by...
HOW ARE WE DOING MOM, AFTER SIX YEARS OF VIGILS IN FRONT OF CHRISTIAN-ZIONIST CHURCHES? BY CHARLES E. CARLSON
PHARISEE WATCH
The latest update is posted here: http://cp.whtt.org/index.php?news=2&id=3 341How Are We Doing Mom, After Six Years of Vigils in Front of Christian Zionist Churches?
Charles E. Carlson Nov 17, 2009'A Night to Honor Israel' at Symphony Hall in Phoenix, Arizona, may have been our best Project Strait Gate Vigil ever. Many of the now almost 65 efforts stand out in particular ways ... this one was special because it was the easiest vigil we ever did. People came to help without the customary arm twisting and cajoling. Most came because of the frustrations they felt in their own churches, several from out of town. Watch some of it on You Tube, and then come back and read about where we plan to go from here.
We conducted our first vigil on November 10, 2002. Eleven conservatively dressed protesters stood silently along the busy boulevard in front of the fashionable First Southern Baptist Church of Scottsdale, Arizona on a bright Sunday morning. They were demonstrating opposition to the Southern Baptist Convention's policy of supporting wars in the Middle East, and specifically the occupation of Palestine and warmaker-promoted destruction of Iraq. (1)
The following week the team met at Calvary Community Church where we experienced our first hostility. The church defiantly unfurled the Israeli flag at the top of the Church's flag pole (no American flag was in sight). Church paid security guards used large vehicles to force our volunteers off of what they falsely claimed to be church property into the a dangerously busy street. This was our first warning that Christian Zionism is militant, and that if we challenge Israel's place at the top of the church flagpoles across America, we would need police protection.
A few weeks later we were back at Calvary, this time armed with engineering drawings of the rights of way; this time we stood on the disputed public land with a police escort.
On October 18th WHTT'S Project Strait Gate held vigil for the sixth time at a Christians United For Israel (CUFI) Night To Honor (worship) Israel, this time in front of the Phoenix Symphony Hall. Participants from We Hold These Truths, members of several other organzations, and friends confronted those in attendance with Biblical challenges about their beliefs.
Interviews in front of the hall bore out our understanding that most Christian Zionists believe these bizarre biblical untruths:
• the modern State of Israel is a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy;
• war is a necessary part of their religion leading to a second conflict in Israel between Jesus himself and the Jewish Pharisee of today;
• 'born again Christians' are excused from responsibilty for bloodshed resulting from the support of Israel and the US government warring in the Middle East;
• it is a sin for 'Christians' to fail to support Israel in every way possible; and
• all land in the Middle East was given to Israel by God.
John Hagee has said all this in his books, and attendees at the conference confirmed it. (Note YouTube)The blessing of wealth is a sign of God's favor according to a tenet taught by 'Judeo - Christian' leaders (many do not call themselves Zionists); the accumulation of wealth plays a big part in their belief system. Lack of wealth is often looked upon as a sign of lack of faith. By far, the most important tenet of all the cults that can collectively be called Judeo-Chsitians, is that salvation leading to eternal life is easy with few string attached, and no real life changes are required. You can say in the same breath that you are a born again Christian and that you favor war, and no one will question you. It is okay to proclaim that abortion is a crime against God, and in the same sentence proclaim your supp ort for Israel, and say it did no wrong in killing 330 children last December in Gaza.
Christian Zionism will die when it is recognized for what it is
We sense a powerful undertow pulling in our direction at this our 6th intervention at Hagee's event. But that tide against the bigotry of Christian Zionism has yet to reach the mainstream media, which was present at Symphony Hall, but wrote not one word nor aired one photo of it for the public to see. ABC affiliate Channel 15 TV interviewed several of our people including this writer. 'The reporter told us he had to hurry to have his story ready for the 5:00 PM news. But our message to the press is: "Christians are worshiping Israel instead of Jesus; they have blood on their hands; The killing will stop when churches stop supporting war." Our message did not make the 5:00 PM news nor the 10:00 PM news, nor any news at all.We know why our vigils do not get past news editors. It's because we are too good at what we do, leaving little or nothing negative to portray. It is hard for pro-Zionist mainline ABC to cover our vigil without revealing the forbidden messages on the large signs and touching posters of murdered children that we hold in our hands as we silently remind parishioners of what they're really doing.
A reporter named Levine from a local free press, The New Times, conducted a lengthy interview of this writer that we recorded, but he left and did not write a word about the Night to Honor Israel event. On our recording, you can see his attempt to get an admission from this writer that the Palestinians are responsible for their own annihilation. Six years earlier the same paper did a feature story on Project Strait Gate entitled 'Peace-monger,' in which Tony Ortega wrote:
Chuck Carlson and his disciples are taking it to the streets, demanding that pro-life churches practice what they preach and condemn war in Iraq. "Chuck Carlson stands in front of Calvary Community Church holding the sort of sign you'd expect to see at confrontations outside abortion clinics: "PRO-LIFE," the placard reads in bold red and blue letters on a white background.
