enge gristenen

Dominee John Hagee en zijn Christians United For Israel (CUFI) is een enge Amerikaanse rechts-evangelikaal. Hij heeft de sympathie van Bush en andere rechtse Republikeinen in het Congres. Je schaamt je dat je christen bent, met zo'n man...

Bill Moyer (een soort A. Brugsma, maar dat soort Journalisten bestaan niet meer in Nederland) wijdde een uitzending aan hem. Een vrij lang gedeelte eruit (het hele transcript, inclusief een nagesprek is hier te vinden):

October 5, 2007
BILL MOYERS: Welcome to the JOURNAL.
Talk of war with Iran has been on the lips of armchair warriors all week, many of them the same voices that four and a half years ago called for invading Iraq. From former UN Ambassador John Bolton to neo-conservative icon Norman Podheretz to RUPERT MURDOCH's pundits at FOXnews.

In the NEW YORKER, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh called launching an attack against Iran practically a done deal.
But as the drumbeat for war against Iran grew louder this week, you had to wonder if anyone beating those drums ever stopped to ask how an American first strike on Iran would go over with the Iranians.
I don't mean Ahmadinejad or the ayatollahs, who would use the provocation to consolidate their hold on power. I mean the man and woman in the street.
You may remember the name Shareen Abadi. She won The Nobel Prize in 2003 for standing up for human rights in Iran, including fighting discrimination against women. For her efforts, she received death threats from her own people. Here is what this human rights activist said last year about what would happen if the United States attacks Iran. Quote. 'Iranians will unite, forgetting their differences with their government, and they will fiercely and tenaciously defend their country.'
Even so, that doesn't seem to deter powerful forces in this country from making the case for military strikes against Iran.
You're about to meet some of them.

VOICE: The lord utters his voice before his army...The lord utters his voice before his army...
BILL MOYERS: Washington. July 17. A Night To Honor Israel.

VOICES: Blow the trumpet in Zion, Zion!

