Religion, Nationalism, and Terror

People For the American Way, The Good Book Taught Wrong: `Bible History’ Classes in Florida Public Schools, 2000

A number of school districts appear to assume that only Christian students would take the “Bible History” courses. A review of the instructional materials suggests an assumption by these school districts that the teachers and students are of the same (Christian) faith, with the Bible approached accordingly, rather than in an objective and secular manner.

One of the most striking examples is from the Columbia County school district, where students at Columbia High School are asked the following exam question:

“If you had a Jewish friend who wanted to know if Jesus might be the expectant [sic] Messiah, which book [of the Gospels] would you give him?”

Similar examples exist in other school districts:

“Compose an explanation of who Jesus is for someone who has never heard of Him.”
(Final exam question at Madison County High School, Madison County)

“Why is it hard for a non-Christian to understand things about God?”
(Exam question concerning I Corinthians used at both Vanguard High School in Marion County and Williston High School in Levy County)

“What is Jesus Christ’s relationship to God, to creation, and to you?”
(Question asked of students at Niceville High School in Okaloosa County; emphasis added.)

“Who, according to Jesus, is the father of the Jews? The devil.”
(Lesson used in Levy County on John 8)

Asner’s narrative in this 16-minute video–posted on July 18, 2008 by “JewsOnFirst.org, the Jewish Response to attacks on the First Amendment”–is not perfect. But the video does provide a revealing view of Hagee’s worldview. He declares, for example, that the Antichrist “will be partly Jewish, as was Adolf Hitler and as was Karl Marx.” Hagee also says that the Antichrist will be a homosexual. In a 1997 sermon, he declares that America is controlled by “an unseen hand.” He goes on to explain that the US is controlled by the Federal Reserve System, which is in turn controlled by “a group of class-A stockholders, among them mostly Europeans, the Rothschilds, and David Rockefeller.”

I received a message saying “This site has been temporarily disabled” when I tried to access http://www.jewsonfirst.org/ at 4:15 on Aug. 2, 2008. But the video is still accessible by clicking here.

Anyone wishing to understand Christian Zionism should see Max Blumenthal’s video of the 2007 Christians United for Israel conference entitled “Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour.” It is, as Nat and Natalie Cole might put it, unforgettable in every way. It is among the videos that Hagee’s lawyers have had removed from YouTube, although it is still accessible elsewhere. One can safely assume that Hagee’s security people will make sure that Blumenthal does not attend the 2008 conference.

Hagee’s Revenge? Videos Of Controversial Pastor Removed From YouTube, AlterNet, July 8, 2008

Late last week, with no prior notification, lawyers for the controversial evangelist John Hagee had a series of videos concerning the pastor removed from YouTube. The clips spanned from the contentious to the mundane; some included footage lifted from sermons Hagee had already made public, others involved documentaries made by filmmakers inside Hagee’s conventions. All told more than 120 videos were taken down in the abrupt sweep.

The timing was, perhaps, more peculiar than the move itself. Clips that had been online for well over a year were now being subjected to “third-party” copyright infringement claims. And while Hagee had not been in the mainstream press since he and Sen. John McCain ended their official relationship a month prior, Hagee’s Christians United for Israel annual summit is just days away, and at least one prominent McCain backer (Sen. Joseph Lieberman) is set to be in attendance.

Two individuals who have documented Hagee and posted clips on some of his more noteworthy sermons (including those interpreted as anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-gay — Hagee, Wilson noted, once claimed that the Anti-Christ will be German, gay, a “blasphemer” and “partly Jewish - as was Adolf Hitler, as was Karl Marx”) believe that nefarious motives were behind the YouTube shakedown.

“Obviously Hagee’s minions orchestrated this move to suppress bad publicity ahead of their July summit,” said Max Blumenthal, a freelance writer and videographer whose documentary on last year’s Christians United for Israel summit was viewed by hundreds of thousands. “This is a response to the McCain debacle and concern over bad publicity for Lieberman’s appearance,” he charged.

Barry Lynn, Americans United, Church & State, May 2000 Perspective

The previous Friday I attended Pat Robertson’s 70th birthday gala at the Hilton here in Washington. (Don’t worry; I didn’t use Americans United money for the $50 per plate dinner tickets. In fact, like most of the attendees, I got mine free.) This was an event filled with praise for Robertson from a raft of family members and colleagues, most of them fully engaged in all of his escapades to gain power and profit while preaching his version of the Gospel. (I noted that four of the eight United States senators who wrote special tribute letters for the fancy dinner brochure were the same people who asked the Justice Department to investigate Americans United last summer.)

Far from embracing differences, as the Feminist Expo crowd, some of these folks were as belligerent as you get outside of a prizefight. I took my new assistant Jennie Oberzan to the event because she had never heard Robertson speak. Prior to the dinner, she had a chance to meet some of my opponents in the “cultural war” including Col. Oliver North, Jay Sekulow and Jerry Falwell. They were predictably polite.

