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Cognitive Dissonance 101: John Hagee Reaches Out to Jews

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Submitted by gretavo on Tue, 2010-05-18 17:05.

Why Christian Zionists Really Support Israel

Opinion

By John C. Hagee

Published May 12, 2010, issue of May 21, 2010.

On May 23, pastors, ministers and priests at more than 1,500 churches in all 50 states and over 50 foreign countries will dedicate their Sunday services to teaching the importance of Christian support for Israel.

On that day — the second annual Christians United for Israel Sunday — church leaders will speak to their congregants about God’s enduring covenant with Abraham and the Jewish people, including God’s promise in Genesis 12:3 that He will bless those who bless Israel. Worshippers will learn about the tragedies of Jewish history. Christian leaders will speak the truth about our culpability and silence during the Holocaust, pogroms and Crusades. The message at churches around the world will be clear and unequivocal: Christians can never again be silent in the face of threats to the Jewish people.

Christians attending these churches will also learn about the miraculous rise of the modern State of Israel and the existential threats it faces today. Many will leave church with a better understanding of the dangers of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Palestinian terror and the international campaign against Israel’s legitimacy.

As is the case for many Jews, our support for Israel starts with God’s promises in the Hebrew Bible, but it does not end there. Christian Zionists recognize that we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Jewish people. As I have stressed to my Christian audiences for years: If you take away the Jewish contribution to Christianity, there would be no Christianity. From the patriarchs to the prophets, from Jesus and his family to the men who wrote down the Bible, Jewish people have provided us with the fundamentals of our faith.

Christian Zionists also recognize that Israel is not the cause of militant Islam’s hatred of America, but an ally in the fight against militant Islam. Until 9/11 and the ensuing events, Israel largely confronted this threat alone. And to this day the frontline of this conflict remains Israel’s backyard. But Christian Zionists understand that Israel is merely militant Islam’s first target. While American and Israeli soldiers do not fight on the same battlefield, they defend the same values.

Given the history of Christian antisemitism, I am not at all surprised that many in the Jewish community are skeptical of Christian support for Israel. Some worry that our efforts are motivated by a desire to convert Jews. Others posit that our Zionism is tied to an effort to speed the second coming of Jesus. Both of these allegations are flat wrong. All we ask of our Jewish friends is that they get to know us before they judge us harshly on the basis of myths such as these.

Like all people of faith, we Christians firmly believe that our religion is true. But we also believe in religious freedom and have enormous respect for the Jewish faith. The first rule adopted by Christians United for Israel was that there would be no proselytizing at our events. CUFI exists only to honor and support the Jewish people, never to convert them.

Regarding the other allegation, the fact is that the vast majority of Christian Zionists and Evangelicals do not believe there is anything we can do to hasten the second coming of Jesus. Our theology is clear that we humans are utterly powerless to change God’s timetable. Yes, like many Jews we do believe that the creation of Israel was the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. And like our Jewish friends we also search the Scriptures to understand what may come next in God’s plans for His creation. But since we are powerless to change these plans, our motives for standing with Israel come from elsewhere. They are the motives discussed above.

Another concern that some individuals have expressed is that Christian Zionists will use our influence to stand in the way of efforts to advance a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Such a claim shows a complete disregard for our record. Like many supporters of Israel, some Christian Zionists have certainly grown skeptical of land-for-peace in the face of the failures of this formula the last few times it was tried. Yet from our founding four years ago, we decided that CUFI would never presume to tell Jerusalem how to conduct its foreign or domestic affairs. We have never, and will never, oppose Israeli efforts to advance peace. Our involvement in the peace process will continue to be restricted to defending Israel’s right to make decisions free of international interference or pressure — including U.S. pressure.

We cannot change the past. But we can try to learn from it. During the Holocaust there were Christians who risked their lives to save Jewish families. Christian Zionists believe that the tradition of the righteous gentile has an important role in the world today. We are not the heroes they were. We do not have to risk our lives as they did. But following their example, we will stand with the Jewish people as they face threats of a second Holocaust from Hitler’s ideological kin in Tehran and elsewhere.