BILL MOYERS: Over 4,500 people from every state in the union and ten countries celebrate their solidarity with Israel. They call their organization Christians United for Israel. Most are evangelical Christians. CUFI, as it's known, is not even two years old, and it's already a force to be reckoned with. The man behind it is Pastor John Hagee.
JOHN HAGEE: When 50 million evangelical bible-believing Christians unite with five million American Jews standing together on behalf of Israel, it is a match made in heaven. BILL MOYERS: Pastor Hagee is one of the Christian right's most powerful preachers. Israel is his passion.
JOHN HAGEE: Let us shout it from the housetops that a new day has been born in America. The sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awakened. If a line has to be drawn, draw the line around Christians and Jews. We are united. We are indivisible. And together we can reshape history. BILL MOYERS: Christian Zionists believe Jews are God's chosen people...that God promised the land of Israel to their patriarchs and their descendants.
They say that the Bible requires Christians to give unconditional support to the Jewish people, to be a "good friend" to Christianity's "big brother."
CHRISCHELLE BRUCE: The new Christian of today that is truly walking in the spirit of God will have to acknowledge Israel. There is no way around that. You have to.
GREG STEPHENS: Israel is the only country that God ever established. Every other country has been established by a king or a queen or a congress or a parliament. It's the only country that God ever established. BILL MOYERS: John Hagee says you need look no further than the scriptures…
JOHN HAGEE: The biblical mandates for supporting Israel began with Genesis 12:3. I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you. Secondly, David said in Psalms 122:6, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love you."
Because of the fact that in history, if Jerusalem is at war, the world is at war. If there's peace in Jerusalem there's peace in the world.
When Israel became a state, in 1948 I remember well sitting at the table in our home and we heard that announcement come over the radio. And my father said, "This is the most important biblical day in the 20th Century. For all the prophets of the Old Testament have now been vindicated and Israel has been born."
JOHN HAGEE PREACHING: Free is free indeed! Give me praise and glory in the house of God! BILL MOYERS: From the 18,000 people who belong to his church in San Antonio, Texas to the 99 million homes he says tune into his weekly radio and television broadcasts John Hagee has built an empire sharing the gospel of Israel with evangelicals around the world
And as the leader of CUFI his power extends from the pulpit to politics.
JOHN HAGEE: I would like to read you the greeting from the President of the United States.
"I appreciate CUFI members and all event participants for your passion and dedication to enhancing the relationship between the United States and Israel. Your efforts set a shining example for others and help lay the foundation of peace for generations to come. Laura and I send our best wishes for a memorable event. May God bless you. George W. Bush, President of the United States." BILL MOYERS: At their July gathering in Washington, CUFI delegates focused on Israel's security and the threat of radical Islam.
CLIFFORD MAY: Islamic imperialists and supremacists BILL MOYERS: And on their agenda — lobbying in Congress for their pro-Israel platform.
DAVID BROG: Ladies and gentlemen, we're in Washington, DC. We're going to talk to our congressmen so it's extremely important that we take our faith and our values and we marry it with knowledge and understanding of current events. And be able to speak in the language of Washington when we go and speak to our congressmen and senators. BILL MOYERS: Many of Washington's political elites came to them. Presidential contender Senator John McCain.
JOHN MCCAIN: It's very hard trying to do the Lords work in the city of Satan and I'm very grateful to have all of you here. BILL MOYERS: Senator McCain was joined by House Minority Whip Roy Blunt.
ROY BLUNT: This is a mission, this is a vision that I believe is a vision for God's time. BILL MOYERS: Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich...
NEWT GINGRICH: Because this group is made up of people who believe, they understand the passion that comes from belief. BILL MOYERS: And Senator Joe Lieberman
JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Of describing Pastor Hagee in the words that the Torah uses to describe Moses, he is an "Ish Elokim," a man of God and those words really do fit him; and, I'd add something else, like Moses he's become the leader of a mighty multitude, even greater than the multitude that Moses led from Egypt to the promised land. BILL MOYERS: With Hagee leading the way, CUFI delegates walked the halls of Congress. Armed with talking points, they divided into small groups to call on individual senators and representatives.
VOICE: Cheer, cheer, cheer! BILL MOYERS: In the basement of the Capitol, Georgia's delegates talked strategy before meeting their elected leaders.
SCOTT ALLEN: Also during the meeting, as Pastor Haun-- Dr. Haun or I make a point, feel free to clap. You know, we want it a little bit lively, but we don't want to be crazy. Right? So, feel free to clap. And they know we're Christians United for Israel. You can say, "Amen," if you want to. BILL MOYERS: Republican Representative Phil Gingrey paid the delegation a visit. He's considered one of the most conservative members of the House.
