Reformation
Why U. S. and Israel are the Great and Little Satans in Today’s World?
Two weeks ago I took an associate through the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. For those who haven’t been there, it’s an amazing four-story multi-media display of how Nazi Germany managed to murder six million Jews during World War II.
The tour begins on the top floor where you watch films and see memorabilia related to the rise of Nazism. By the time you’ve worked your way down the four flights, you’ve walked through replicas of the gas chambers where millions were exterminated.
Most people are silent during the tour. It’s eerie and very thought-provoking. Why were the Jews the object of this type of hatred–not just during World War II, but at other times in history?
Good question.
Then last week I listened to the president of the United States give his “Arab Spring” speech in which he stunned many observers by stating that Israel needed to return to its 1967 borders.
Why did he do that?
Let’s look at the speech, but especially look behind the curtain. There’s another being standing there.
President Obama’s new policy was a stunning change of US position because for decades, the United States has been Israel’s greatest friend in an extremely hostile world. Since the creation of Israel in 1948, the United States of America has stood by Israel as the only real democracy in the Middle East.
But that is changing with this Administration–and the consequences are sobering. No wonder the denunciation of his words were swift and powerful.
Senator Orin Hatch, R-Utah, said of the President’s position, “This is not only ridiculous but dangerous” and promised to sponsor a resolution this week disapproving of the President’s position.
Senator James Imhofe, R- Okla., said, “The President’s position was a slap in the face of our friend and democracy’s only ally in the Middle East: Israel.” He said, “The land belongs to Israel. Period.”
Rabbi Aryeh Sero said, “It’s ironic that the President of the United States, who speaks in humanitarian tones regarding the Palestinians, doesn’t have any humanitarian concerns toward 500,000 Jewish people and families that will be uprooted and deported from their homes…The President of the United States is asking for ethnic cleansing.”
The next day, Israel’s president Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House and rebuffed our American president with these words: “Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians, the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state… the 1967 lines are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines.”
Exactly true.
It would be suicidal in 2011 for Israel’s borders to be changed to only nine miles in width. It would probably lead to another type of holocaust.
In “The Perils of the Pre-1967 Proposal” a Redstate.com gives an important perspective on why Israel’s borders shouldn’t be changed.
“There seems to be some confusion over why the Israelis should be so hostile to President Obama’s suggestion that the two-state solution be achieved by returning the Jewish state to its 1967 borders. The President’s supporters argue that since these borders were previously acceptable to Israel, they should be acceptable now. After all, pre-1967 Israel fought to defend those borders and they were on the table in the 2000 peace talks. Can 45 years make that much of a difference?”
“It is true that 45 years is not so very long in terms of the territorial integrity of the United States. We might even prefer to return to the 1967 context in which our borders were much less challenging than they are today. But what Mr. Obama seems to fail to understand is that 45 years is a very long time for Israel. While the history of the Israeli people stretches back millennia, lsrael itself has only existed for 63 years. What the President is asking is that more than 70% of that history be erased, beginning with the reasons it was deemed necessary to annex the territories in 1967, and continuing on through the failed diplomatic initiatives, UN humiliations and relentless, deadly terrorist attacks of the past decades.”
“While some have considered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s terse response to this proposal disrespectful of the President, Mr. Netanyahu might have some very real concerns that once three-quarters of Israel’s past has been eradicated, would it be all that outlandish to go all the way to pre-1948? Especially under the leadership of an American president who is asking the Israelis to make this concession on the dubious grounds that hope will overcome hate?”
President Obama’s proposal stands in direct opposition to the positive and protective role that the United States of America has maintained with the nation of Israel for six decades.
It should be rejected as folly.
At the least, it’s incredibly naive.
Previous to the Obama announcement, the United States and Israel shared a close friendship and a unique role in history that the media tries to downplay or overlook. And by diminishing those truths, they also reject the main reason the US and Israel have been labeled the “satans” of this world.
So what is unique both about Israel and the United States? And why are they called by many the “Great and Little Satans?”
Let’s talk about Israel first. Three things are completely unique to the nation we call “Israel.”