Christian support for Israel starts with the Bible, is strengthened by an understanding of history and endures because of the Judeo-Christian commitment to democratic values. Everything that forms the Christian understanding of the world leads to the same conclusion: Christians should support Israel because it is simply the right thing to do.

Pastor John C. Hagee is founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel.

David's avatar

David · 5 days ago

Thank you, Pastor Hagee. I appreciate both your work and your understanding of the skepticism felt by many Jews about Christian support for Israel; if only men like you had been at the forefront of Jewish-Christian relations for the last few centuries! Here's to a future colored more by mutual respect and friendship than skepticism.
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Rachel Tabachnick · 5 days ago

Hagee’s 2003 sermon series “Iraq: The Final War” was marketed in audio and video format. The back of the case cover states:

“The war between America and Iraq is the gateway to the apocalypse... Bible prophecy is absolutely accurate. God knows the future and has revealed it in great detail in the Bible. During this series , you will receive a guided tour of the future.”

(Hagee markets his prophecy sermons internationally in audio and video format including series with titles like “Prophecy for the 21st Century” which included four sermons about the imminent end times. The first sermon is advertised as “he [Hagee] shows you in scripture why we are the terminal generation that will see the coming of Jesus Christ.” The third sermon is about the destruction of "Rome and Romanism." The advertisement for Prophecy for the 21st Century can be viewed at the beginning of the DVD version of Jerusalem: Countdown to Crisis, the 2006 sermon series which included Hagee's infamous Hitler as a hunter quote. For more information on that sermon see "Saving Jews from John Hagee" by Rachel Tabachnick. Hagee broadcast his end times prophecy sermons internationally including through his own radio and television studio. The San Antonio Express reported that Hagee's GETV compensation package was almost 1.25 million in 2001.)

Hagee in “Final Dawn over Jerusalem”?

Hillel was an extremist teaching that a man could divorce his wife "for every cause." According to Hillel, a husband could divorce his wife for talking too loudly... The followers of Jesus were constantly trying to lure Jesus into this raging doctrinal dispute...From that moment on Jesus was seen as a living devil to the Pharisees who followed Hillel.  They plotted to have him killed. These were “the Jews” that Jesus said were of their “father the devil.” These are “the Jews” that interrogated the parents of the blind man until they shook with ear. These are “the Jews” from whom Jesus’ disciples were hiding behind closed doors. These are “the Jews” that Christians have used for 2,000 years to condone religious hatred, rape, murder, and execution.

Hagee in “Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World”
(note that a revised edition was titled “Jerusalem Countdown: Prelude to War)

In a chapter titled “Who is a Jew,” Hagee begins with the verse from Romans 9:6, “For they are not all Israel who are of Israel.” He continues with the explanation that some Jews will have divine election but explains that there are other Jews that descended from Esau, which he describes as the “half-breed Jews of history who have persecuted and murdered the Jews beyond comprehension.” Hagee describes Haman as part of this "half-breed" lineage and also Adolf Hitler.

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Rachel Tabachnick · 5 days ago

Hagee’s 2003 sermon series “Iraq: The Final War” was marketed in audio and video format. The back of the case cover states:

“The war between America and Iraq is the gateway to the apocalypse... Bible prophecy is absolutely accurate. God knows the future and has revealed it in great detail in the Bible. During this series , you will receive a guided tour of the future.”

(Hagee markets his prophecy sermons internationally in audio and video format including series with titles like “Prophecy for the 21st Century” which included four sermons about the imminent end times. The first sermon is advertised as “he [Hagee] shows you in scripture why we are the terminal generation that will see the coming of Jesus Christ.” The third sermon is about the destruction of "Rome and Romanism." The advertisement for Prophecy for the 21st Century can be viewed at the beginning of the DVD version of Jerusalem: Countdown to Crisis, the 2006 sermon series which included Hagee's infamous Hitler as a hunter quote. For more information on that sermon see "Saving Jews from John Hagee" by Rachel Tabachnick. Hagee broadcast his end times prophecy sermons internationally including through his own radio and television studio. The San Antonio Express reported that Hagee's GETV compensation package was almost 1.25 million in 2001.)

