When facts don't matter

When we wrap our minds around the fact that our leaders are corrupt in heart, mind and deed, we can focus more effectively on reaching our fellow man.

By JIM FLETCHER
A friend, a staunch supporter of Israel in the Presbyterian Church USA, recently sent me an email lamenting the "grotesque" opposition to Israel among her denominational leaders.
Notice I said "leaders." The people in the pews are no doubt quite a bit more conservative, at least in pockets. The leadership, however, reflects the same views as those of Barack Obama and his minions, like Hillary Clinton and George Mitchell, who aggressively and viciously seek to impose a political deal on Israel.
There are two points I'd like to make regarding this issue.
One, American political leaders and church leaders who oppose Israel are simply following the teachings they were raised with (just as those of us who support Israel are merely working out our presuppositions with regard to the Bible).
I find this to be a particularly crucial bit of information, since many times people ask me how to write to the president or congressional leaders who are squeezing Israel.
As if a simple appeal to reason or recitation of facts will help.
It will not.
In a similar way to his aggressive imposition of health-care reform on the American public, which overwhelmingly does not want it, Obama is determined to impose a leftist settlement on Israel. Success with health-care will emboldened him to pursue Israel.
A man like Obama is neither ignorant of the will of the people nor naïve. Obama is quite intelligent and clever. He has none of Bill Clinton's quirky lack of discipline, and his narcissism, while approaching the level of Jimmy Carter, is nevertheless reined-in to a degree by discipline.
Which makes him a more dangerous foe of Israel.
I read recently that Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a settlement freeze for 10 months because he was led to believe American pressure would let up. I don't believe that for a second. Netanyahu is not dumb, either, and his experience at Wye in 1998, when Clinton hoodwinked him over a possible deal for Jonathan Pollard, has left him with hard-won wisdom.
Netanyahu is not going to bend like others have. He knows that a simple presentation of facts is not going to sway Obama. It isn't a matter of facts. It is a matter of ideology.
This brings me to the second point.
All American politicians operating at a high level have access to intelligence information that the rest of us do not. In other words, they understand even more than we do just how dangerous the jihadists are. It isn't like they are surprised.
However, one key difference exists between those who wish to dialogue with terrorists and those who decide to fight them: Worldview.
Those of us who believe the Bible is true in all areas - philosophy of life, history, predictive prophecy, and, where it touches on it, science - recognize that the biblical view of man is quite correct. Man is not basically good; man is basically bad.
It is possible that men such as Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama believe one can appeal to the better nature in humans. This combination of hubris and naiveté is a lethal combination. It puts the rest of us in danger.
So it is that our political leaders are both steeped in wrong-thinking regarding the Bible (which is why appeals to God's promises to the Jews have no impact on politicians), and their worldview impacts their political decisions.
Very sadly, the religious views these men grew up with impact all of us. It is said that every generation faces its own epic struggle. Ours is the struggle against jihad, pure and simple.
The seeds of compromise and concession in men like Obama were planted many years ago, in the teachings they received in various churches.
Forget for a moment any alleged connections between Obama and Muslim schools in his youth. If he weren't indoctrinated there, he certainly has been in the churches he's attended in adulthood, particularly the United Church of Christ, and his tutelage under men like Jeremiah Wright.
The combination of Jew-bashing masquerading as critical scholarship and the cancerous Liberation Theology has produced an American president who is actually opposed to democratic ideals.
This is why a simple presentation of facts about the Arab-Israeli conflict will yield little good fruit when confronting misguided politicians. They already know the facts. They still make wrong choices.
That's why I advocate other measures that help Israel. Prayer and activism are the top two on my list. Blending activism with our prayer life in support of Israel is fulfilling our duty to the noble Jewish people.
Seek to educate yourself about Israel and reach as many "regular" people as you can. The politicians are lost. Forever. The political process is lost and has been from the beginning. The peace process was a non-starter 4,000 years ago, and nothing has changed.
When we wrap our minds around the fact that our leaders are corrupt inheart, mind and deed, we can focus more effectively on reaching ourfellow man, in whose heart still beats the possibility of seeing Israelfor who she is, biblically.
I encourage readers to connect with organizations like The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ), my own Balfour Books, and Jews Who Love Christians Who Love Jews. Together we can build an even stronger network of support for the Jewish state.