Christian Fundamentalism, the Global Crusade and Muslims

Christian Fundamentalism, the Global Crusade and Muslims

Yoginder சிகாந்து

If Christian fundamentalists are to be believed, America's invasion ofIraq and the consequent brutal slaughter of thousands of innocentcivilians in that country are all part of a grand divine plan thatwill finally culminate in the 'second coming' of Jesus Christ.Establishing an empire that will extend all over the globe, Christwill rule like a powerful monarch, saving those who believe in him anddispatching non-believers, all non-Christians and non-conformistChristians, to everlasting perdition in hell. This is no childishnonsense for millions of Christian fundamentalists, who sincerelybelieve this to be predicted in the Bible. Not surprisingly, AmericanChristian fundamentalists are today among the most fanatic supportersof Bush's global imperialist wars, in Iraq and elsewhere, which theysee as in keeping with the divine mandate. They are no eccentric orlunatic fringe elements, for today Christian fundamentalists exercisea powerful influence in American politics. Among them is George Bushhimself, who insists that the American invasion of Iraq has beensanctioned by God, with whom he claims to be in personalcommunication.While the Western press is awash with stories, real and exaggerated,about 'Islamic fundamentalists', rarely is mention made aboutChristian fundamentalists, who, with their vast resources and closelinks with the current American administration, are a potentially moremenacing threat than their Muslim counterparts. According to newspaperreports more than a third of Americans are associated with one or theother Christian fundamentalist outfit, most of which are fiercelyanti-communist, anti-Muslim and are passionate advocates offree-market capitalism, global American hegemony and the myth of thecivilizing mission of white America. In recent years, thesefundamentalist groups have been engaged in aggressive missionary workin other countries as well, including in the so-called 'Third World'.Fired by a passionate hatred for other religions, which they dismissas 'false' and even 'Satanic', they are today among the mostwell-funded missionary groups in large parts of Asia and Africa.Crusading for Christ, these fundamentalist groups are not simply outfishing for souls. Rather, for them Christianity is only part of theagenda, which also includes aggressively promoting American andZionist interests. Today, these groups preach not only Christ but alsoPax Americana and even American-led imperialist wars, which they blessas holy causes to usher in the final arrival of Jesus.Texas-based author and preacher Michael Evans is one of the mostnotorious American Christian fundamentalist preachers today, apassionate advocate of war in the name of Christ. In a recentlypublished book, titled Beyond Iraq: The Next Move-Ancient Prophecy andModern-Day Conspiracy Collide (Whitestone Books, Florida, 2003), hespells out a grand design for American global hegemony, blessed in theguise of a holy global war. Key players in this 'divine' plot includethe CIA, the American government and army, and Israel, besides variousChristian fundamentalist outfits. The book is dedicated, among others,to what Evans describes as 'two old friends', Ehud Olmert, formerIsraeli Vice President, and the former Israeli Prime Minister,Benjamin Netanyahu. Equally revealingly, the book begins with aquotation which graces the lobby of the original headquarters of theCIA.Evans is no petty crank who claims to be God-possessed, although hiswritings might seem to suggest that. The jacket of the book describeshim as a 'TIME magazine best-selling author', who has appeared on theBBC and on American television channels and who has written for suchpapers as the Wall Street Journal and the Jerusalem Post. He hobnobswith the highest of American and Israeli politicians and religiousleaders, and is evidently taken very seriously in Christianfundamentalist circles. That Evans is also a passionate Bush-backer isamply evident in his clam that, 'I know, from a first hand, personalinterview with him that Bush is a man of faith who believes in theBible'.Evans is the founder of the 'Jerusalem Prayer Team', which, he says,he established after having been visited by God in a vision. Amongthose who participated in the inauguration of his outfit were suchnames as Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, allnotorious American Christian fundamentalist leaders, Governor DickPerry and Representative Dick Armey, and Benjamin Netanyahu, formerIsraeli Prime Minister. Thousands of others in America and elsewhere,so he claims, have joined his movement in the aftermath of 11September, 2001. His ultimate aim, he writes, is to have one million'intercessors praying daily for the peace of Jesus and God'sprotection for Israel' so that 'demonic powers will be defeated byholy angels in a battle that cannot be seen with the natural eye'.A fierce