Hagee in “Final Dawn over Jerusalem”?

Hillel was an extremist teaching that a man could divorce his wife "for every cause." According to Hillel, a husband could divorce his wife for talking too loudly... The followers of Jesus were constantly trying to lure Jesus into this raging doctrinal dispute...From that moment on Jesus was seen as a living devil to the Pharisees who followed Hillel.  They plotted to have him killed. These were “the Jews” that Jesus said were of their “father the devil.” These are “the Jews” that interrogated the parents of the blind man until they shook with ear. These are “the Jews” from whom Jesus’ disciples were hiding behind closed doors. These are “the Jews” that Christians have used for 2,000 years to condone religious hatred, rape, murder, and execution.

Hagee in “Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World”
(note that a revised edition was titled “Jerusalem Countdown: Prelude to War)

In a chapter titled “Who is a Jew,” Hagee begins with the verse from Romans 9:6, “For they are not all Israel who are of Israel.” He continues with the explanation that some Jews will have divine election but explains that there are other Jews that descended from Esau, which he describes as the “half-breed Jews of history who have persecuted and murdered the Jews beyond comprehension.” Hagee describes Haman as part of this "half-breed" lineage and also Adolf Hitler.

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AJS · 5 days ago

Thank you Pastor Hagee. You have changed the paradigm of Christian-Jewish relations for the better, and despite criticism from some in the Jewish community, please hear those of us who welcome your outstretched arm. May you be strengthened in your efforts, and blessed always.
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Sam · 5 days ago

For Hagee and his ilk to write about the reason for their support for Isael without mentioning The Book of Revelation is like talking about Nazi atrocities without mentioning Jews.

This last book of the New Testament is the original Final Solution to the Jewish Question. In it Jesus comes back and kills 2/3 of the Jews for rejecting him. Hagee and his ilk go up to heaven in The Rapture.

All of this requires a world war that begins in Israel. Thus Hagee and his ilk support the most aggressive imperialistic Israeli policies including ethnic cleansing of the West Bank.

Nothwithstanding that he proclaims no one knows how and when this inevitable day will come you only need to watch his show and dozen other like them and listen to them talk about the "signs" showing that The Rapture is near.

What can stop The Rapture?

PEACE! Hagee's worst nightmare

To prevent this he supports every rightwing Israeli pol who pushes Israeli Lebensraum.

For him every war in the Middle East isjust one day closer to the bosom of Jesus

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Alejandro Cuéllar · 5 days ago

Two things:

First, Let me get this right: According to Pastor Hagee...

1) In the Christian (New) Testament, Jesus is (the son of) God.
2) If you do not believe in the Christian Testament (and accept Jesus as your savior), then you will go to hell.
3) Jews do not believe in the Christian Testament or accept Jesus
4) But Jews are still God's chosen people (they still have a covenant with God)

Given what you assume above, my questions to Pastor Hagee are:

1) What's the point in believing in Jesus?
2) Why not just be Jewish (or a Noahide)?

Since you are obsessed with Israel and apparently obsessed with Jews, and talk about "Righteous Gentiles" (Noahide), then why not just become Jewish (or Noahide)? For if your reasoning is correct, you will be just fine if you adopt Jewish beliefs. As a result, you won't have to waste your time waiting for something that will never happen (the "second coming of Jesus", the "Rapture", etc)...all of which are core tenets of the Christian Testament...

Second:

You see the problem, Pastor Hagee, is that the Christian Testament breeds anti-semitism. It is not that you dislike Jews or what-not. It is the fact that the Christian Testament forces their believers to single out Jews. This is why anti-semitism has ONLY occurred in Christian territories (the Muslim anti-semitism is largely political). Because singling out Jews is written in your beliefs, Christians single out Jews. And singling Jews out is the first step toward active anti-semitism.