First, they are a nation whose existence and identity are nothing less than a miracle from God. Israel came into being thousands of years ago when God spoke to an Aramean named Abraham and gave him possession of the land they now inhabit–two millennia later. This happened to no other nation in history. Hundreds of large and small nations have joined the dustbin of history during that same period of time.
But Israel remains at the center of world attention. It’s a tiny piece of real estate with a small population. Most of the that population has forgotten about God, but he has not forgotten them.
Today’s world hates Israel because it is exhibit number one that God exists.
If there wasn’t a God, there would be no Israel.
Secondly, Israel was specially given the commands of God and built their culture upon the principles of His direct revelation (Romans 3:2). They established the world’s first human society on wise, God-given principles. Because of this, they were blessed as a nation for centuries–until they turned away from those principles and lost their nation and sovereignty for a period of time.
But God’s general blessing on the Jews still remains. They are leaders in commerce and business in many nations of the world. Let’s call it an “afterglow” of the presence and principles of God.
A third unique aspect about Israel is that God has great plans for them at the end of the age. One of the final demonstrations of God’s reality and power will be a massive turning of the Jewish people back to God and faith in Jesus the Messiah.
The Apostle Paul explains it this way: “Some of the Jews have hard hearts, but this will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to Christ. And so all Israel will be saved.Do you remember what the prophets said about this? ‘A Deliverer wil come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel from all ungodliness. And then I will keep my covenant with them and take away their sins” (Romans 11:25-27).
We don’t how God will use to accomplish this, but we know that one day, near the close of history (which didn’t happen on May 21), millions of Jews will trust their Messiah Jesus.
So Israel has a unique birth, foundation in law, and will experience a future revival.
Now let’s look at the United States. There are some similarities.
First of all, the U.S. was founded by God-fearing people and through spiritual revivals that brought great freedom and blessing to this nation. Our birth was also unique–a revolution in Christian thinking that launched a patch-work society into greatness and became the envy of the world.
We also built our nation on the principles of God’s Word–just like the nation of Israel. Our pioneers knew that “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12). Their adherence to biblical principles in family life, business, and human governments made us an “exceptional” nation. Throughout the 20th century and to this day, American is the leading nation in world evangelization.
America also had a unique beginning, biblical foundations, and important role in Christians missions.
So why are the United States and Israel at the center of world attention–and hated by other nations?
Here’s the truth that needs to be heard on network news every night: There is a real Satan who hates God, his special nation Israel, and God’s missionary nation America. Because he hates the image of God in both countries, he is trying to destroy America from within and Israel from without.
Because of this hatred, and his influence in other nations of the world, he has successfully promulgated the lie that America is the Great Satan and Israel the little one. He’s convinced other nations that white is black and black is white.
He’s even given away his own name! That’s quite a powerful deception.
So now you know why America and Israel are blamed for all the bad things in the world. They are strategic targets of the Evil One who wants to destroy millions or billions of people before God wraps up history with a Great End-time Revival.
Pray that President Obama will not be a pawn in his hand.
Pray that the media will tell the real truth: There is a Satan.
But he is not America or the nation of Israel. They are simply unique focal points of his rage against God.
Finally–A Serious Plan to Save the American Dream
Today, the accumulated debt of of 235 years of American civilization reached 14.3 trillion dollars–over $46,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States.
For the next few weeks or months, Congress will fiercely debate whether to keep adding to that debt, or make some radical choices to control spending which could save the American Dream.
That Dream is not personal peace and affluence. It’s a commitment to human liberty, centering on freedom to worship God, that made the United States a very special nation for centuries–and produced an amazing degree of blessing and prosperity.
Exceptional application of biblical principles built an exceptional nation.
Can that nation and its economy be saved?
I believe the answer is yes if we believe and act wisely.
The Heritage Foundation has produced a serious economic plan to save the American Dream. It will require much prayer,, corporate repentance, courageous senators and congressmen, and a new American president to implement it.
But it is totally necessary. As Heritage points out, our national economy is in decline and could actually collapse unless we deal ruthlessly with our careless addiction to government largesse and indebtedness.
