Can I ask you if you can imagine who wrote this following opinion on the role of religion in politics?
There will be no peace in our world without an understanding of the place of religion within it...Religion is fundamental to those societies and if anything, in the foreseeable future, will become more so. And do we seriously think the issue of Jerusalem can be resolved without at least some discussion of its religious significance to all three Abrahamic faiths?
It was Tony Blair. Amazing?Mr. Blair, however, seems to have a bit of difficulty finding a country that fits his bill in this description of the desired situation:
Those of us inspired by our faith must have the right to speak out on issues that concern us and in the name of our beliefs...this should lead to a vital debate about the nature of democracy…The essence of democracy is that it is pluralistic. It is inherently secular, even if rooted in cultures that are profoundly religious. This is where democracy-friendly religion really means something very important in the way society is governed. It is about free media; freedom of expression; and about freedom of religion.
Does that parameter apply to any other country in the Middle East other than Israel? No. And so, with whom can Israel debate? With which country can true peace be achieved?Blair has found the problem, pointed to a solution but nothing can be resolved.The reality that faces Israel, pressured unfairly by Blair and Co. is one of Jerusalem/Temple Mount denial, identity theft via UNESCO, incitement and hostility, perverse educational content and ongoing terror. Should Israel choose to weaken its claims to its national ethos, to its security, to its economic strength in this reality? To do so willingly or even as if on its knees?
To Israel’s assistance has come over the past decade and a half, a renewed – and reinvigorated – alliance with Christian Zionism. It was strong and mutual and natural in the past, especially in Herzl’s time and then again, in the 1930s and 1940s. Today’s version has concentrated on the right of Jews to reside in Judea and Samaria as these Congressmen and their wives exhibited.To further illustrate the crucial essence of this new Christian Zionism, consider this section selected from a brilliant analysis by Bat-Yeor, The Palestinization of UNESCO that touches on the subject of "the Islamization of the Jewish and Christian religious heritage" which is also a motivation for this renewed Christian Zionism. She delineates this Islamization as
...an approach that involves denying the identity of these two religions, since Christianity views itself as emerging from Judaism...If the Bible is an Islamic account, Christianity too, and not just Judaism, are both falsifications of Islam. The negation of biblical history…challenges the historic rights of the Jews to their own homeland. This also negates Christian history and confirms the Koranic interpretation refuting the historicity of both the Torah and the Gospels...if the Israelis are foreign colonialists, occupiers of their own country, it means they have no past, no history, and if Judaism is just a tissue of lies, the same applies to Christianity…
True Christians understand and appreciate this message. And that is why, among many other good reasons, they support and assist the Yesha enterprise in Judea and Samaria as a modern article of faith as well as correct political policy.^