You are asking us "to get to know you before judging harshly". We are only suspicious because: since it is inevitable that Christians will realize that Jesus is not "coming back" and there will never be any "rapture", we are just afraid that some may try to make it happen by force by, for example, forcing Jews to Israel, or inciting war against Israel, etc. The other option (the more reasonable one) is: Christians stop believing in such nonsense, which is what I suggested above...

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A Catholic mom · 5 days ago

Alejandro:
What ****. Here are my thoughts as a Catholic: the God I worship walked on earth as a Jew. His mother was a Jew. His friends were Jews. I cannot profess to love Him, and not love His people. God chose the Jewish people, and His relationship with them spans thousands of years. He sent His son as a Jew - not a Muslim, not a Roman pagan, not a Buddhist, not a Hindu. There is NO CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT JUDAISM.

There is NOTHING in Christ's teaching that "singles out Jews" or preaches anti-semitism. Never does He preach hate, or advocate killing anyone who chooses not to believe in him. (And nice try, Alejandro, but Muslim antisemitism is NOT "largely political". Read the Quran some time.)

It is people like you who are preaching hatred, and disdain, and condescension.

I support Israel because they are a democratic state in a region of autocracy and oppression. I support Israel because I believe we have an obligation as thinking human beings to support a group of people that so many other countries have tried (and continue to try) to wipe out in their entirety. Those of us who think that Israel has the right to exist are not the ones who are "obsessed" with Israel - it is the nutcases who preach day and night about "wiping the Jewish infidels off the face of the earth."

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Alejandro Cuéllar · 5 days ago

The first paragraph - you missed the point. There is no need for Christianity if you are Jewish (according to Hagee)...

Regarding Muslims, you should know that until the secular state of Israel was born, Muslims and Jews lived relatively in peace...

Regarding the Christian Testament - To support my claim with evidence, here is the summary of the anti-Jewish verses in the new testament. In these verses, Jews are described as poisonous, evil, snakes, hypocrites, hard-hearted, bribers, liars, killers, false believers, descendants of the devil, godless, thieves, robbers, destroyers, evil plotters, persecutors, riot instigators, trouble-makers, blind guides leading the blind, etc.; they are said to not know God's law, to not know God, to have practiced exorcism, to have enjoyed stoning, to be condemned, to have crucified and killed Jesus, to have killed the prophets, to have driven the Christians out of the land, to be hostile to all men, will be one day judged by Christians, God is said to not be with them, that His wrath is upon them, etc...

Matthew
3:7, the Pharisees are called poisonous snakes
12:34, the Pharisees are called evil poisonous snakes
15:3-9, condemnation of the Pharisees for rejecting the commandments
15:12-14; the Pharisees are called blind guides leading the blind
16:6; beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees
19:3-9; the Pharisees are said to be hard-hearted
19:28; the disciples of Jesus will judge the twelve tribes of Israel
22:18; the Pharisees are called hypocrites
23:13-36; the scribes and Pharisees are repeatedly vilified as hypocrites
23:38; the house of Jerusalem is to be forsaken and desolate
26:59-68; the chief priests and council condemn Jesus as deserving death
27:1-26; the "people" demand that Jesus, not Barabbas, be crucified
27:62-66; the chief priests and Pharisees request a guard at Jesus's tomb
28:4; the guards tremble and become like dead when the angel appears
28:11-15, the chief priest bribe the guards to lie about their actions

Mark
3:6, the Pharisees are said to have begun to plan to destroy Jesus
7:6-13, condemnation of the Pharisees for rejecting the commandments
8:15, beware of the yeast of the Pharisees
10:2-5, the Pharisees are said to be hard-hearted
14:55-65, the chief priests and council condemn Jesus as deserving death
15:1-15, the "crowd" demands that Jesus, not Barabbas, be crucified

Luke
3:7, the multitudes are called poisonous snakes
4:28-30, the members of the synagogue in Nazareth try to kill Jesus
7:30, the Pharisees are said to have rejected the purposes of God
11:39-54, the Pharisees and the Torah scholars are repeatedly condemned
12:1b, beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy
13:14-17, the ruler of the synagogue is condemned as a hypocrite
13:35a, the house of Jerusalem is to be forsaken
22:63-71, the chief priests and council condemn Jesus as deserving death
23:1-25, the "people" demand that Jesus, not Barabbas, be crucified

