Right Wing Christians Dream of Holy War With Islam

One thing that seems to be getting nowhere near enough attention in the presidential contest is Mitt Romney's pandering to the ugliest elements of the Christian Right who want nothing less than a full blown war against Islam and a strike against Iran by Israel sometime prior to election day.  It is part and parcel with why I view religious extremism to be one of the biggest dangers in the world whether it be Islamic extremism or Christofascist extremism.  The far right seems to have learned absolutely nothing from the disastrous fool's errand in Iraq and the bungled mess in Afghanistan  a country that NO foreign power has tamed in over 2300 years.  I have no love for fundamentalist Islam, but another fool's errand is not the answer.  PoliticusUSA looks at the frightening dreams of American Christiofascists who are chomping at the bit to take the nation into another disastrous and non-winnable war.  Here are some excerpts:

Throughout world history, some of the worst atrocities known to mankind were committed in the name of religion going all the way back to Christian bible’s Old Testament. There are instances of ancient Israelites following god’s command to kill every man, woman, child, slave, and animal in a kingdom simply because the vanquished failed to abandon their religion and follow the Israelites’ god. 

The idea of Holy War did not end with the Old Testament, and the practice of shedding blood for the Lord became the rallying cry for the Crusades that pitted Christians against Muslims throughout the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries in several Christian military campaigns. Most Christians are aware that their religion’s namesake, Jesus Christ, taught his followers to pursue peace, and it is likely they can recite verbatim his admonition that if one “lives by the sword, they will perish be the sword,” and yet Christian religious leaders have been some of the most outspoken advocates for war.

America has avoided Holy Wars because the Founders kept a wall of separation between religion and the government, and one founder told Muslims America was not a Christian nation and had no enmity against Muslim laws or their religion. All that changed with the terror attacks of 9/11, and despite statements by George W. Bush that America was not at war with Islam in Afghanistan and Iraq, he often referred to those conflicts as Crusades.

At the Values Voter Summit last weekend, the Republican presidential ticket attached themselves to a religious hate fest that was contrived to demonize Muslims as liars and infiltrators, and called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike Iran before November 6 to begin a 21^st Century Holy War. There is a concerted effort by Bush neo-conservatives serving as Willard Romney’s foreign policy advisors to entice Israel to strike Iran to begin what one Romney advisor calls “a very substantial war,” and their goal is not to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, but to begin a Holy War between Christianity and Islam. There has been a persistent push in America by Islamophpobes to demean the Muslim faith, and without exception it is the purview of Christian conservatives and religious leaders.

One of the speakers at the Values Voter Summit said, “Islam’s number one enemy is the truth! America’s number one virtue is the truth! Islam obliges Muslims to lie,” and that “it’s a daily thing to lie about America.” It was a classic case of projection for Christians to impugn Muslims for allegedly doing precisely what Republicans have been doing with impunity since 9/11, and at a panel entitled “Israel, Iran, and the Future of Western Civilization,” attendees were told Christians were under attack by Muslims to convince evangelical fanatics to vote out President Obama who they claim is letting it happen.

The Christian fanatics seeking global Holy War with Islam are being bolstered by Israel’s prime minister who said, “Iran is guided by a leadership with an unbelievable fanaticism. It’s the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today. Do you want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?”    .   .   .   . 

It must be the first time in American history that a foreign leader is campaigning for a presidential candidate to drive this country into a war that will certainly engulf the entire region, if not the entire world.

Romney has been warmongering for the past six months, and as his electoral support wanes, there can be little doubt he and Netanyahu are using Middle East violence to affect the upcoming election. The neo-con warmongers and Christian conservatives could not care less about the state of Israel, because the impending Holy War is not about Israel’s existence, but about killing Muslims and bringing about end times. 

It is a 21^st Century Crusade, and Americans must understand that Romney and his neo-con acolytes are not panting for war between America and Iran, but a war between Christians and Muslims to incite the battle of Armageddon and a quick rapture to heaven. 

As I have said many times, both domestically and overseas, Christianist extremist are a clear and present danger to America and the principles of the U. S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Would that there were more media coverage of the insidious efforts of the Christofascists to take the nation into war.