Representative Paul Ryan has also produced a Congressional road map to economic solvency. But the Heritage plan is more realistic, detailed, and politically possible if we vote in a good slate of leaders in the 2012 elections.
But we also need to understand that election results and the economies and laws they produce are a reflection of the hearts of a people. In the coming months, millions of American hearts need to:
- Seek the face of God for forgiveness for our personal and national sins. We need a renewal of the American spirit that will be the wind behind societal change.
- Become again a people of faith. Faith in God, faith in his principles, and faith in economic freedom that is not based on government dependency, regulation and bail outs.
- Restore a sense of morality and self-control to their personal and public lives. Our runaway spending and deficits are a reflection of personal bad habits and uncontrolled desires. There will be little change at the “top” if there is not fundamental realignment at the “bottom.”
- Accept some suffering and sacrifice to clean up our national economic mess. Just as individuals and families must cut back, work hard, and persevere over time to overcome their poor business decisions, so we as a nation must do the same. No pain, no gain.
But there’s hope on the horizon. Please read Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner’s announcement below and click on the link to gain a perspective on Saving the American Dream.
Then pray and do your part to make it a reality. RB
Saving the American Dream – May 10, 2011
By Ed Feulner
Fellow Americans:
Today, I am excited to announce the release of The Heritage Foundation’s comprehensive agenda that sets a new course for the size and scope of the federal government. The new report, “Saving the American Dream: Heritage’s Plan to Fix the Debt, Cut Spending, and Restore Prosperity,” lays out specific policy recommendations in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance, the tax code and federal spending. Saving the American Dream envisions real solutions for staving off America’s potential decline while strengthening the economy for current and future generations.
We are doing this because we have come to a time of decision in America. For far too long, Congress has been on an unsustainable binge of spending, taxing, and borrowing. Our nation is going broke, and we are passing the costs of these misguided policies to our children and their children.
Over time, our national government has become bloated, overextended and unrestrained, oblivious of its core functions, operating far beyond its means and vastly outside of its proper constitutional bounds. Unchecked, the course we are on now will cripple our economy, undermine our prosperity, and lead to fiscal insolvency. By robbing the future of opportunity and freedom, it will destroy the American Dream for future generations.
Already, we are living through the shame of being publicly lectured by our Communist Chinese creditors, who have contempt for our profligacy. The day it was announced that Standard and Poor’s had lowered the outlook on our economy, a collective gasp went through the international community. If our elected leaders keep it up, we are certain to face financial crises like Greece or Portugal.
America is on the verge of becoming a country in decline—economically stagnant and permanently debtbound, heavily regulated and bureaucratic, less self-governing and less free.
But this fate does not have to be our future. We can get spending under control, balance the budget, and shrink our debt. We can limit the size of government and set free once again the unlimited genius of Americans to create wealth and jobs. We can turn the tide and change our nation’s course.
Saving the American Dream is our plan to fix the debt, cut spending and, above all, restore prosperity. It balances the nation’s budget within a decade—and keeps it balanced. It reduces the debt and cuts government in half. It eliminates government-mandated health care and fully funds our national defense. In order to get our fiscal house in order, we must address Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, the three so-called entitlement programs which together account for 43 percent of federal spending today. Far too many seniors still lack enough help to avoid poverty. Saving the American Dream therefore does not end these programs; instead it focuses them on those who need them.
Our plan also encourages Americans to become more fiscally responsible themselves. It redesigns our entire tax system into an expenditure tax that will have a single flat rate. This is a structure that will promote savings, therefore benefiting individual Americans, our body politic, and the economy. Greater savings mean stronger capital formation and thus a more robust economy, which means real jobs for Americans.
This plan substantially reduces the size and scope of the federal government, fundamentally increases the role of the states in choosing their own practices, and brings decision-making closer to the people rather than unelected administrators. These are crucial steps that will get our nation on a path of fiscal, political, and constitutional responsibility. It is part of our larger effort to get our country back on track, reclaim its truths, conserve its liberating principles, and build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.