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Alejandro Cuéllar · 5 days ago

John
5:16-18, the Jews are said to have persecuted Jesus and wanted to kill him
5:37b-47, it is said that God's word and God's love is not in the Jews
7:19-24, it is said that none of the Jews do what is written in the Torah
7:28d, it is said that the Jews do not know the One who has sent Jesus
8:13-28, it is said that the Pharisees know neither Jesus nor the Father
8:37-59, the Jews are said to be the descendants of their father, the devil
9:13-41, the Pharisees and other Jews are condemned as guilty
10:8, the Jews are said to be thieves and robbers
10:10a, the Jews are depicted as those who steal and kill and destroy
10:31-39, the Jews are said to have picked up stones to throw at Jesus
11:53, it is said that the Jews realized that they would have to kill Jesus
11:57, it is said that the chief priests and Pharisees wanted to seize Jesus
12:10, it is said that the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus and Jesus
12:36b-43, it is said that most Jews loved the praise of men more than of God
16:2-4, (the Jews) who kill Jesus's disciples will think they are serving God
18:28-32, the Jews are said to have demanded that Pilot sentence Jesus to death
18:38b-40, the Jews are said to be demanding that Jesus, not Barabbas, be crucified
19:4-16, the Jews are depicted as insisting to Pilate that Jesus be crucified

Acts
2:23b, Peter tells the men of Israel that they crucified Jesus
2:36b, Again, Peter tells the men of Israel that they crucified Jesus
3:13b-15a, Peter tells the men of Israel they they killed the 'originator' of life
4:10a, Again, Peter tells the men of Israel that they killed Jesus
5:30b, Peter tells the members of the Jewish council that they killed Jesus
6:11-14, Some Jews are said to have brought false accusations against Stephen
7:51-60, Stephen shown as condemning the Jews for betraying and killing Jesus
9:1-2, Paul is depicted as planning the arrest of disciples of Jesus
9:23-25, Jews are said to have plotted to kill Paul
9:29b, Jewish Hellenists are also said to have tried to kill Paul
12:1-3a, It is said that the Jews were pleased when Herod killed James
12:3b-4, Herod is said to have seized Peter also to please the Jews
12:11, Peter is said to have realized that the Jews wanted to kill him
13:10-11, Paul is said to have condemned the Jew Elyma as a son of the devil
13:28-29a, It is said that the Jews had asked Pilate to crucify Jesus
13:39d, It is said that the Jews cannot be forgiven by means of the Torah
13:45-46, Jews are said to have spoken against Paul
13:50-51, Jews are said to have encouraged persecution of Paul and Barnabas
14:1-6, Many Jews opposing Paul and Barnabas and attempting to stone them
14:19-20, Jews are said to have stoned Paul, thinking that they had killed him
17:5-9, Jews are said to have incited a riot, looking for Paul and Silas
17:13, Jews are said to have stirred up turmoil against Paul

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Alejandro Cuéllar · 5 days ago

18:6, Paul said to have told the Jews "Your blood will be upon your own heads"
18:12-17, Jews are said to have brought accusations against Paul
19:13-19, Jewish exorcists are shown to be condemned
21:27-36, Jews are depicted as seizing Paul and trying to kill him
22:4-5, Paul says that when he was a Jew, he had persecuted Christians
23:2-5, Paul is said to have condemned the chief priest for striking Paul
23:12-22, Jews are said to have plotted to eat nothing until they kill Paul
23:27-30, Paul is said to have nearly been killed by the Jews
24:9, the Jews are said to have accused Paul of many crimes
25:2-5, Jews are said to have plotted to kill Paul
25:7-11, Jews are said to have continued to bring accusations against Paul
25:15-21, Jews are said to have spoken repeatedly against Paul
25:24, All Jews are said to have shouted that Paul must be killed
26:21, Jews are said to have seized Paul and tried to kill him
28:25-28, Paul is said to have condemned the Jews for never understanding God

1 Thessalonians
2:13-16, condemning the Jews for killing Jesus and the prophets, and celebrating the suffering of the Jews now that the "wrath of God" has come upon them.

