!

Stan Moody is the author of "Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship" and "McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry

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The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a historic resolution that calls caste discrimination illegal and prohibited and that is likely to have an outcome on organizations in India that do business with or receive funding from the U.S. government.

The House Concurrent Resolution 139 (HCR 139), which passed last week, highlights the fact that caste discrimination affects over 200 million people categorized as Dalits (untouchables) and Tribals (indigenous peoples) and that although Article 17 of the Indian Constitution outlaws untouchability, in reality the practice still exists and is widespread.

The resolution further states that organizations receiving U.S. funding through the Indian government must not engage in caste discrimination or discourage Dalits from working in their organizations.

“It is in the interests of the United States to address the problem of the treatment of the Dalits and Tribals in India in order to better meet mutual social development and human rights goals…,” stated the resolution.

Congressman Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), who introduced the bill, said that "untouchability is an unacceptable practice in America’s largest trading partner and close ally. This resolution will ensure that we as a government and as a people in no way encourage or enforce untouchability through our policies with India or through our foreign direct aid."

Franks declared that the adoption of the resolution "marks a victory for the cause of human freedom, and sheds a new light of hope on the 250 million souls who continue to suffer the abuses of caste discrimination in India."

Nanci Ricks, executive director of the Dalit Freedom Network, an evangelical Christian missionary organization, said, “We have seen history made in this resolution. This resolution should encourage all Dalits suffering under caste discrimination in India.”

“The United State Congress has heard of the atrocities of caste and has responded. We hope that the United States Government and U.S. businesses working in India will heed this statement by the House and will join with the Dalit Freedom Network in fighting the effects of caste across India.”

Dr. Joseph D’souza, president of the Dalit Freedom Network, praised the leadership of Congressman Franks and the many others whose active support of the Dalit cause made HCR 139 possible.

“[W]ithout the leadership of Members of Congress like Congressmen Franks, Wolf, Smith, Sali, Tancredo, Pitts, and Congresswoman Kilpatrick in sponsoring Dalit events, film screenings, and hearings and directing their staff to advocate on this issue with vigilance, this historic moment would have never happened,” D’souza stated. “They and the many others who have worked to make this resolution a reality have earned the gratitude of millions of Dalits across India.”

Christians in India too have welcomed the resolution. Fr. Cosmon Arokiaraj, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in India (CBCI) said "the Indian Church whole heartedly welcomes this resolution and the church is pleased that the resolution has been passed.”

The resolution now goes to the U.S. Senate for a concurring vote.

Bei Chatlai Beita
Christian Post Correspondent

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Copyright 2006 Christianpost.com. All rights reserved.

McChurch - Spinning Out of Control in Zion

MESSAGE FROM DAVID BROG, CUFI'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

I have noticed that a very common defense mechanism with the Christian Right is, “They will not succeed.” I suppose that is what was said about Gideon – “He will not succeed.” Joshua fell under the same verdict…Jesus, with only a handful of disciples scattered to the four winds, was finished with the crucifixion, so thought the religious right of His day…

I scoured this letter from David Brog for any mention of Christ…Apparently, those with the loudest voices win, thirty evangelical (leaders, by the way) not being sufficient to overcome the “sound” of 4,500 wing nuts on parade in Washington…

Brog asks a relevant question: “Where have they been for the last decade?” My guess is that they, meaning “we,” have been campaigning for George W. Bush instead of campaigning for Jesus…Now we have to watch that we are not caught up in campaigning against John Hagee, who, in the final analysis, is a flea on the hind end of divine progress…

Brog leaves us puzzled…The first Camp David Accords, 1978, achieved Israel’s compliance with UN Resolution 242, calling for withdrawal of forces from the West Bank and Gaza…The Accords were rejected by the Arab community…Israel turned over the Sinai to Egypt and accelerated settlements on the West Bank and Gaza…

The second Camp David Peace Negotiations broke down…Whatever Prime Minister Ehud Barak may have offered, it was made moot in September 2000 with his reluctant permission for Ariel Sharon, in an act of political grandstanding, to take several hundred Israeli soldiers onto the Temple Mount as a symbolic occupation…Sharon did this as an objection to the Oslo peace process…This kicked off the Second Intifada…

Four years into the Second Intifada, Israel had lost around 1,000; Palestinians had lost some 4,500…This was justification for building the Concrete Curtain, confiscating large portions of the West Bank and East Jerusalem…Brog is guilty of misfeasance in leaving out the event that kicked off the Second Intifada…

