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Tag(s): Ann Coulter; Christianity; Equal; Evil; Faith; Future; God; Injustice; Israel-Palestinian Conflict; Judaism Jewish; (more...) Materialism; Money; Occupation; People Jesus Christ; Prophet; Religion And Spirituality; Secular; Tikkun Healing The World (less...)
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August 16, 2008 at 13:20:53

Why I am the Left's Response to Coulter and NOT a "Pro-Palestinian Blogger"

by Eileen Fleming Page 1 of 3 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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I admit I have not read more than a book jacket cover to any of Ann Coulter's books- nor more than a few sentences of anything she has written- but I could not miss how anti-Christ her Christianity is.

While I write on a variety of topics, I have been pigeon-holed a "Pro-Palestinian Blogger" because I have been to the occupied Palestinian territories five times since June 2005, and never shut up about what I saw, heard, and felt in my gut, and continue to learn. But what I am is pro-equal human rights, pro-justice, pro-international law, pro-democracy and pro-what Jesus taught, and everything he taught was filtered through his world view as a Palestinian Jew who was born, lived and died under Roman Military Occupation. Even a short stay in occupied territory can irrevocably change one. One sees things one had never imagined and hears much that is unimaginable, and the oppression is visceral. When one learns of one's own culpability - by virtue of being a USA tax payer - in the ongoing injustices Israel commits, one should become righteously enraged.

In a 2004 column, Coulter summarized her view of Christianity:

"Jesus' distinctive message was: People are sinful and need to be redeemed, and this is your lucky day because I'm here to redeem you even though you don't deserve it, and I have to get the crap kicked out of me to do it...I'm a Christian first and a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative second, and don't you ever forget it...Christianity fuels everything I write."[1]

Christianity fuels everything I write, too.

But, there is nothing Christian about mean-spiritedness, bigotry or conservatism.

God created all beings and all things and said they were all good!

Christians agree that God is love, but many part ways when it comes to comprehending that:

"Love is not the starving of whole populations. Love is not the bombardment of open cities. Love is not killing.... Our manifesto is the Sermon on the Mount, which means that we will try to be peacemakers." -Dorothy Day

Coulter was raised with a silver spoon and by a Catholic father. I came of age in lower middle class Levittown, Long Island [same town as Eddie Money and Mr. Bill O'Reilly] by two Catholic parents. Neither Ann nor I are members of any particular denomination, and we are poles apart on what Jesus was all about.

Jesus went around saying that he only did what he saw the Father doing and he always quoted the Hebrew prophets for back up.

In the Gospel [good news] told in Mark 3: 31-35, the mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house where he was teaching. Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him out. The crowd around Jesus told him, "Your mother, sisters and brothers are outside asking for you."

Jesus replied, "I am here with my mother, sisters and brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother, sister and mother."-Mark 3: 31-35

"What does God require? He has told you o' man! Be just, be merciful, and walk humbly with your Lord." -Micah 6:8

Being just means correct, true, accurate, right and fair. Merciful is to have, feel and show compassion, that sense of viscerally feeling the pain of another and then being moved to help. Being humble is knowing yourself; the good and the bad, for both cut through every human heart.

All Christians - from the most fundamental to liberal and left - are connected to every other as a sister and brother in the mystical Body of Christ. While I rhetorically vehemently oppose Coulter's Christianity, we are in the same dysfunctional family. Believers are to provoke other believers onto good works and refrain from judging non-believers.

1 | 2 | 3

http://www.wearewideawake.org/

Eileen is the Reporter and Editor of
wearewideawake.org

Producer of "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu" Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory" and an e-book; "So, That was 54..."

She has been to Israel Palestine five times since June 2005 and will return November 2008.

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3 comments

The articles reflect additional thoughts that expand on the author's ten volumes Genesis Begins the Millennia. The work begins in 1995 with a fictional account of ordinary Israelis absorbed with everyday events. There are extraordinary happenings the characters gradually recognize as portents of the Messianic Age. Volumes four and five show why the Messiah decided to delay His arrival.
Volumes six through ten [Tradebombers] begin six weeks before the 9/11 World Trade Center tragedy. Again,...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Jason PazThe articles reflect additional thoughts that expand on the author's ten volumes Genesis Begins the Millennia. The work begins in 1995 with a fictional account of ordinary Israelis absorbed with everyday events. There are extraordinary happenings the characters gradually recognize as portents of the Messianic Age. Volumes four and five show why the Messiah decided to delay His arrival.
Volumes six through ten [Tradebombers] begin six weeks before the 9/11 World Trade Center tragedy. Again,...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Does the World Need Morality Lectures from Americans?

