VARIOUS PRESIDENTS BELIEVED ‘MANIFEST DESTINY’ REQUIRED SUPPORT OF ISRAEL

    The glue that binds American Christian Zionists with (and their support for) the state of Israel is their belief that they both are the chosen people of God. This belief system has been adopted by the erroneous notion deciphered from the Bible that gave birth to Manifest Destiny and American Exceptionalism, the two ideological mule teams that have harnessed the imperial train of 20^th century domination.

    Part of their core belief consists of not only in believing that Israel (the people) have been given by God eternal control of that parcel of land in the Middle East, but they also believe in the popular doctrine they call the Rapture, where Jesus Christ will catch up all born again believers and take them to Heaven seven years before God pours out His wrath on people who will be left behind because they did not believe in nor follow Christ.

    Various American Presidents throughout history, such as Wilson, Truman, Johnson, Reagan and George W. Bush (to name a few) have public stated this ideological belief of Manifest Destiny or American Exceptionalism within (or as is their rationale) when making decisions to invade other countries, which have altered the course of American history since its inception. Middle East History professor, Lawrence Davidson, in his seminal work, Christian Zionism as a Representation of American Manifest Destiny, provides glowing examples:     

     “For instance, there was Woodrow Wilson, US president from 1913 to 1921. He believed that America had a God-ordained political destiny to reform the world. "It is surely the manifest destiny of the United States," he proclaimed, to demonstrate democracy's "power to prevail." Wilson had grown up in a strong Presbyterian environment (his father was a clergyman and his mother was the daughter of one), read the Bible daily, and was fascinated with the Zionist movement. His friend and ally Louis Brandeis had described Zionism to him as a variant on American Progressivism, and so he saw it as a sort of Americanized biblical endeavor. Thus, after lending his support to the Balfour Declaration, he marveled that "I, a son of the manse, should be able to help restore the Holy Land to its people." In March of 1919 he informed the Zionist leader Rabbi Stephen Wise: "don't worry Dr. Wise, Palestine is yours."

    Every president since Wilson has drawn connections between the United States and God. Most have referenced the Bible as a source of inspiration and alleged a similarity between the destiny of America and the experiences of the ancient Hebrews. This attitude constitutes a powerful illusion that continued strongly. For example, Harry Truman (president, 1945-53) believed that "the fundamental basis of this nation's law was given by Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teaching of Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul." The divinely ordained destiny of the United States was to create a "free world" and to protect it against "godless communism." 

    Truman believed part of that mission entailed the establishment of the State of Israel. He thought that his knowledge of the Old Testament made him an expert on contemporary Palestine, and it was his "expert" opinion that the Holy Land was the proper patrimony of the Jews. He took personal offense at those (particularly in the State Department) who disagreed with this judgment.  Having helped in the establishment of the State of Israel, he said of himself: "I am Cyrus. I am Cyrus."

    Lyndon B. Johnson (president, 1963-69) said that every time he thought of the Israelis, he either equated them with the biblical heroes of his youth or with his native Texan ancestors who, as another "frontier people," fought off the Mexicans.  In a speech to the B'nai B'rith, he explained that his "very deep ties with the land and people of Israel" were a function of "my Christian faith" and "the Bible stories woven into my childhood memories."  Consequently, as president, Johnson acted as if the United States had a spiritual connection to both the ancient and modern Israelites.

    "Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets." Therefore, he asserted, "America and Israel have a common love of human freedom, and they have a common faith in a democratic way of life."

    Ronald Reagan (president, 1981-89) had similar views. He thought that the United States was the product of a "divine plan," just as was Israel. He identified the United States with Israel as two "stable and democratic" countries sharing the same Judeo -Christian heritage. A believer in the literal truth of the Bible, Reagan also believed in its prophetic predictions. On at least seven public occasions he alluded to Bible prophecies about the coming of Armageddon (and thus the destruction of most of the Jewish people as a prelude to the second coming of Christ), and in 1983 he explicitly told Thomas Dine of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee that these prophecies were true.

    Contemporary American Christian Zionists continue to express these same religious passions and obsessions.  Furthermore, they are well positioned and equipped to spread their ideas. Utilizing televangelist techniques, religious radio, evangelical newspapers and even novels [such as Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series], once more they have taken up pre-millennial prophecy as a key motivator for American support of Israel.

    Simultaneously, according to Robert Pyne, a theologian who works at the Dallas Theological Seminary, these same evangelicals "identify the American cause . . . as the cause of Christ." Thus, for these evangelicals the fate of American and Israel are tied together by divine prophecy.

    One should not think of today's Christian Zionists as a fringe group. Those who think of themselves as Christian conservatives accept the Bible as the literal or inspired word of God, believe in prophecy, and expect the end of the world in the relatively near future, make up close to 20 percent of the American electorate.         This constituency has become the voting core of the Republican Party, or as Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser, describes it, the Republican Party's "base.

    "And it is an effective and highly motivated base acting against the backdrop of a general population known for its political apathy and record of non-voting.”

     I would gather most Americans who read this basically feel this ideology poses no major problem. Many of them, especially those who support a Pre-Tribulation Rapture to Heaven, believe it doesn’t matter what position they support, as long as they love Jesus and accept Him as their Lord and savior.

    What they fail to realize is that unequivocal support of the government of Israel’s military policy (which has cost the lives of thousands of innocent woman and children), based solely on their preconceived notions or misinterpretation of the Bible (Genesis 12:3), that they must bless Israel or they will be cursed by God, goes contrary to every law ever enacted by God. Therefore, one can instantly assume that Christians who support the government of Israel is an enemy of God!

    Students of the Bible recognize that the majority of Christians have been hoodwinked by Premillennial Dispensationalsim, a doctrine that was introduced to the American Evangelical church by John Darby, a Plymouth Brethren from England. Later on, an adherent of that dogma, a country preacher by the name of C.I. Scofield, was recruited by Zionist agents from the Rothschild Empire to alter the Bible and make it more Israel-friendly. Around the early 1900s, Scofield used funds from these Zionists rogues and published his "New Scofield Bible" which became the most used Bible version at most American Seminaries. This is why the majority of modern day professing Christians adopted the "Israel First" and "Rapture to Heaven" doctrines, and have actually been influenced to support the state of Israel or else God will curse them. This is not a biblical mandate! 

Whose side are you on?

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