"And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last."

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Rachel Tabachnick · 5 days ago

Hagee in " Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World" (2006)

"God's Word is very clear! There will be grave consequences for the nation or nations that attempt to divide the land of Israel... This is not a time to provoke God and defy him to pour out judgement on our nation for being a principal in the division of the land of Israel."

and

"When will the divinely imparted spiritual blindness upon the Jewish people end concerning the identity of Jesus Christ as Messiah?  This spiritual blindness will end when Christ returns to earth and they see the scars on His hands from the crucifixion."

Title page for solicitation of donations in Hagee's Cornerstone Church Magazine:
"Become a Part of Biblical Prophecy"

Quote from Billye Brimm, one of Hagee's CUFI directors on "Believer's Voice of Victory" television show, introduced as bringing "information about present day nations and the influence they have on Israel and the End Times."

"God prophesizes things in the Bible but it takes men working with him to bring it about. It takes you!”

CUFI Director Robert Stearns in his book "Prepare the Way"
"It is truly amazing then, with all the hostility of the past, to find that we are living today in the midst of the rebirth of the Messianic Jewish movement... Our elder brother is risen from the dead! In eighteen hundred years of church history, there has been virtually no sizable response to Yeshua - Jesus - from the Jewish people.....Dr. Daniel Juster is another sovereign vessel the Lord has raised up to pioneer this End-Time move of the Lord."

Stearns was lauded as a Christian Zionist without the ulterior motives of proselytizing Jews or pursuing an end times narrative in Stephen Spector's "Evangelicals and Israel," endorsed by Abraham Foxman and Walter Russell Mead. Stearns is co-founder of the annual Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem held in 300,000 churches last year for "Christians across the world... to arise to their prophetic role in the restoration of Israel" and "to advance His Kingdom." The other co-founder of this event is Jack Hayford, head of a seminary which trains Messianics to "best reveal Yeshua to all Israel."

John Hagee in "Final Dawn over Jerusalem"
"When 6,000 years pass and that Sukkot moment has come, Jesus 1,000 year reign will begin.  We can forget the frustration we feel every time we turn on the television and watched the evening news.  We'll trade in the condom culture and politically correct madhouse for paradise.  This AIDS-infected, abortion-loving, pornography-addicted, secular-humanist sewer will disappear as Jesus Christ redeems the entire creation."

Hagee in his book "Daniel to Doomsday"
"We also know the Antichrist will enter the world stage with a reputation of being a powerful man of peace.  Perhaps he will be a Nobel Peace Prize winner. ...."

Hagee in sermon series "Iraq, the Final War"
"...this man [anti-Christ] is going to be at least partially Jewish, as was Adolph Hitler..."

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Alejandro Cuéllar · 5 days ago

This, together with my evidence above, suggests that the Christian Testament to this day still causes people (Hagee) to not only single Jews out but also breed anti-semitism...
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Alejandro Cuéllar · 5 days ago

This, together with my evidence, suggests that those who take a strict view of the Christian Testament, are the ones who make such comments, further breeding anti-semitism...
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Alejandro Cuéllar · 5 days ago

The question to ask ourselves is: what causes people to make such comments? Why do people say such things? It seems to me that without the Christian Testament, it would be hard to do so. I mean look at the evidence: Why is it that non-Christians do not say such things? And those non-Christians that do, are blatant anti-semites while people like Hagee are not?
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Bill Pearlman · 5 days ago

Perhaps Rachel Tabachnick should get over herself. If she is that insecure in her Judaism perhaps its time to change teams and throw in with the Moslems
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dave romanoff · 4 days ago

as usual, Bill (Adam Gadahn) Pearlman, having no argument of substance, goes on an ad hominem attack.
Talk about being insecure!!
But then, Hagee has been kashered by His Reverence ZOA-President-for-life Mort Klein as well as the Judas of the U.S. Senate, the perfidious Joe Lieberman, so, naturally, Pearlman will defend Hagee.
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Daniel · 4 days ago

Thank you Pastor Hagee, from a great Jewish admirer.

