Friday, July 01, 2005

Israel brings out the stupid in the ACC.

Nothing seems to bring out the evil and sheer stupidity of man like existence of God’s chosen people, Israel. And so there is no misunderstanding, I do mean that as a bad reflection on mankind, not on Israel.

History is full of hatred of Israel – and of the stupidity that produces. In the book of Esther, Haman has it made. He’s high up in government and is living the life. But his genocidal hatred of Jews proves his undoing. In modern times, the Arab nations’ slowness to accept the existence of the small nation of Israel resulted in their getting their butts kicked – four times.

Now the Anglican Consultative Council has made fools of themselves as well in their resolution concerning Israel.

I’ll be very charitable and not say anti-semitism was behind it, although I fully understand those who do. And ++Rowan Williams is wisely doing some damage control in saying it wasn’t a divestment resolution.

But what is very clear is how stupid this resolution is. For starters, where is the sense of proportion? So maybe Israel isn’t perfect in everything they do. They are a nation under prolonged terrorist attack. Yet they have gone beyond the call of duty to try to bring about peace, including giving back most of the land that they won fair and square in defensive wars. But this resolution says there are being too mean to the terrorists and their supporters. What rubbish! (I could use stronger words, but I’m Anglican now, you know.)

And isn’t there a multitude of governments in the world far more deserving of public rebuke than that of Israel? Heck, I have more problems with the shiny happy gulag of Canada than with Israel.

This resolution feeds Jewish perception of Christians as being anti-semitic. It’s a therefore a terrible negative witness. This resolution combined with those coming from the World Council of Churches, the Presbyterian Church USA, and their ilk has already undone many years of efforts to improve Jewish-Christian relations.

The fallout has been strong and swift as documented over at the Midwest Conservative Journal. There is widespread outrage. And, frankly, there should be.

If this resolution ever does any good, it won’t come close to outweighing the ill will it has created.

Maybe there wasn’t any anti-semitism behind it. But there sure was an abundance of stupidity.

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