Christian Zionist, Evans has close links with the Israeliestablishment. The book's jacket states that he received the'Ambassador Award' from the government of Israel and relates that hehas been 'a confidante to most of Israel's prime ministers and to bothof Jerusalem's mayors'. The jacket quotes Benjamin Netanyahu aspraising Evans for having 'consistently demonstrated the moral claritythat is necessary to defend Israel from the lies and distortions ofits enemies'. This is no empty boast: the book contains pictures ofEvans with Menachem Begin endorsing his first book, 'Israel: America'sKey To Survival', praying with Shimon Peres, comforting Jewish victimsof a bomb blast in Israel, launching the 'Jerusalem Prayer Team' alongwith Jerusalem's mayor, pledging support to Israel before YitzhakShamir along with half a million signatures of fellow Christians,championing Israel's cause at the royal palace in Madrid and keepingcompany with American soldiers in Lebanon and Somalia. *Christianity, War and the 'Defence' of IsraelFor Evans, and numerous other rabid Christian fundamentalist preachersof hate like him, one of the most crucial purposes of America'sinvasion of Iraq is the 'defence' of Israel, which he regards as asolemn Christian duty. If till recently Jews were routinely reviled bythe Church as 'Christ-killers', and, accordingly, hounded by Christianauthorities, many of today's Christian fundamentalists, like Evans,are passionate advocates of the state of Israel. This does not,however, represent any shift in their fervent belief, intrinsic tomainstream Christianity, that non-Christians, Jews included, aredestined for Hell. Rather, it is part of a wider conversion agenda.Jesus, they believe, will return to the world to rule only once theJews have 'returned' to Palestine and have rebuilt the temple of Davidthat was destroyed almost two thousand years ago. After this momentousevent, many Jews will convert to Christianity and those who refuse towill be sent to hell. Till then, Christian fundamentalists argue, theJews and their state must be passionately defended from their'enemies', who are invariably identified as Arabs and Muslims.The 'defence' of Israel, a central point in the Christianfundamentalist agenda, is typically argued in racist terms. Israel,Christian fundamentalists believe, are God's 'chosen people', and theyquote the Bible as making this claim, suggesting, therefore, thatnon-Jewish peoples are somehow lesser beings. Evans, too, makes thispoint and argues that according to the Bible 'God will bless those whobless Israel' and will 'curse those who curse it'. 'History records',he says, 'that God deals with nations in accordance with how thosenations deal with Israel'. Hence, in the 'defence' of Israel,Christians, Evans argues, have no choice. If they are true to theirfaith, he says, they must join hands with America in its war for'defending' Israel, and must 'support Israel in every possible way'.'We must either choose Mount Zion [Jerusalem] and be among those whoobey the voice of the Spirit of the Lord', he writes, 'or we will beleft to the passions of our flesh, drinking the wine of her [Bablyon'sor Iraq's] fornication'.The invasion of Iraq, and the broader American 'war on terror', is,Evans says, is akin to 'divine light [.] proclaiming like a trumpet aspiritual battle of monumental proportions', pitting Babylon, theBiblical Iraq, the 'spiritual centre of darkness', against Jerusalemor contemporary Israel, the 'spiritual centre of light'. But so thatthis 'divine light' should spread beyond the confines of Babylon,Evans pleads for America to extend its war all over the globe, toevery country that dares to challenge American supremacy and the stateof Israel. This war, he says, should aim at the elimination of all'terrorists', defined as those who refuse to support Israeli andAmerican interests. In this, the invasion and occupation of Iraq is ofvital importance, Evans says, because it will 'become a US base' todestroy 'terrorist' networks elsewhere in the Middle East andeventually to usher in what he calls 'the apocalyptic battle' ofArmageddon, 'the final battles of the ages' as allegedly 'prophesiedin Daniel, Jeremiah and Revelations', chapters of the Bible.America, as Evans sees it, must be ready to sacrifice itself toprotect Israel, because that, he says, is precisely what the ChristianGod wants. Hence, Palestinians resisting the illegal occupation oftheir land and all those who opposed to Israel and its imperialist andexpansionist policies must be crushed with the might of American arms,he insists. The Christian God does not brook any peace with suchpeople, he argues. The Bible, he announces, says that those who fightagainst Israel, God's supposedly chosen people and recipients of His'special blessing', would be destroyed by God Himself. He quotes theBible as declaring: 'And this shall be the plague with which the Lordwill strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their