At the end of the day our plan, while economic in nature, has a higher moral purpose. If entitlements are not reformed, the next generation and future ones will have to pay punitive tax rates that will end liberty as we have known it. Our proposal aims to preserve America’s promise bequeathed to us by past generations.
Edmund Burke reminds us to think of our time on this earth not as an individual and temporary event, but rather as a partnership “between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are yet to be born.” Keeping faith with this partnership is what we aim to do with Saving the American Dream.
We have been here before, and every time the American people have always risen to the occasion and seized the moment. In 1776 we were told that no upstart colonists could defeat the strongest nation in the world, and we decided to change the course of history. In 1860 we were told the Union could not hold and that America was over, and we brought forth a new birth of freedom. In 1980 we were told that the American century was at an end, and we launched a great economic expansion, rebuilt our military, and revived our national spirit.
Hard times demand tough choices. The future of our nation is at stake.
All that is required, as my hero Ronald Reagan once said, is “our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together, with God’s help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.”
Together, let us seize the moment, change our country’s course, and save the American Dream.
Edwin J. Feulner
President, The Heritage Foundation
When Water Reaches the Ceiling, Don’t Raise It–Start Pumping!
I believe we need to bring back an important word that people hesitate to use in politics:
Lie.
Have you noticed that politicians usually skirt that little word? The news anchor says, “Do you think you lied about this or that?” The answer usually comes back, “Well, it might be an untruth , but”….or “I wouldn’t call it a lie, but…”
That’s not good enough anymore. We are being told a number of lies by our government because we are in grave trouble and there is much to cover up. We don’t tolerate lies in our personal lives and dealings, and we shouldn’t in the civil sphere either.
The current lie being told is that we need to raise the United States debt limit or go into default. They’re lying to us because because they need to scare us into getting their way–to keep on spending recklessly.
But it’s a lie–and it’s time we called their bluff.
Yes, we can with integrity oppose the raising of the US debt ceiling; No it will not cause a default or put in jeopardy “the full faith and credit of the United States;” And we must oppose it at this hour because our burgeoning debt is grossly immoral and could cause a collapse of the entire world economy.
Now is the time to say NO.
I cannot un-wrap this subject better than Redstate.com and the Heritage Foundation have done in the following articles. Please read them carefully and do everything in your power to oppose the raising of the US debt ceiling.
It’s not time to raise the ceiling. It’s already far too high. We need to start pumping the flood of government debt out of the precious dwelling we call the United States of America.
On April 25, Redstate exposed the debt ceiling lie quite clearly. Here is their take:
“Reporters, Democrats, and even some Republicans have begun repeating an infectious lie in the prelude to the debt ceiling debate. Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner started it off and it has been repeated by reporters in print, on radio, and on television, including Fox News.”
“The lie is very simple: a failure to raise the debt ceiling will cause a default on American debt. This is utterly and categorically a lie. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.”
“As Senator Pat Toomey noted the other day,
“Next year, about 7 percent of all projected federal government expenditures will go to interest on our debt. Tax revenue is projected to cover at least 70 percent of all government expenditures. So, under any circumstances, there will be plenty of money to pay our creditors.”
‘Moreover, as the Congressional Research Service has noted, the Treasury secretary himself has the discretion to decide which bills to pay first in the event that a cash flow shortage occurs.’
“Nonetheless, the media and Democrats keep repeating the lie. And it is a lie.”
“Veronique de Rugy and Jason Fichtner chronicled debt ceiling fights in the Washington Times and, from their writing, we can categorically show it to be a lie to claim a failure to raise the debt ceiling will cause a default on American debt obligations.”
‘In 1985, Congress waited nearly three months after the debt limit was reached before authorizing a permanent increase. In 1995, 4 1/2 months passed between hitting the ceiling and congressional action. And in 2002, Congress delayed raising the debt ceiling for three months. In each case, the U.S. and the economy survived.’
“Not only did the economy survive, but the United States did not default on its debt obligations, the United States did not lose its credit rating, and interest rates did not go up as a result of the default.”
“To say that failing to raise the debt ceiling will cause a default is a lie and anyone who says it is a liar.”