Kind regards.

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lisa g. · 4 days ago

The only people that can destroy the Jews are the Jews themselves...... Who cares if christians like us or not - what difference does it make? Worst case scenario - if were right and they're wrong then everybody's happy - tikkun olam....but if they're right and were wrong - then - well were going to have alot of 'splaining' to do ..... :)
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Brant · 4 days ago

During Operation Exodus, when the Jewish Agency for Israel brought 1,000,000 Jews out of the (former) Soviet Union, Pastor Hagee's congregants (and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of other Christians raised over $30 million to help make that happen. While all sorts of respondents here take Pastor Hagee to task for things he has written supporting faith in Jesus, his behavior towards the Jewish people and his love for the State of Israel are beyond question.
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Vince · 4 days ago

Cave ab homine unius librum...
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Akiva, Jerusalem · 4 days ago

Thank you for the support. The biggest enemy of Israel is ignorance and lies that are repeated by the progressive media and their jihadist allies. It is a difficult to educate people who have been lied to for years about Israel and Jews so I wish you a lot of success.
On that note I would encourage everyone to read and share these "2010 Top Ten Anti-Israel Lies": http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/pp.asp?c=lsKWLbPJL...

A lot of the comments here are, understandably, somewhat divisive. I would like to point out that that Jews believe righteous non-Jews go to heaven. You heard that right - if you are not a Jew you do not have to become a Jew to be rewarded.
We also know that those who bless the Jewish people are blessed. If non-Jews are supporting Israel and Jews for the right reasons, the Creator knows and will bless them. If their reasons are selfish, G-d knows. So let them support us! If their motivation is good they will be rewarded, and if not that is their own issue to deal with.

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Naama · 4 days ago

Patronizing, much?
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Nilsson · 3 days ago

"Christians attending these churches will also learn about the miraculous rise of the modern State of Israel."

Miraculous indeed, since most of the 'State of Israel''s founders loathed Christianity!

Thanks, Forward, for letting Hagee condemn himself out of his own mouth (and thanks to commenters who've dug up some of the things the biiiiggggggg Armageddon fan says to his slackjawed flock). Now Jews can gauge for themselves how true a friend the Rapture man is likely to be, if his prayers for the ultimate showdown are ever answered.

Jews may feel they need all the friends they can get, even this hot-gospelling charlatan. But what a sorry pass the Herzltopia has arrived at when its supporters have to take comfort from a guy who is eagerly anticipating a nuclear fate for most Israelis... unless they heed the call of the Messianics in time,
www.nkusa.org

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chelemer's avatar

chelemer · 2 days ago

Hagee is pandering to Jews before doing away with us - as prophesied in the Second Coming. Hitler, at least, was honest and did not pander to us before the Holocaust. Many Jews don't understand when they are being bamboozled by fundamental Christians who, only yesterday, were practicing antisemites. These good Christians gave up the practice of antisemitism after reading the last book of the New Testament, The Book of Revelations, which thought them that the Second Coming can only be realized if Jews participate in it by slaughtering all the Arabs in the Holy Land. Of course, after that, the Jews, too, will be slaughtered by the good Christians, and this will make the Holocaust look like a boy-scout operation.
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michael cushman's avatar

michael cushman · 1 day ago

What a marvellous endorsement of our beloved Israel by the Christian Zionist leader Pastor Hagee! He ranks right at the top of Christian support for Israel which includes the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem and the Christians for Moses Ministries headed by Rev. Charles Edgbaston of Canada. All three groups have spent over $50 million in the last few years transporting elderly and impoverished Jews to Israel from the Ukraine and Russia. In addition, they lobby our lawmakers in Washington to ensure that Israel's vital security concerns are protected. Politics make strange bedfellows - we Jews ought not to bite the hands that sustain us through thick and thin.
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chelemer's avatar

chelemer · 1 day ago

Michael Cushman suggests that the Jewish Soul is for sale.
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Eileen 's avatar