Hamas was the legitimately-elected government of Palestine but not to the satisfaction of Tel Aviv and Washington…The Gaza rebellion was prompted by the squalor and congestion in Gaza, one of the most populated cities in the world and totally isolated…Gaza is, in fact, a prison of 1.4M people in an area slightly larger than Washington, DC…By comparison, the population of Washington, DC is less than 600,000…

It is suggested that the Hamas uprising in 2007 was orchestrated by DC and Tel Aviv, with Eliot Abrams playing a key role…The purpose was to dissolve the Palestinian National Government and put it in the hands of the more moderate Abbas, more or less confirmed by the immediate release of $190M in US aid…

Brog states, “We all want peace.” In fact, CUFI has made it very clear that peace negotiators are tools of the Anti-Christ, pointing to the hated one-world order which, ironically, would seem to hasten the very chaos longed for by Christian Zionism…

In short, I would suggest that David Brog, in light of his obvious withholding of critical information in his letter, is a liar…Since biblically, however, “All men are liars,” David Brog may well be like all men, God forbid…I think 30 Evangelicals may be enough to get the job done…

Stan Moody is the author of "Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship" and "McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry

Last Friday, a group of over 30 evangelical Christians wrote a letter to President Bush to "correct a serious misperception among some people ... that all American evangelicals are opposed to a two-state solution and the creation of a new Palestinian state." They made reference to the "cycle of violence" in the region and the fact that "Israelis and Palestinians must both accept each other's right to exist."

It's no coincidence that this letter was sent barely a week after our second annual Washington, DC summit. As we grow, those who disagree with us, however few they may be, will be shouting at the top of their lungs in an effort to equal the sound of 4,500 Christians gathered in the DC Convention Center cheering our cause. They will not succeed.

This letter raises many questions. But the biggest question is this -- where have these people been for the past decade? Don't they realize that Israel not only accepted the Palestinian right to exist, but repeatedly sought to give the Palestinians land on which to build their state? At meetings in Camp David in 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians 100% of Gaza, over 90% of the West Bank, and sufficient land from Israel's Negev Desert to compensate for every inch of the West Bank that would not be returned. He also offered them control of the Muslim areas of Jerusalem. What was the Palestinian response to this unprecedented offer? Celebration? A counter offer? No -- sadly, the Palestinians chose this juncture to start the second intifada with a spree of bus bombings and killings.

In 2005, Israel actually did pull out of the Gaza Strip and left it to Palestinian rule. What did the Palestinians do? Did they take over the Israeli greenhouses left behind and begin to build their economy? Did they take this opportunity to demonstrate that they wanted to live side-by-side with Israel? No -- sadly, Hamas terrorists took over the Gaza Strip and now use it as a base from which to launch rocket attacks against Israel.

The letter's use of the term "cycle of violence" is particularly troubling. There is a fundamental difference between terrorists on the one hand and Israeli and American soldiers on the other. The goal of terrorists is to kill as many civilians as possible, and when they succeed in doing so they celebrate. Israeli and American soldiers seek to stop the terrorists from killing innocent civilians. When our soldiers kill civilians, however few, it is a tragic error. As both of our nations continue to fight terrorists around the world, we must never permit the morally callous equation of these opposite roles.

We all want peace. No one wants peace more than the Israelis who live on the front lines. But wishes don't always come true. To survive in this world, love is important. So is understanding. And so is realism. Sadly, given this track record, only a dreamer or a foe would press Israel for further concession at this juncture. I pray that those who signed this letter are the former.

Pastor Hagee immediately drafted and is circulating a letter to President Bush which will demonstrate the widespread support for CUFI's position that America not pressure Israel for further concessions at this time.

Beyond this, our best response is to continue our work. Let us continue to build and to grow. Let us demonstrate with results that we have the momentum and that we represent the future

Evangelical Leaders Wake Up Too Late

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July 29, 2007

Coalition of Evangelicals Voices Support for Palestinian State

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Unfortunately, the two-state solution requires that Israel give up its claim to much of the land that it has confiscated over the past decade…While we Evangelicals should have been focusing on the Occupation of Palestine by Israel, we were too busy looking to the Republican Party for our hope…It may now be too little too late…

The Concrete Curtain will stand as a boundary…The best that we can hope for is that Israel will give up its claim to the rest of the West Bank, a patchwork of checkpoints that has been carefully programmed to block egress to Jordan and travel within Palestine…The issue of Gaza and East Jerusalem will take a lot longer to resolve…

These leaders are, I believe, missing the point by attempting to influence the outcome through political pressure…They have no clout…John Hagee, Elmer Gantry with a foreign policy, is laughing up his sleeve...McChurch is following him down the path to Armageddon...