“If we fail to raise the debt ceiling and do default, it will not because because of a failure to raise the debt ceiling. It will be because Barack Obama and Tim Geithner chose to default for political gain.”
“Again, as Senator Toomey points out:
‘As the Congressional Research Service has noted, the Treasury secretary himself has the discretion to decide which bills to pay first in the event that a cash flow shortage occurs. Thus, it is he who would have to consciously, and needlessly, choose to default on our debt if the debt ceiling is not promptly raised upon reaching it. It takes a lot of chutzpah to preemptively blame congressional Republicans for a default only he could cause.'”
The Heritage Foundation gives this wise explanation to the debt ceiling debate:
“All across Western Europe—the land of platinum-plated social benefits, the 35-hour work week, tony retirement plans and government-funded health care—countries are coming to the realization that they can no longer afford these luxuries amid skyrocketing deficits. Yet here in the United States, as we face a $14.3 trillion deficit, some are calling for increasing our government’s ability to borrow even more money without any concern for spending reform. Congress can’t allow that to happen, lest we become the Europe of the West.”
“The U.S. government is fast approaching its $14.294 trillion debt ceiling — the statutory limit on how much money it can borrow to finance spending. Just how big is that? To put it in perspective, it would take essentially everything that Americans produced in all of last year to pay off the existing national debt. That comes out to $45,000 of debt for each American.”
“Unfortunately, it’s all too common for Congress to reach that ceiling and keep raising its own credit limit, letting itself borrow and spend even more. In fact, Congress raised the debt ceiling from $6.4 trillion in 2002 and nine times thereafter to its present levels. Hopefully, though, this time will be different.”
“Yesterday on “Face the Nation,” Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) said, “I will vote ‘no’ on raising the debt ceiling unless we have comprehensive, dramatic, effective, and broad-based cuts to federal spending including the reform of entitlement spending.” Sen. Kirk’s instincts are right. The solution starts with Congress. David Addington, Vice President for Domestic and Economic Policy at The Heritage Foundation, writes:
‘Federal spending has been out of control for decades, and federal borrowing has therefore also been out of control for decades. America has amassed a giant, unaffordable debt and a giant, intrusive government. This did not happen by accident. Congress passed all the laws that made it happen. Fortunately, Congress has under the Constitution all the power it needs to solve the problem it created. It needs only the will to do so and the support of the American people.'”
“Here’s how Congress should use that power. As Addington writes, Congress should not increase the debt limit until it puts the government firmly on the path to financial responsibility. And it can get there by cutting current spending, restricting future spending, and putting a more effective federal budgeting process in place.”
“The Heritage Foundation identified $343 billion of potential spending cutsthat could be made on top of the cuts passed by the House in February and the repeal of Obamacare appropriations, which the House approved in January. When it comes to future limits on spending, Congress can impose enforceable caps on out-of-control entitlement programs and pass a balanced budget amendment. The budgeting process should be reformed, too, by making it more transparent and imposing new limits on federal agencies. Merely raising the limit without reforms is the worst option, Addington says:
‘The least acceptable outcome is for Congress to continue to raise the debt ceiling over and over, doing nothing to drive down federal spending and borrowing, and to pile trillions of dollars in debt upon the shoulders of America’s children and the generations to follow.'”
“President Barack Obama and White House officials have warned of global economic Armageddonif Congress does not act now to raise the debt limit. Their warnings, though, are reckless hyperbole. A greater threat is the U.S. government’s unchecked expansion of unsustainable deficit spending. Congress must break its pattern of borrowing more and spending more by acting now to cut spending and get the government’s fiscal house in order. Only then can it avert a real crisis.”
Now that’s the TRUTH about the grossly immoral US debt and debt ceiling.
No more raising the lid. It’s time to drain the swamp to salvage the nation we call “home.”
Congressional leaders: Just say NO.
President Obama and Administration: Don’t tell us a lie.
Forget the debt ceiling and start pumping! We’re ready to help you with the clean-up and re-building of our once financially prudent nation.
But the buck stops (being borrowed and cheapened) with you.