Palestinian cause has come to First Lutheran

Note the closed captioning in this photo! Take a close look. Isn't modern technology amazing? The photo is a screen shot from my First Lutheran Church in Morris. We're on YouTube. FLC is dealing with the slings and arrows that come with being considered "liberal." That's guaranteed with our affiliation with the ELCA. A whole new church was launched in rural Morris a few years ago in reaction to trends in the ELCA. The ELCA churches seek to hang on. My church had its image reinforced recently with the appearance of the guest you see in photo. The political left in America is most associated with sympathy for Palestinians. I am disappointed that the sympathy or at least empathy cannot be more broad-based. But that's the way it is. First Lutheran has had the man in photo as our guest more than once. I have been totally impressed by him, 100 percent. You look into his eye and you see a wonderful, sincere person. But listening to the Palestinians' plight in a receptive way makes you a "liberal," I suppose. Why? Maybe it's because so many of the "extreme" Christians see Israel as the fulfillment of Biblical prophesy. Donald Trump was totally sympathetic to Israel. Oh wait a minute, that was probably a "transactional" thing as is the case with everything Trump. He saw he was getting the support of the USA's "evangelical Christians." He saw that as an essential part of his base. He held up his finger in the wind and acted accordingly. And by going out of his way for Israel, did he help set the stage for the now-violent reaction by those on the other side in that part of the world? Israel is not a homogeneous nation politically. That counters the perception you'll get here as you consume the Israel lobby-influenced news media. Many Israelis have wanted to see restraint in the name of promoting peace. Certainly to save lives if nothing else. The man in the photo you see above is Michael Zoughbi. The West Central Tribune of Willmar wrote that "Michael and Carmen Zoughbi are among the thousands of Palestinians whose civil rights are being restricted by Israeli government occupation forces." Wow! The Forum-owned Willmar newspaper would allow that sentence to pass as objective news coverage? I personally have no problem with it. I believe it. But man, in light of what has happened recently? And in light of the pro-Israel mountain of media bias toward Israel? I am sick of Israel. I wish it would go away. Jews can live among us everywhere. I couldn't care less that they reject the New Testament. And good luck to our First Lutheran Church of Morris. We'll need it.

 

Just got an email from Michelle Fischbach's office that proclaims in its heading: "Representative Fischbach stands with Israel." It's such a drumbeat. So non-nuanced.

 

Is it legitimate to care about the Palestinians? We are being overwhelmed now with media bias that tells us Israel is the only cause worth advocating for. Is this because of the Israel lobby in America? I believe it is identified by the initials "AIPAC." I have read there is a more moderate (reasonable) Jewish-oriented organization called "J-Street." 

The CW seems to be that the younger Jews don't particularly care for such hard-edged advocacy for this nation called Israel. I must ask: Is it prudent for the U.S. to align itself in such intransigent fashion with a religious nation-state? 

So are Jews a religion or are they a race? I believe the correct answer is both? I do not profess to having encyclopedic knowledge. And I wouldn't even care to plunge into that. That's because I think people should just be treated as people, with caring and empathy all around. So I feel that it is entirely reasonable to care about the Palestinians. Also to "call a spade a spade" when Israel and its military do things that I think are unreasonable and barbaric. 

Even talking like this can get you into trouble. Which I think is a big part of the problem. I don't care to get into the weeds understanding all the conflict in that region of the world. I have the sense that Arabs ought to hold forth there. Let it be their place. Oh to be relieved of all the frantic-sounding headlines about conflict in connection to Israel! 

At a certain point it is just not worth the trouble anymore. 

Democrats and liberals tend to be far more sympathetic to the Palestinians, or so I have read of late. It's impossible to arrive at an opinion these days without being pigeon-holed accordingly. According to this dichotomy that the media loves: "left" and "right." 

And of course the oversimplification can be ridiculous. The right seems to get disoriented more readily than the left. The right has been pro-military intervention so often, as with the Iraq ventures led by the Bushes. But now? The right's leader - you know who - says we ought to stop foreign military intervention. How do these people reconcile that? 

Oh to have had "the right" be more disposed to pacifism in the 1960s, the Vietnam war years. Why couldn't we have just used sanctions and special ops back then? I suppose we could have just sent more money to the causes we supported. But wasn't so-called "South Vietnam" riven with corruption? So I read at the time. We "sent in troops." 

Too many people had watched too many WWII-themed movies. So Americans experienced the violence vicariously, watched the likes of Paul Anka play military "grunts" (in "The Longest Day"). John Wayne and Robert Mitchum were in "The Longest Day." Entertainment based on violence and death totally out of hell. It was vicarious for us all. It numbed us. 

So we were more inclined to be passive about how we were "sending troops" to Vietnam. We felt this was what we were supposed to do. Just like in "the good war" of WWII. What a horrific parallel to suggest. 

And you know what? Despite the overwhelming message from the media now about "supporting Israel" - so emotional and irrational much of the time - I don't think the people would countenance "sending over troops." I could be wrong. 

After so many questionable ventures with sending our young men into harm's way, e.g. Afghanistan, I think reasonableness has finally sunken in. After so long, after so much tragedy coming to American families. 

So what is to become of Israel? I do not believe Israel is even justified as existing. My thoughts are much like Jimmy Carter's, who caused a firestorm when he put out a book the title of which used "apartheid" in connection to Israel. Why the firestorm and why all the hand-wringing? Was it because the fanatical, possessed advocates for Israel thought Carter was onto something? That is often the explanation for such things. 

I have no time for anything that can be considered even loosely analogous to apartheid. Can't we all just treat each other as human beings? Leave the Arab world alone. They will do a fair amount of fighting among themselves anyway. Can the Jews handle being spread out over the world to be accepted as common citizens? Just like Lutherans? 

Well, Martin Luther was actually one of the most notorious anti-Semites in world history. His arguments were based on what? I have a hard time understanding the basis for anti-Semitism. My outlook is the desired one: let's try to put aside all such schisms. I have never felt wronged by a Jew. I'd have a hard time picking out Jews in our population. Mostly they look like regular people. A big nose? Why would anybody care bout that? 

Is the problem that Jews do not accept Christ as the savior, do not accept the New Testament? I can imagine this causes a problem for a lot of people. It means nothing to me. Everyone has a right to their opinions on such matters. Is it any wonder that young people have been drifting away from the organized Christian faith? 

Has anyone suggested dropping the "Lutheran" name from church bodies? I cannot put out of my mind the horrible bigotry that Martin Luther vented against the Jewish people. Why would anyone want to belong to a church that celebrates such a person? It is irrational just like the continuing power of MAGA in America is irrational. 

Our congressional district out here in western Minnesota has become so "red state," we now have a GOP hopeful challenging Michelle Fischbach from the right. And I would not bet against him. So the wild ride continues.

 

The reason I get emails from Fischbach's office is that I contacted her not long ago, asking her if she still stands behind her statements of Jan. 6, 2021. So I'm on her email list even though I never got a response from her. She voted against certifying the election results. So she's more of a MAGA person than Tom Emmer.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com