We have witnessed the Christian art of perfection in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. We see six USNavy Carrier Attack Groups steaming to the Persian Gulf. They lack the troops to enforce perfectionon of the Iranians. They might initiate a nuclear purefication of the entire population. Would this be as satisfying as perfection to Christians?

Having lost three aggressive wars in Asia, do Americans really expect any reward from the nations they so viciously attacked? If the USA deserves compensation from Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, the Palestinians merit welfare and cookies from the Israelis.

If the USA spends $10.1 billions monthly to savage her 'enemy' Iraq, her pal Israel deserves $250 millions monthly [two enemy incursions repulsed in 2006].

The rest of the world doesn't need lectures on morality from Americans.

by Jason Paz (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 80 comments) on Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 4:41:14 AM

Eileen is the Reporter and Editor of wearewideawake.orgProducer of "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu" Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory" and an e-book; "So, That was 54..."She has been to Israel Palestine five times since June 2005 and will return November 2008.
Eileen FlemingEileen is the Reporter and Editor of wearewideawake.orgProducer of "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu" Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory" and an e-book; "So, That was 54..."She has been to Israel Palestine five times since June 2005 and will return November 2008.

Dear Jason

You missed the point of the article, which is a call for authentic Christianity, and bombing, torturing, occupying others is NOT Christian at all.

“There are two Christianities in our midst. One worships a punitive father and seeks obedience at all costs. It is patriarchal, demonizes woman, the earth, science, gays, lesbians, and deep thought. It builds on fear and it supports empire-builders. Its theology includes a punitive father in the sky and teaches original sin. Forget original sin; remember original blessing.

“The other Christianity recognizes the original blessing that all beings derive from. We recognize awe, not sin, not guilt, as the starting point of true religion. We recognize a divinity who is source of all things and is as much mother as father, as much female as male. We honor creation and diversity. When God created everything, He pronounced it all good. We are here to make love to life. Yes, we are here to make love to life.

“Delight in creation and take your dreams into our politics and institutions. We live in the midst of a suicidal economy, motivated by love of money. We have reached a dead end. What we need to turn it around are hearts in love with life. How do we do it?

“We first must move from domination to partnership, and we begin by educating our young in awe and wonder, not how to take tests. Awe leads to reverence, which leads to gratitude, which will reinvent our species. This is the task of our generation: to regain awe. The three R’s need to be balanced by the ten C’s: contemplation, creativity, chaos, compassion, courage, critical consciousness, community, celebration, ceremony, and character.

“In community, people remain united, despite everything that divides them. In capitalist society, people are isolated, separated, despite everything that should hold them together. We are in the midst of an epic struggle between community and capitalistic society. We need a new narrative."

Chapter 12: The Revolution Has Begun

Excerpted from KEEP HOPE ALIVE

“The Revolution starts now, when you rise above your fear and tear the walls round you down.”-Steve Earle

by Eileen Fleming (149 articles, 53 quicklinks, 267 diaries, 584 comments) on Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 6:05:12 AM

Dear Eileen

Beyond a doubt, you have not bombed, tortured or enslaved [occupied] anyone. You have visited Palestine on many occasions; I married into an Arab/Israeli family of 300 cousins.

My Jewish natural son and my Muslim stepson have both served honorably in the Israel Defense Force.

All organized religions offer a guide to a moral way of life. However, none of them has succeeded in persuading the bulk of their adherents to walk the path.

Everyone errs over 100’s of years. Redemption may be good for the individual, but ineffective nation-wide.

By latest count 179 nations have adopted capitalism as a behavioral economic model. Last year all of these nations have enjoyed rates of growth higher than the US. Consequently, capitalism is much more popular than democracy or any one form of religion.

In answer to Coulter, I can say with certainty that none of my relatives wants to convert to Christianity even with her fast track to heaven. Everyone in my family is enthusiastic about having a job and being able to shop at the mall. Nobody desires a war that would put his hard-earned property at risk. What kind of kid throws stones at soldiers when he could be checking out the girls at the mall?

by Jason Paz (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 80 comments) on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 3:13:54 AM