Blunderov
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"We think in generalities, we live in details"
  
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Support for Israel is "unconstitutional".
« on: 2009-03-25 12:32:43 » |
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http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2009/03/an-army-of-extremists.html
An Army of Extremists
Christopher Hitchens in Slate:
Peering over the horrible pile of Palestinian civilian casualties that has immediately resulted, it's fairly easy to see where this is going in the medium-to-longer term. The zealot settlers and their clerical accomplices are establishing an army within the army so that one day, if it is ever decided to disband or evacuate the colonial settlements, there will be enough officers and soldiers, stiffened by enough rabbis and enough extremist sermons, to refuse to obey the order. Torah verses will also be found that make it permissible to murder secular Jews as well as Arabs. The dress rehearsals for this have already taken place, with the religious excuses given for Baruch Goldstein's rampage and the Talmudic evasions concerning the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Once considered highly extreme, such biblical exegeses are moving ever closer to the mainstream. It's high time the United States cut off any financial support for Israel that can be used even indirectly for settler activity, not just because such colonization constitutes a theft of another people's land but also because our Constitution absolutely forbids us to spend public money on the establishment of any religion.
More here.
http://www.slate.com/id/2214440/?
[Blunderov] Quite a good point.
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Comments
If our constitution does forbid establishing religion in places other than the U.S. (where does it say that?), then why are we
bolstering the Muslim faith in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After all we have Jewish soldiers in Iraq and Iraq refuses to recognize the right of Israel to exist. Afghanistan is a one-religion nation, as are Saudi Arabia et al..we give more money to the Muslim Egypt than to any other nation save Israel.
I too dislike the settlements and the zealots--hey, Hamas is peace-loving, right? but cutting off all aid while peace talks are in the offing seems the wrong way to bring stability to the region.
Posted by: fred lapides | Mar 25, 2009 11:30:39 AM <snip>
[Blunderov] Perhaps not such a good point - Israel specifically declares itself to be the Jewish state. If this is not racist then surely it must be "religiousist"? But in any case, if the point about the constitution is correct, the USA has no business supporting any theocracies whatsoever. Which, I think, would be a rather good thing.
Clearly we are in the realm of realpolitik where those who make the laws are above the law. This has been confirmed over and over and over again - in particular during this last decade or so - but I suppose it was ever thus. We appear not to have made an ounce of social progress. Probably we deserve the apparently rapidly looming extinction of our species.
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