No follower of the Prince of Peace, he says, should support a preemptive strike against another nation, even one as troublesome as Saddam Hussein's Iraq. To Carlson, himself a conservative Christian, it's simply inconsistent to be pro-life and not be anti-war."
Project Strait Gate is grateful to reporter Ortega for reporting it right in 2003, just weeks before the terrible Enduring Freedom operation destroyed the people and culture of Iraq. Ortega told me several years later he was surprised when his story won an Arizona Press Club award for best religious story of the 2003. He did not consider it religious.
The media cannot cover our events without airing our message; Christian Zionism is about War, and Israel is at the center of it. Mainstream media never airs this message unless they can dilute or misinterpret it. Project Strait Gate allows a minimum of dilution or distortion, thus our standoff with the mainline media. Our mission is to those who are present and who can hear.
This vigil was the easiest we have ever done because new, bright and dedicated people showed up... people who are ready and able to promote our message. Julie, who is a member of a humanitarian organization and has personally seen Gaza for herself, has only begun to see the churches' bloody hands in the annihilation of the Gazan children and mothers she has come to love. She joined us in order to act on what she had seen and understood.
Rudy from Houston came the farthest. Coming here from Mexico, now an American citizen and layman Pentecostal preacher, he is devastated by his church's failure to defend the innocent being killed in other lands with American bombs. Rudy drove to Phoenix for training, hoping to start a Houston unit of Project Strait Gate. Taking part in the vigil, he preached to the Hagee-ites as they passed. We were proud to have him, and you will meet him on our You Tube video of this event.
The leaders of two local Muslim groups, CARAMA and Al-Mahdi Foundation, joined us, and each brought young students along. Most evangelicals have never met a Muslim, and most passed by with averted eyes, into the Hagee event to hear talk of exterminating Muslims. Hani spoke quietly to those who passed, but few attendees of Night to Honor (Worship) Israel stopped to talk to him, much less attempt to convert them to Christianity, as evangelicals usually do. Maybe Hagee-ites realize they cannot both convert and kill Muslims!
I overheard one protester quietly ask a passing participant who paused, "how do you feel about Israel killing innocent people in Gaza?" "They did not kill enough of them," the man tossed back as he proceeded to the door of Night To (worship) Israel.
Jamal, the pastor of a Southern Arabic Baptist Church, was there for the first time to say he is one Baptist who understands that pro-life means protecting the lives of walking and talking children in far away places. Born in the West Bank, Jamal had worked in the Gaza Hospital years ago, and knew that Israel was systemically killing Gazans 20 years ago to encourage them to leave. He preached to those passing, and you will hear him on our You Tube video of the event.
Individuals from other organizations were there individually: a catholic school teacher, a Presbyterian educator, a Code Pink lady on her way to Gaza, and even a Jewish man who stopped for a while and held one of our signs opposing Israel.
And thanks to the faithful few who always attend and have supported us, too, when it was not so easy or enjoyable. Several of the nine men and women who posed for a photo of our first vigil on November 11, 2002, were there. Stalwarts from a time when we alone thought it was a good idea, and when the job was tough. (3)
Hagee's crowd was thinner than previous visits, but he is scheduling multiple meetings across the country. We passed out literature to about 25% of the estimated thousand or so who attended, less than half the crowd of two years ago. We reminded those attending of Hagee's calls for a preemptive strike on the Muslims of Iran, just as he demanded bombing Iraq twice, Lebanon twice, and Afghanistan and Palestine every day.
How are we doing, Mom? I think she would ask, "when do we win?" To answer that question we reread some lines we wrote in March 2003, before George Bush won reelection for his disastrous second term, and long before the Obama machine promised better but succumbed to Neo-conservative compromise, and when we said it best:
The Great Turning is taking place as we watch. Americans are not only turning away from war, but they will soon turn from those who make war. And they are beginning to look for those whom they should blame. This turning about is at first ponderous, like that of an ocean-going liner. But once started, it will be unstoppable. Gathering momentum, it will crash through anything in its path, even icebergs of ignorance. The strange and diverse anti-war movement is only a symptom of the awakening of a much greater slumbering mass of human energy soon to be brought to bear.