Our “dinner companions” were something else again. I neither hide nor brag about what I do at such events, and if people recognize me, we usually agree to disagree and talk about the weather, raising teenage children or baseball. The woman to our left was clearly suspicious of my presence and asked who I was. When I told her, she asked me how I could possibly support public schools since they now had “queers” in them.

I told her that I resented that language, which only encouraged her to repeat it. I told her that I wasn’t having any conversation if she was going to use such pejoratives. She persisted. I even told her that if my son used that word I would ground him for a month.

She then moved on to interrogating Jennie. When Jennie indicated that she was Jewish, the woman literally huffed: “Now I understand.” She later pursued Jennie into the hall and told her she was hell-bound, had a demonic presence in her and that only Christians were really Jewish. We left early.

Breaking News - JTA, Jewish & Israel News, June 19, 2008

A swastika and cross were drawn on the home of a leading Jewish critic of Christian activity in the U.S. military.

The vandalism was committed Sunday night on the Albuquerque home of Mikey Weinstein, the founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, according to news reports.

Weinstein, an alumnus of the U.S. Air Force Academy, has been a vocal critic of Christian proselytizing within the ranks of the military. He says he has been the target of regular harassment since filing a lawsuit charging that the military has violated the religious liberties of its members.

“This is the first time I think I’ve ever felt outrage, humiliation and embarrassment at the same time,” Weinstein told the Albuquerque television station KOAT.

Tim Rutten, Coulter’s anti-Semitic comment too dangerous to ignore, Los Angeles Times, October 13, 2007

Earlier this week, Coulter went on “The Big Idea,” a talk show aired on CNBC, the cable channel devoted to business news. Its host, Donny Deutsch, is a preternaturally affable businessman who invites successful people on to talk about how they turn their ideas into money. Coulter was there to describe how she had — in our vulgar commercial argot –”branded” herself. At one point, Deutsch asked her what an ideal country would be like, and she replied that it would be one in which everyone was “a Christian.” Deutsch, who happens to be Jewish, protested that Coulter was advocating his people’s elimination. She responded that she simply hoped to see Jews “perfected” through conversion to Christianity….

Meanwhile, Coulter was on the Kevin McCullough radio talk show, making the utterly absurd case that Deutsch somehow had ambushed her. On his blog later in the day, McCullough agreed. Deutsch, he said, “is an angry anti-Christian bigot, looking to make a name for himself by biting into Christian icons.”

Rosner, Is it okay for Ann Coulter to want all Jews to become Christian? - Haaretz, October 14, 2007

DEUTSCH: Christian - so we should be Christian? It would be better if we were all Christian?

COULTER: Yes.

DEUTSCH: We should all be Christian?

COULTER: Yes. Would you like to come to church with me, Donny?

Query for Rev. Coulter: Is the Pope Catholic?, Media Matters, June 7, 2006

In Ann Coulter’s world — as described in her new book Godless: The Church of Liberalism (Crown Forum) — Jews are Christians, but apparently Episcopalians are not.

A footnote on Page 3 of the book reads: “Throughout this book, I often refer to Christians and Christianity because I am a Christian and I have a fairly good idea of what they believe, but the term is intended to include anyone who subscribes to the Bible of the God of Abraham, including Jews and others.” [emphasis added]

Yes, you read that correctly. As far as Coulter is concerned, Jews are Christians. Mazel tov!

As for Episcopalians, they might be disheartened to learn that they will not be welcoming their newly Christian Jewish friends into the brotherhood of Christ, because they don’t quite measure up as a church. Coulter writes on Page 5, “Howard Dean left the Episcopal Church — which is barely even a church — because his church, in Montpelier, Vermont, would not cede land for a bike path.” [emphasis added]

On CNBC’s The Big Idea, Coulter said that “we” Christians “just want Jews to be perfected”, Media Matters, October 10, 2007

During the October 8 edition of CNBC’s The Big Idea, host Donny Deutsch asked right-wing pundit Ann Coulter: “If you had your way … and your dreams, which are genuine, came true … what would this country look like?” Coulter responded, “It would look like New York City during the [2004] Republican National Convention. In fact, that’s what I think heaven is going to look like.” She described the convention as follows: “People were happy. They’re Christian. They’re tolerant. They defend America.” Deutsch then asked, “It would be better if we were all Christian?” to which Coulter responded, “Yes.” Later in the discussion, Deutsch said to her: “[Y]ou said we should throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians,” and Coulter again replied, “Yes.” When pressed by Deutsch regarding whether she wanted to be like “the head of Iran” and “wipe Israel off the Earth,” Coulter stated: “No, we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say. … That’s what Christianity is.