Eileen · 19 hours ago

I was feeling pretty good when I first read the article but suprised at the efforts of Alejandro. To Alejandro have you read the tanakh? Would you please go through it and give at least half of the effort you put into tearing the New Testament apart by stating all the times God has expressed his disappointment with His people? The things He has said about them, names He has called them and the descriptions of their iniquities, etc. Just remember...Jesus was a Jew...to some the Messiah...to others a prophet. Maybe you would also like to go through the prophets and share their words of descriptions...things they prophesied and what has come true!!!!! Did they have nothing better to do then create anti-semitic words in hopes that the world would turn against them and create opportunities for genocides!!! Hardly not as we see today that these scriptures are reverned and counted as holy! And what were they doing...speaking the heart of God for a Nation to turn back to their creator. Perhaps you could take some time in the next little while to read the New testament from this perspective...as a cry from the heart of God for a people to turn back to Him and let us know what you find...especially if it seems to have any relevance to the prophets of old.
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Annoymouse's picture

> We have never, and will

Submitted by Annoymouse on Tue, 2010-05-18 21:14.

> We have never, and will never, oppose Israeli efforts to advance peace.

And let me add that we have never, and will never, oppose the efforts of British Petroleum to advance the ecological health of the planet or of the fox to protect the hens.

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Adam Syed's picture

Well gee,

Submitted by Adam Syed on Wed, 2010-05-19 04:55.

given that God Himself promised that land to his Chosen People, opposers of Israel and its foreign policy don't stand a chance.

:weneedarolleyesemoticon:

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Annoymouse's picture

You will appreciate

Submitted by Annoymouse on Thu, 2010-05-20 08:50.

You will appreciate this:

Who Wants this American Dead?
May 16, 2010 by Jeff Gates

Why kill Anwar al-Awlaki, an American who inspired the Times Square Fizzler and advised the Crotch Bomb Sizzler?

This Islamic preacher is “out there.” No doubt about it. So is Christian preacher John Hagee.

Hagee promises his flock a Rapture that will beam them up to Heaven. But not just yet. First God’s Chosen People must recover Jerusalem.

Remind me: isn’t the status of Jerusalem THE most contentious and volatile issue in the entire Middle East?

Anwar al-Awlaki ('Awlaqi)

Hagee is much loved by the Likud Party wing nuts that have never shown any desire for peace with an indigenous population that has been ethnically cleansed, imprisoned and provoked with impunity for six-plus decades.

Isn’t Hagee’s preaching an incitement to violence? Yet members of his flock can claim a tax deduction to support his inspired preaching. We call this freedom of religion

If the recovery of Jerusalem for The Chosen requires an Armageddon, so be it. That too is part of God’s plan. Hagee should know. He claims a direct line to Yahweh. Just ask him.

Even a nuclear holocaust would fit God’s Plan. Why? An Apocalypse would assure the reappearance of a long-dead prophet.

This End Days prophecy is routinely foretold on the public airwaves by this tax-subsidized televangelist. For The Faithful, he offers an inspiration that has a twisted logic behind it.

When The Chosen recover their God-Given real estate, God will smite all those who refuse to join Hagee’s flock. Or some Christian affiliate thereof.

And, yes, that includes The Chosen. Convert or die. That’s the Hagee-inspired, tax-subsidized version of Christianity.

Such smiting does not qualify as a Holocaust. Why? Because those smitten are only The Chosen who refuse to choose a conversion to this version of a Loving God.

By then Hagee’s True Believers will be safely enfolded in the post-Rapture embrace of a God that prefers Christians Above All.

What about The Smitten? It was their Choice as The Chosen not to Choose. That’s their problem in this Biblical version of Blue State vs. Red State politics in a post-Apocalypse world.

Democracy-meets-theocracy supported by freedom-of-religion tax subsidies that inspire both The Saved and The Smitten.

[more here http://criminalstate.com/2010/05/who-wants-this-american-dead/ ]

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