We Hold These Truths started Operation Strait Gate in order to expose the false doctrine in the churches and Christian institutions that have fallen for what Ariel Sharon calls "Christian-Zionism." We will continue to expose the bloody hands of evangelical churches' leaders and their terrible part in enabling the imprisonment and destruction of the Iraqi people and the Palestinian people. No alternative could be worse than a continuation of the indifference to death that tolerant immorality caused by the war plans aimed at the entire Muslim world and supported by the evangelical churches. No matter what hardship it may bring to us temporarily, The Turning allows us to consider a return to Godly reality. Let us rejoice. There is new hope that a collection of new allies will join in The Great Turning. C.E. Carlson Mar 18, 2003.
Project Strait Gate's next vigil will take place at Phoenix Marriott Mesa, Mesa, AZ 85201, on December 10, 2009. You are invited to come to Phoenix, but you may also organize your own vigil and help multiply your efforts. We can provide the know-how and all the materials you need; you can start with two or more live bodies.
For an overview of vigil at Night To Honor Israel please visit our new You Tube site to see the 2 part video at:
http://www.youtube.com/whttdotorg#p/a/u/ 0/m8q0TKHbEckHYPERLINKOur first event ... First Southern Baptist Church (11/10/02)
http://whtt.org/straitgate/index.php?id= 49
Israeli Flag over Calvary Chapel: http://whtt.org/straitgate/index.php?id= 49Tony Ortega of New Time Magazine, Peace-monger, February 13, 2003
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2003-02-1 3/news/peace-monger
The Great Turning, Ending Our Age of Serial Wars, by C.E. Carlson, Mar 18, 2003, http://whtt.org/index.php?news=2&id=136
For information about how you can start a team Vigil for Peace With Justice, go to Project Strait Gate or call our office. http://whtt.org/straitgate/index.php?id= 14&newWe Hold These Truths
Project Strait Gate
PO Box 14491
Scottsdale, AZ, 85267
http://www.whtt.org
Tom Usher
Standing Comment, all posts and pages:
To all homosexuals and their supporters, condoners, promoters, accepters, confirmers, and the like:
Unless you have something completely new that hasn't already been refuted, don't bother. It won't show up.
Rehashing what has already been refuted is a waste of everyone's time.
I'm not interested in casting pearls before swine, giving the children's bread to the dogs, or rebuking a forever scorner.
Learn or go away: There is zero wisdom in homosexuality. Homosexuality is wrong. Nothing any homosexual or anyone else can say or do will alter it. No one needs the Bible to know it either. It's prima facie. There's no such thing as an unrepentant-homosexual Christian. There never has been and never will be. That's the way of it. If you don't like it, change.
Do site searches on the various topics concerning homosexuality to determine if your "point" has already been handled. Currently, I provide three different search methods. The "WordPress" search is still the most thorough.
The same can be done regarding militarism, capitalism, coercion, and many other main issues and themes.
TREATMENT, RUDENESS, POLITENESS, OFFENSE, TRUTH
Many times over the course of this website's existence, I've had commentators complain about how I've treated them and/or others. Much less frequently has anyone taken exception to those commentator's comments. I assume that's because for one, I appear to be holding my own.
Often, I have raised the fact that Jesus called certain people "serpents." I've often also mentioned how he cleaned the temple with whip in hand, not that he used it on anyone. It certainly doesn't say that he did, and neither was he charged with it in the kangaroo court of the serpents who ended up murdering him by proxy just for, among other wonderful things, speaking out and speaking truth.
If I say that those who are engaged in serpentine behavior are the New Testament "serpents," then why take offense at my saying it rather than standing with Jesus and me about it?
If others don't like it that I treat others or them the way I have in this regard, why don't they take it up with the serpents and/or their own consciences and God?
If I wanted to catch flies, I'd use honey. I don't want flies on this level. Human beings aren't to be on the level of flies. If the truth is bitter as vinegar, then ask yourself why and learn to taste it as sweet but not sickeningly so. Why attack the message and messenger, as the serpents did, and become a serpent by so doing?
The issue is not "name calling" on some bratty, childish level. When Jesus said "serpents," he was not being as a brat. His level was completely adult to adults and children. He dared say that the children understood the clear and plain truth before the adults who, afterall, had been abused and socialized by the serpents. He still calls adults back. Those who hear him and know his voice (truth) turn around and do the other required things together as well.
What is it for a human being to be more serpentine or reptilian than what God initially gave? What was and remains Jesus's point? What is the reptilian brain versus the vastly higher human brain with its cerebral cortex and frontal and temporal lobes and specific areas of altruistic sentiments and abilities? What are those higher areas before they are damaged, before the communication pathways to them and between them are diminished by evil that is always some form of abuse? How are those pathways reestablished or created where they never were in this fleshly life?
The snake lays its eggs. The eggs hatch. The snake parent doesn't nurture or raise the offspring. It's every snake for itself. Human parents and family are not designed to be that way. Humans hand down the learning of nurturing. Many people get better training than do others, and many people have a greater aptitude for learning and predisposition for the higher and highest virtues. Many are less abused. People can change for the better and best though, no matter where the starting point. They only can't if they don't — if they reject it.
