Subtle Enemies
I strive to continually bring you information that isn’t found in most places. This information is not reported on much, yet I feel it is vital to understand where we are in this country with regard to Israel support.
A new poll came out this week that shows a shocking freefall in support for Israel among Millennials. A Barna poll suggests that in merely three years, support for Israel among Millennials has dropped from 69 percent to 33 percent.
None of us should be surprised. Decades of false teaching from our seminaries produced soft pulpits and that in turn has produced soft-minded congregants. When the Bible study is poor (in reality, celebrity nonsense passes for “study”), there are practical consequences in the real world. In this case, the practical consequence is sliding support for the Jewish state.
Let me give you a somewhat obscure example, but one that I think perfectly reflects what I’m talking about.
Relevant magazine is the go-to source for many Christian Millennials. Until about 2010, the magazine’s publisher, Cameron Strang, was printing mostly friendly pieces about Israel. No surprise; he grew up under the influence of his father, Steve Strang, who has a reputation for being pro-Israel.
But that all changed when young Cameron visited Israel/”Palestine” with the change agent, Lynne Hybels. From then on, the magazine took a sharp leftward turn.
Two years ago, Relevant ran a piece about the notorious and odious Ilhan Omar, the Trojan Horse jihadist now cemented into Congress. This particular story centers on Omar’s alleged “compassion”:
“Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar has quickly made a name for herself as a member of the much-discussed ‘Squad’ of young progressive women shaking up the Democratic establishment. Her outspokenness and status as one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress has made her a target of several violent extremists. One such extremist, Patrick Carlineo, was arrested after threatening to assault and murder Omar in a phone call to her office. Now, as Carlineo’s case goes to trial, Omar is calling for compassion.”
Omar’s letter, which she posted online, had a curious notion of justice in this case:
“Instead, Omar called for ‘restorative justice’, saying that Carlineo should ‘understand the consequences of his actions, be given the opportunity to make amends and seek redemption.’”
You have to read between the lines with these people and also recognize that their definitions of words often don’t match our definitions. It sounds to me that Omar is advocating for this offender to submit to Allah (seek redemption?). It would fit with her radical ideas, including sharia law.
But it was the magazine writer’s comments about Omar’s hate-filled rhetoric about Israel that caught my eye:
“As a lawmaker, Omar has occasionally stoked controversy for some of her opinions about the U.S. support of Israel. In February of 2019, she drew fire from members of her own party when she said that ‘I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country’, which critics said drew on anti-Semitic tropes of ‘dual loyalty.’ Omar has insisted that her comments were intended as a critique of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not Israel as a whole.
“That defense may not ease the minds of those concerned about Omar’s views of Israel, but her letter to the man who threatened her life is certainly praiseworthy.”
I have highlighted a couple sentences from this paragraph, to show you that Relevant is essentially saying that “some people find Omar’s remarks about Israel troubling.”
In fact, all people should find her remarks troubling. But this is Relevant’s effort to separate Omar’s “critics” from everyone else. In other words, marginalize them. Their concerns then become merely opinions, and everyone’s got one, right?
Relevant likes people like Ilhan Omar. Relevant does not like people such as Benjamin Netanyahu, or Christian Zionists.
Ilhan Omar is a hater of the first order. This is documented and easy to see. Yet Relevant soft-soaps that and instead props-up a phony “compassion” narrative for a dangerous woman.
If she hates Israel, she hates you.