PHIL GINGREY: I think what you'll find in the Congress is a very, very strong bipartisan support for the country of Israel. And that's something that we all seem to agree upon. It's a democracy in a bad neighborhood. BILL MOYERS: The delegates wasted no time getting to one of their top concerns - the disputed territories and the Israeli peace process.
FEMALE VOICE: The land for peace obviously didn't work in the Gaza Strip. And we're proponents that we don't give up any more land.
It didn't work. And anything else was just gonna cause further loss of land in the state of Israel.
PHIL GINGREY: Yeah. I mean, I think it's a good point. And but on the other hand, I would urge Israel not to put a stick in the eye of the Palestinians if they don't have to.
VICKI LEEMAN: I think you need to hear clearly, sir, that this group is totally against giving any of Israel's land for peace. BILL MOYERS: There is no room for compromise here.
Christians United for Israel opposes the Bush administration's roadmap for peace and urges American leaders to abandon it.
The plan calls for a two-state solution in the region — if Palestinians lay down their arms and recognize Israel's right to exist, Israel will withdraw from certain disputed territories and move to help create an independent Palestine.
For these believers the roadmap is inherently flawed because it is not biblically sound — as Hagee often preaches to his congregation.
JOHN HAGEE, SEPTEMBER 18, 2005: But the Palestinians have never owned the land. I want you to hear this very clearly. The land of Israel was given to Abraham, Issac and Jacob and their seed in an eternal covenant. It is recorded in the book of Genesis. The boundaries are there in the Bible. And that land belongs to the Jewish people today, tomorrow and forever because it is their covenant by the word of God. BILL MOYERS: According to John Hagee, devastating consequences await those who violate God's word. God, he says, may already have sent Hurricane Katrina to punish the U.S. for its role in helping Israel remove Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip.
JOHN HAGEE, SEPTEMBER 18, 2005: I want to ask Washington a question. Is there a connection between the 9,000 Jewish refugees being forcibly removed from their homes in the Gaza Strip now living in tents and the thousands of Americans who have been expelled from their homes by this tremendous work of nature? Is there a connection there? If you've got a better answer, I'd like to hear it. BILL MOYERS: Back in Washington, CUFI delegates were briefed on what the organizers now consider the defining issue — the challenge of radical Islam.
GARY BAUER: At this very moment there are evil men who worship death — it is a sick philosophy that goes by many names. But I haven't found a better name than Islamo-
FRANK GAFFNEY: The Islamo-fascists have Israel in mind as an appetizer. We are the main course.
BRIGITTE GABRIEL: The difference, my friends, between Israel and the Arabic world is a difference between civilization and barbarism. It's a difference between goodness and evil. And this is what we're witnessing in the Arabic world. They have no soul. They are dead set on killing and destruction. BILL MOYERS: Brigitte Gabriel was one of the most popular speakers here. Her "American Congress for Truth" is devoted to fighting "the spread of militant Islam" in America.
BRIGITTE GABRIEL: Here's what we're doing. We're taking cities and state and organizing them into chapters. We are appointing people to monitor the media in your local community. Your local newspaper that is anti-Israel, anti-America. BILL MOYERS: Gabriel is a Maronite Christian from Lebanon. She called on the CUFI delegates to keep their eyes open for the enemy within.
BRIGITTE GABRIEL: Another thing you can do is monitor universities.
Monitor what the professor is saying about the Middle East policy and our foreign policy. The students cannot challenge their professors because they get bad grades. But you can. It's your job and your civic duty to do so.
Another thing you can do — another thing you can do — if you know there is a suspicious mosque in your community or suspicious Islamic organization, find out who owns the deed to that mosque.
Is it some Saudi sheiks or Islamic sheiks outside of America? Write their names down. Come home. Call your local FBI office. Turn the names to them. This is how they can start monitoring them.
Israel's enemies are our enemies. BILL MOYERS: In New York last week, CUFI members took to the street to protest the visit of Iranian President Ahmadinejad. They see him as the number one threat to Israel and the world.
JOHN HAGEE: The head of the beast of radical Islam in the Middle East is Iran and its fanatical president Ahmadinejad. Ladies and gentlemen, we are reliving history. It is 1938 all over again. Iran is Germany. Ahmadinejad is Hitler. And Ahmadinejad, just like Hitler, is talking about killing the Jews. BILL MOYERS: Ahmadinejad has said that Islam would soon reign supreme in a world without the United States and Zionism and that quote 'Israel should be wiped off the map.'
AHMADENIJAD: The Iran of today is a nuclear Iran BILL MOYERS: As Iran has been actively enriching uranium, the world has been scrambling to determine how it will be used — as an energy supply or as a weapon to make good on Ahmadinejad's threats to Israel.
CUFI DELEGATE: Congressman, we love you. You're a fellow Georgian. BILL MOYERS: At the Capitol building the CUFI delegation from Georgia urged Representative Lynn Westmoreland to recognize the danger Iran poses.
CUFI DELEGATE: But the greatest threat that's facing us is Iran.
WESTMORELAND: That's right.
CUFI DELEGATE: And the nuclear capability that they are soon reaching. And hopefully we, as Americans, will not allow that to happen.
