Righteousness Fail

In response to an article in BYU's Political Review quite a discussion started:

Javier wrote:

"I would hope at a place like BYU, where the gospel of Jesus Christ is taught, that we would not get advice from Jimmy Carter, the AP, and CNN, but from what know is true…

The truth is that Israel and Jerusalem belong to the Jewish people, not the Palestinians.

At the Second Coming, Jesus Christ will defend Israel against all of her enemies when all hope is lost and destruction seems eminent.

I side with the Gospel and Jesus Christ."

My wife wrote:

"Wow. It’s really nice to simplify things to the point of ridiculousness, Javier. I would hope at a place like BYU, where the gospel of Jesus Christ is taught, that we would follow the words of the Savior to love everyone, including our so-called enemies."

Then Javier wrote:

"To: BYU Liberals
From: Javier

I truly believe many of you liberals should be ashamed of yourselves on this.

It is time for you to set aside your ideological/political beliefs and for once in your life side with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Time for you to grow a moral backbone and spine…

I invite any liberal to challenge me where I am wrong..

Ladies and gentlemen the outcome of this issue has already been decided by God. How ridiculous to forget that Jesus Christ stands with Israel on this issue.

Jesus Christ is the “Redeemer of Israel.” God gave Jerusalem to the Jews as a promised land, NOT the Palestinians. Jerusalem belongs to the children of Israel.

Anyone attempting to alter, distort, or not support this policy is either seriously lacking in Gospel knowledge or is willfully an enemy to the children of Israel.

Guys it is clear. At the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Israel is going to be surrounded on all corners by her enemies and Jerusalem will be half-taken. At the very moment of despair and hopelessness, Jesus Christ is going to appear and fight the nations and deliver the Jewish people.

Liberals: Hamas is wrong. Israel wins in the end.

Anyone who doubts this please take a look at D&C 45, Zechariah 14, and the D&C Student Manual p96.

The same liberal mindset we read in this article would have opposed Israel becoming a nation in 1948."

Here's the complicate issue that Javier simplified, as explained by my friend's father, who teaches at BYU Jerusalem. He wrote this not in response to Javier, but to a friend who wanted to know more:

"Jerusalem is divided into two cities; one for native Palestinians (mostly Muslims) who live on the eastern side and number about 230,000 and west Jerusalem where the Jews live and number about 475,000. The total city is about 750,000. So far the rockets have only had a range of about 25 kilometers and are always pointed at newer Jewish settlements that ring the little state of Gaza. Hamas is trying their best to go after the Israelis and so they avoid striking at their own which would be the case if they attacked Jerusalem. Also the BYU center is located in East Jerusalem which makes it doubly immune from any attacks.
You have probably heard this already from the news, but the basic conflict is that Hamas was elected democratically, yet they openly call for the destruction of Israel. The Gazans elected them because they were so frustrated with the inept mainstream Palestinian leadership (Fatah). Hamas maintains strong ties with Iran, but virtually no direct contact because shortly after they came into office Israel closed off their borders with the outside world. Since then their only way to get Israel's attention has been to lob crude rockets at Israeli settlements and hope they score a hit. Over the past 8 years some 8600 of these oversized bottle rockets have been launched. Six months ago Egypt, et.al negotiated a quasi truce known as an "understanding" that was to last until this new year. Part of that agreement stipulated that Israel was to open the borders. Because Israel never opened the borders completely Hamas continued ever so sporadically to shoot off a rocket now and then. Now with the expiration of the truce Israel feels like it has full license to punish Hamas and put them in their place. (Also Israeli leadership is wary that Obama might not give them a free pass once he comes into office.) Hamas is an extremist group and doesn't appear too concerned about the innocent Gazans.

So what is Gaza anyway? Gaza is about twice the size of Washington D.C. (one tenth the size of Rhode Island) with a population of about 1.5 million people. It has the highest population density of any place in the world. It is basically a patch of flat coastal land about the size of Utah Lake if it were squared off. It shares a small eight mile border with Egypt and a Mediterranean coast line of about 12 miles. It has poor water resources and in many respects is like an overgrown refugee camp. 44% of its population is under 15 and there is 40% unemployment. It is a powder keg in a smoldering barbeque. Now that Hamas is willing to light the match Israel is more than willing to keep lobbing explosives into the caldron. The tragedy is the million or so Gazans who just want to go to work and keep their families from starving. Israel holds them responsible while Hamas uses their plight to further its agenda. The situation is pathetically sadistic with a million or so good people trapped by those who don't care. It's hard to imagine what those people must be going through.

I was grocery shopping the other day and my Palestinian grocer asked me how I felt about the conflict. I expressed my deep disappointment in both sides and then he asked me a penetrating question. "Do you want to know why we Palestinians don't lash out at our Jewish neighbors," he asked. "It is because we are Muslim and we pray five times a day to Allah." His response stunned me because it sounded so Christian in its nature. My experience here has really opened my eyes to the goodness of the Islamic people. They are moral and humble people and most of our Western characterizations of them are terribly misinformed. We have been terrorized by the small radical Islamists and it has tainted our entire perceptions. From a moral standpoint the average Muslim is probably closer to Mormon standards than even our mainstream Christian neighbors. Someday when truth is taught without misperceptions then these people will recognize the Savior in a heartbeat and follow after Him. But that day is still obviously a ways off.

From the recent news it looks as if a truce might be a possibility. Let's hope and pray that something can materialize, because every day that this continues another generation of violence is raised up. The death toll now [1/6/2009] for Gazans is above 1000 people. Bear in mind that our 9/11 took just over 2,000 Americans.

We also just received the 80 students for the new semester. It is so much fun to bring them in from the airport and begin to immerse them into a land where the Prince of Peace walked and talked. His life and message is precisely what this land so desperately needs. It is such an irony that only 2% of the city even acknowledges him as the solution to the intractable problems. Thanks for your interest and friendship.

My turn:

Javier,

The Jews knew they were God's chosen people, and for that reason they rejected Jesus Christ, spat upon him, tortured him, mocked him, and had him crucified.

We know how it will end. But we must remember that we are not there yet, and will not be until we have fully repented and passed through the refiner's fire.

The Jews are God's chosen people. But anyone who has read the Old Testament, or the newspaper, knows that they do not always do the right thing. Not even God supports their every action. Are we greater than he?