fleshshall dissolve while they stand on their feet. Their eyes shalldissolve in their sockets. And their tongues shall dissolve in theirmouths'.Given this supposed divine backing, Evans exhorts America to invadeand subjugate all countries opposed to Israel, specifically namingLebanon, Syria and Iran. The ultimate agenda, he says, is to destroythese countries and establish what Zionists call Eretz or GreaterIsrael, extending to and including Iraq. This is because, Evans quotesthe Bible as saying, God allegedly gave this vast stretch of land,from the Nile to the Euphrates, to Abraham and his son Isaac and hisdescendants, ancestors of the Jews, as a covenant and as their'everlasting possession'. Echoing hardliner Zionists, Evans insiststhat there can be no peace with the Palestinians at any cost, because,he claims, the Christian God is opposed to this. If Israel and Americaare to faithfully abide by the Christian God's will, he says, theymust not let anything get in the way of the establishment of EretzIsrael. Thus, various peace proposals that involve any territorialconcessions on the part of Israel are ruled out. This is because, asEvans alleges, God has given the entire territory to the Jews tilleternity.Christianity and the New Anti-Muslim CrusadeAs for the Arabs and Muslims more generally, Evans seems to suggestthat the Christian God desires that they be humiliated, subjugated andcrushed. Thus, he quotes the Bible as saying that while God speciallyblessed Isaac and his descendants, the Jews, he had a different planin mind for the Arabs, descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's other son.Referring to Ishmael Evans quotes the Bible as saying, 'He will be awild man; His hand shall be against every man and every man's handagainst him'. This racist stereotype, so deeply rooted in traditionalChristian discourse about Muslims, is held by Evans to be what hecalls 'a fitting description of the Arab terrorist' and, presumably,as justifying the annihilation of the Arab people, as well as otherMuslims. Evans goes so far in vilifying Arabs and Muslims as to callMuhammad a proto-terrorist, alleging that he had banished and killedJews for not believing in him. 'Terrorism', he claims, is a logicalconsequence of Islam, and he argues that 'Muhammad set a sordidexample for his present-day disciples, the Qadafis, Khomeinis, Arafatsand bin Ladens and Husseins of this world'. Claiming knowledge of theunseen, he even announces that Islam is 'a malevolent manifestation ofa religion conceived in the pit of hell'.Evans thus equates Islam with the forces of the 'Anti-Christ', againstwhom he appeals to Christians to marshal all the resources at theircommand. Ironically, while spewing hatred and calling for a globalwar, he presents Christianity as peace-loving, contrasting it withIslam, which he equates with 'terrorism'. 'Christianity differs fromIslam as day differs from night', he claims, completely unmindful ofthe sordid and blood-soaked history of the faith he claims tochampion. In the same breath as he issues a general summons toChristians to wage war in the name of their faith he refers to theBible as instructing Christians to 'turn the other cheek' whenslapped, in order to argue that, unlike Christianity, Islam is aninherently vile religion, equating it with what he terms 'the law ofthe bullet, militancy, treachery, terrorism and violence'.Christianity, America and OilChristian fundamentalists are ardent advocates of free-marketcapitalism, having played a key role in America's war againstcommunism during the Cold War. Christ, capitalism and Americansupremacy go together, Evans believes, and so, while announcing thatan American-spearheaded global war is precisely what Christ mandates,he approvingly quotes Isser Harel, founder of the Israeli secretservices' organization Mossad, who speaks of the 'terror' threat toAmerica's 'freedom', 'capitalism' and 'power', and exhorts America totake appropriate defence measures. Evans goes so far as to advise theAmerica to capture all the oil wealth in Arab lands in order toprevent 'terrorists' from using oil wealth to target Israel, home toGod's supposedly 'special people'. A more ingenuous excuse to justifyAmerican greed could hardly be devised!Since Muslims, especially the Arabs, are branded virtually as agentsof the Devil, Evans argues that America, as self-appointed agent ofChrist, should have no qualms about invading oil-rich Arab lands. Thiswould, he says, break America's dependence on Muslim countries for oilwhich. If America seizes all Arab oil-fields, it would, he says,sharply reduce oil prices, forcing Muslim countries 'to their knees',giving them only two options: 'cooperate with the war on terror or gobankrupt'. At the same time as he exhorts America to invade and occupyall the countries, no matter what the human cost, Evans warns that itshould not be serious about its rhetoric of exporting 'democracy' tothe Middle East, for, he argues, it would lead to