JOHN HAGEE: What we are trying to say to them is that a) we want you to continue your support for the State of Israel. Secondly, we want you to recognize that Iran is a clear and present danger to the United States of America and Israel. And we support Senator Joseph Lieberman, that it's time for our country to consider a military preemptive strike against Iran if they will not yield to diplomacy. And if they continue the pursuit of nuclear weapons we must not allow them to manipulate the economy of the world because they have a nuclear weapon.
JOHN HAGEE, SEPTEMBER 11, 2005: As we speak Iran is building nuclear weapons... BILL MOYERS: For John Hagee, what happens in Iran is not just a matter of politics — it's also a matter of theology. His study of biblical prophecy has led him to believe that Iran will figure prominently in the end times - the apocalypse and the return of Jesus.
JOHN HAGEE, SEPTEMBER 11, 2005: Iran will use those weapons on Israel. Anyone who is smart enough to wave bye-bye knows that. BILL MOYERS: In his book JERUSALEM COUNTDOWN, he writes, "Iran with nuclear weapons will transform the Bush administration's roadmap for peace program into a racetrack to Armageddon." BILL MOYERS: From his reading of the Bible he lays out a scenario predicting that if Israel and America attack Iran, Russia and its allies — including Iran — will attack Israel, triggering Ezekiel's War. God will crush the invading forces as - quote - "he crushed Pharaoh, Haman, and Hitler so that Israel and the world 'shall know that I am the Lord.'" says John Hagee, the battle of Armageddon will follow.
JOHN HAGEE, SEPTEMBER 11, 2005: They intend to bring that bomb online and if they use it, you think gas is high now. Life as we know it is going to change instantly and forever and I'm telling you, you need to get your life ready to meet the son of God in all his glory. It's going to happen, it's going to happen, it's going to happen.
CONGREGATION: Clap, clap, clap!
JOHN HAGEE: There are going to be people in this tribulation period who do not take BILL MOYERS: There will be plenty of bloodshed.
JOHN HAGEE: They will have their heads cut off. BILL MOYERS: But get ready — it's coming.
JOHN HAGEE: We are this close to the rapture of the church of Jesus Christ. BILL MOYERS: For true believers like Hagee and his followers, it will be a day of deliverance. They will have been raptured — literally lifted into the air — to join the Lord in the heavens.
End Times theology has blossomed from a cottage industry into a dynamic market for books, video games and movies. BILL MOYERS: THE LEFT BEHIND movie series is so popular it shows up in sermons around the country. John Hagee even had a cameo appearance in it.
But because End Times theology strikes a lot of people as threatening — especially as it relates to the fate of Jews — Hagee plays it down at political gatherings of CUFI.
REPORTER: You write a lot about bible prophecy and the relation, relationship to BILL MOYERS: He brushed aside questions about it at this press conference in Washington.
JOHN HAGEE: I can make it very clear for you. Our support of Israel has absolutely nothing to do with End Times prophecy. It has absolutely nothing to do with eschatology. We support Israel because we feel Israel is in greater danger right now than in any time in statehood. BILL MOYERS: So as the head of CUFI, with prominent politicians present, Hagee continues to insist that the peace and security of Israel is an end in itself but as a pre-eminent preacher of end times theology, he holds that the apocalypse is coming no matter what — events in the Middle East anticipate it — even require it.
JOHN HAGEE: Listen to me. Just as I wrote in JERUSALEM COUNTDOWN, Ahmadinejad will not respond to diplomacy. He has no intention of yielding to sanctions. He's stalling for time to make nuclear weapons to attack Israel and to attack the United States.
He will do it. Iran is a clear and present danger to the survival of Israel, to the United States of America and the western the world-- western world. Therefore it is time for America to embrace the words of Senator Joseph Lieberman and consider a military preemptive strike against Iran to prevent a nuclear holocaust in Israel and a nuclear attack in America. BILL MOYERS: On that, participants at the CUFI summit seem to agree: the times call for urgent action — even military action. Some of them believe war — and rumors of war — are part of God's plan.
SCOTT FARHART: You know, the Bible says to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, pray for the peace of Israel. I don't know if it's actually possible-- the whole Armageddon, end of the world is all going to happen there. So there's always going to be people striving for peace. I think it's our duty to pray for peace. I don't know that peace will ever happen until Jesus comes back and reigns in that city and is the ruler of that city, that's when we'll have peace.
TYRONE MORGAN: We're living in times of fulfillment of what the Bible said will come in the last days. And we're living in those times. We're seeing that fulfilled before our eyes literally. And the things that are happening in Israel, around Israel are just part of what the Bible said would happen.
DONNA MORGAN: The Bible says that there has to be wars. And it says in the end times there will be wars, and for us not to get-- not to worry, because there has to be — there has to be a stand. And God is drawing a line in the sand. He's saying, "You better want to get Christian. You must support Israel." Okay. It's time-- it's time to take a stand. And the rest of world needs to know that. If you really call yourself a Christian-- if you really love Israel, it's time to take a stand now before it's too late.