Snakes, of course, also come in venomous varieties and in strangling varieties, etc., such that they have been attackers and even devourers of humans for eons, guilty and innocent alike.
Now, Jesus knew that most people could relate to what were, and still are, largely considered "good" parenting skills and "good" "family" relations. He regularly used those concepts to get people to consider the wider implications for the whole of humanity. He did know that many would refuse. He let them go. He didn't demand secular or false-religion legislation to rein them in with threats of violence and imprisonment. He was not and is not coercive. Even his Church is a voluntary place to be.
What he still teaches (through the written words in the New Testament and as those connect with the Old and also teaches through the Holy Spirit he definitely sent as he said he would) is, among many other things, that "good" is vastly better than has been commonly accepted and that real "family" is everyone left after all the rest have rejected the higher and highest good. He raised the standards far above the Old Testament and far above the "modern" standard.
The American Empire and the American people in general aren't even touching the hem of his garment, let alone even attempting to stand upright and side-by-side with him.
I point out that Jesus was, and is, a Real Liberal Christian. He is the one who brought back this censored truth that is the light. After he had spoken it and lived it and was murdered for doing so, the censors set about to re-censor it and did. They couldn't put it out though — couldn't completely extinguish the truth. I wouldn't be saying it now again with all credit to God, just as Jesus, if they had been able to completely block it.
I point out that each of those terms ("real," "liberal," and "Christian," along with "Church") are actually redundant terms — synonyms that are so close that they become one. The term "liberal" here is not the common usage, which common usage is a deliberate corruption of the term. There is no harm in real liberalism. There is no vileness in it. There is only beneficence. "Real" may be understood as the opposite of false-hearted, dark side, and dead of the Holy Spirit. Christian is both real and liberal in those senses. To arrive at living, doing, being those full senses requires what Jesus lives, does, and is in the highest. Finally, the Church is the whole.
Who are they who want to drag it down, censor it, work against it, lessen it, ignore it, etc.? Well, who sides with Jesus and who sides against him? Did the serpents side with him then? Do they now?
We call war-mongers "hawks." We call "peacemakers" blessed and "doves." Why do the hawks not take offense at "hawks" but do take offense at "serpents"? "Hawks" is not yet as telling to the general public, but I must tell you that all hawks are serpents. Why do some say, "Greed is good" but take offense at "serpents"? I tell you there is no difference between the selfish and the serpents. Why do people take offense at serpents when they do not take offense at homosexuality? I tell you the homosexual spirit also comes out from the dark side. It is a choice. It is harmful. Many are abused with it. Many never overcome it. Their very brain matter is transformed by it. Then they claim it is good when it remains confusion and definitely wrong and harmful.
Many arguments were put forth in support of tolerance. I understood that Jesus "tolerated," as in he did not execute wrath but rather told the truth and let the blind follow the blind (blind to the truth) into the ditch of their own making. I have watched while the movement has been corrupted into condoning what was once only to be tolerated. I have watched further while it has moved from condoning to promoting even to the youngest children to get to them before the truth does. I have seen evil at work, and I sound the alarm. I face censorship and other negative reactions for it.
As the American Empire claims to be a light to the world, it murders innocent babies by Hellfire missiles fired from predator drones controlled by armchair, video-gaming serpents in uniform. It tortures those who are not even suspects. It spies on its own without even probable cause or reasonable suspicion. It lies its way into wars for spoils and control. It neglects its poor, whom it treads down for the sakes of the superrich — for the sake of the massive flow of mammon from the bottom up (no trickledown — trickledown is a farce and always has been). All is claimed to be okay in America though — that America is headed in the right direction — because soon, even "don't tell, don't ask" will be a thing of the quaint past and homosexuals may be able to sleep together and have sex in the barracks with the "blessing" of the Empire while they practice murdering the innocent for the sake of homosexual, greedy plutocrats who own them and who, in turn, are owned by the dark-side spirit named by God and Jesus as Satan.
Whose side are you on? I speak truth to warn. I don't tell the secular government what to do other than occasionally to say what at least would be less hypocritical within their fallen, unenlightened system. I do so for spiritual reasons. What I want is the Christian Commons.
Now, if you submit a comment:
What you write here against the Real Liberal Christian Church founded by Jesus Christ will mark you in the Biblical sense unless you show that you have turned and are repenting in time to escape the damnation of your own choosing. That's the way of it. Don't be tempted by the devil to stand opposed to the call of righteousness. Overcome such evil temptation. Help others to help yet others to come to righteous behavior through-and-through.
Check out how even after reading this, people will still take it out of context and twist it to an evil end.