anti-American andanti-Israeli Islamists taking over.Invasion of Iraq and the Ushering in of Global Christendom and Pax-AmericanaEvans sees America's invasion and occupation of Iraq as the unfoldingof a divine plan for the world. It is not nothing less than what hecalls a grand 'spiritual battle', between Christianity and Satanicforces and 'demons', as represented by Muslims and othernon-Christians. Accordingly, he fervently welcomes America's invasionof Iraq and pleads that America should expand the theatre of war byinvading various other, mostly Muslim, countries.The murder and destruction that America has wrought in Iraq is nothingto grieve about, Evans seems to suggest. It is a price, he argues,that God is supposedly exacting from முச்ளிம்ஸ்

for having been 'coerced'by Satan to 'loathe' the Jews, 'God's Chosen People'. It is also adivine punishment, he says, for Iraq having allegedly possessing'deadly chemical, biological or nuclear weapons', echoing the bogusclaim made by Bush, Blair and their henchmen which they used tojustify their invasion of that country. Weak-hearted Christians whomight disagree are advised to all in line, for, Evans says, this isprecisely what the Bible predicts and what God mandates. 'I will raiseagainst Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country,for she has sinned against God', the Jewish prophet Jeremiah is saidto have announced, and Evans takes this as evidence of his claim thatthe American invasion of Iraq is demanded by God and that all Americais doing is to faithfully follow God's will.Iraq, the Biblical Babylon, Evans insists, represents the forces ofSatan, and hence deserves to be crushed by America, God's agent,through invasion and war. 'Babylon is fallen, that great city, becauseshe has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of herfornication', he quotes the Bible as saying. 'I will rise up againstthem [.] I will cut off from Babylon her name and survivors, heroffspring and descendants [.] I will turn her into a place for owlsand into swampland. I will sweep her with the broom of destruction',Evans quotes the Biblical God as having declared. He marshals otherBiblical verses to press the argument about Iraq being allegedlyinherently 'evil' and hence deserving harsh repression at Americanhands. Eve and Adam are said to have committed the 'first sin' there;it was in Iraq that occult and astrology were invented;Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, conquered Israel and enslaved theJews; the Babylonians built the Tower of Babel, thereby defying God bytrying to reach heaven without His permission; and the Bible describesBabylon as the 'seat' of the Anti-Christ and the 'Beast', the 'seat ofSatan's evil', in contrast to Jerusalem, the 'seat of God'srighteousness', against whom it is destined to be pitted in the finalbattle that will usher in Jesus' 'second coming'.In all, then, Evan argues, America is simply acting as the ChristianGod's handmaiden in wreaking destruction and death in Iraq. Instead ofbeing blamed or castigated for this, he argues, it should be praised.This destruction is Biblically mandated, he repeats, for the Bible hasannounced that, 'Babylon, the great, has fallen and has become adwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cagefor every unclean and hated bird [.] Therefore, her plague will comein one day-death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterlyburned with fire [.] Thus with violence the great city Babylon shallbe thrown down and shall not be found anymore'.But this terrible destruction in Iraq is only the beginning of abloody trail of events mandated by a supposedly blood-thirsty andvengeful God. According to Evans' reading of the Bible, the Americaninvasion of Iraq is what he calls 'the dress-rehearsal' for the grandglobal battle of Armageddon between the forces of Christ and Satan.Prior to this battle, he quotes the Bible as saying, 'demons andspirits' bound up in the Euphrates in Iraq will be released, and, withan army of 200 million, will kill off a third of the world's totalinhabitants through nuclear war. This grand battle, Evans writes, isnot far off. Hence, he appeals to Christians to 'put on the armour ofGod' and 'engage in spiritual battle'. Now, is the time, he says, toprepare for the impending return of Christ. Presumably, after Iraq isdestroyed through the agency of the Americans, Christ will suddenlyappear in Jerusalem and establish his global empire, ushering in theend of the world as we know it.Horrendous as Evans' views are, they do find a powerful echo inChristian fundamentalist circles today, more so given their growinginfluence in policy-making circles in the West, particularly inAmerica. If the world is to be saved from the Armageddon that Evansand his ilk are bent on calling down from the heavens it is imperativethat Western imperialism and Christian fundamentalism be interrogated,challenged and opposed, particularly by sincere Christians themselves.