Carter's Christian Triumphalism
Below I mention a quotation at the Corner which references the Christian approach of Carter's new book:I'm reading Carter's book right now. I'm shocked by how Christian itis. A running theme is that not only are the Muslims being oppressed by the Jews, but so are the Christians. I know Rich and others have mentioned that odd line about the treatment of the Samaritans in the age of the Pharisees, but I'm still astonished that it's not being talked about more. Carter's book, at least to me, seems like a pretty obvious attempt to turn Christian America against Israel, and I think the wink-and-nod line about the Samaritans makes that clear.This religion inflected attitude of Jimmy Carter towards Israel is nothing new.
Here's a quote retailing Carter's perspective on Israel as addressed to Golda Meir.
On his first visit to the Jewish state in the early 1970s, Carter, who was then still the governor of Georgia, met with Prime Minister Golda Meir, who asked Carter to share his observations about his visit. Such a mistake she never made.
"With some hesitation," Carter writes, "I said that I had long taught lessons from the Hebrew Scriptures and that a common historical pattern was that Israel was punished whenever the leaders turned away from devout worship of God. I asked if she was concerned about the secular nature of her Labor government."
Jews, in my experience, tend to become peevish when Christians, their traditional persecutors, lecture them on morality, and Carter reports that Meir was taken aback by his "temerity." He is, of course, paying himself a compliment. Temerity is mandatory when you are doing God's work, and Carter makes it clear in this polemical book that, in excoriating Israel for its sins -- and he blames Israel almost entirely for perpetuating the hundred-year war between Arab and Jew -- he is on a mission from God.
Labels: anti-semitism, Carter, Christianity
posted by Alcibiades @ 12:20 AM
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