The mission for Christians is peace and justice among the oppressed…

Stan Moody is the author of "Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship" and "McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry

In recent years, conservative evangelicals who claim a Biblical mandate to protect Israel have built a bulwark of support for the Jewish nation — sending donations, denouncing its critics and urging it not to evacuate settlements or forfeit territory.

Now more than 30 evangelical leaders are stepping forward to say these efforts have given the wrong impression about the stance of many, if not most, American evangelicals.

On Friday, these leaders sent a letter to President Bush saying that both Israelis and Palestinians have “legitimate rights stretching back for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine,” and that they support the creation of a Palestinian state “that includes the vast majority of the West Bank.”

They say that being a friend to Jews and to Israel “does not mean withholding criticism when it is warranted.” The letter adds, “Both Israelis and Palestinians have committed violence and injustice against each other.”

The letter is signed by 34 evangelical leaders, many of whom lead denominations, Christian charities, ministry organizations, seminaries and universities.

They include Gary M. Benedict, president of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, a denomination of 2,000 churches; Richard J. Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary; Gordon MacDonald, chairman of World Relief; Richard E. Stearns, president of World Vision; David Neff, editor of Christianity Today; and Berten A. Waggoner, national director and president of The Vineyard USA, an association of 630 churches in the United States.

“This group is in no way anti-Israel, and we make it very clear we’re committed to the security of Israel,” said Ronald J. Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, which often takes liberal positions on issues. “But we want a solution that is viable. Obviously there would have to be compromises.”

They are clearly aiming their message not just at President Bush, but at the Muslim world and policy makers in the State Department.

Mr. Sider said he and three other evangelical leaders got the idea for the letter in February at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, where they met Muslim and American diplomats who were shocked to discover the existence of American evangelicals who favored a Palestinian state. Mr. Sider says they will translate the letter into Arabic and distribute it in the Middle East and Europe.

“We think it’s crucial that the Muslim world realize that there are evangelical Christians in the U.S. in large numbers that want a fair solution,” Mr. Sider said.

In the last year and half, liberal and moderate evangelicals have initiated two other efforts that demonstrated fissures in the evangelical movement. Last year, they parted with the conservative flank by campaigning against climate change and global warming. This year, they denounced the use of torture in the fight against terrorism. Some of the participants in those campaigns also signed this letter.

The Rev. Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of Northland Church in Longwood, Fla., said, “There is a part of the evangelical family which is what I call Christian Zionists, who are just so staunchly pro-Israel that Israel and their side can do no wrong, and it’s almost anti-Biblical to criticize Israel for anything. But there are many more evangelicals who are really open and seek justice for both parties.”

The loudest and best-organized voices in the evangelical movement have been sending a very different message: that the Palestinians have no legitimate claim to the land.

The Rev. John Hagee, who founded Christians United for Israel, was informed of the letter and read most of it. He responded: “Bible-believing evangelicals will scoff at that message.

“Christians United for Israel is opposed to America pressuring Israel to give up more land to anyone for any reason. What has the policy of appeasement ever produced for Israel that was beneficial?” Mr. Hagee said.

“God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a covenant in the Book of Genesis for the land of Israel that is eternal and unbreakable, and that covenant is still intact,” he said. “The Palestinian people have never owned the land of Israel, never existed as an autonomous society. There is no Palestinian language. There is no Palestinian currency. And to say that Palestinians have a right to that land historically is an historical fraud.”

Christians United for Israel held a conference with 4,500 attendees in Washington this month, and Mr. Hagee sends e-mail action alerts on Israel every Monday to 55,000 pastors and leaders.

There is a crucial theological difference between Mr. Hagee’s views on Israel and those expressed by the letter writers, said Timothy P. Weber, a church historian, former seminary president and the author of “On the Road to Armageddon: How Evangelicals Became Israel’s Best Friend.”

Mr. Hagee and others are dispensationalists, Mr. Weber said, who interpret the Bible as predicting that in order for Christ to return, the Jews must gather in Israel, the third temple must be built in Jerusalem and the Battle of Armageddon must be fought.

Mr. Weber said, “The dispensationalists have parlayed what is a distinctly minority position theologically within evangelicalism into a major political voice.”

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