From Bill Sutter’s Desk Sep/Oct 2009
Recently we have witnessed an almost daily assault on biblical values designed, it would seem, to subvert the influence of America’s Judeo-Christian heritage on the forces of God-free humanism.
Inaugural festivities had scarcely died down when President Barack Obama signed an executive order striking down U.S. government policy that barred recipients of U.S. foreign aid from promoting abortion as a method of family planning. The administration’s continuing attacks on biblical morality include calls to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union of one man and one woman; nominations of proabortion and homo-sexual-rights advocates to key government positions; and extending employment benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
Along with supporting a White House proclamation declaring June 2009 as “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month,” the President said, “I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender candidates to senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of my administration.”
Witnessing this opposition to the standards of God’s Word, we identify with Lot as he faced the people of Sodom who “tormented his righteous soul from day to day” as he saw and heard “their lawless deeds” (2 Pet. 2:8).
This same President, who downplayed his Muslim background while campaigning for America’s highest office, now travels great distances to speak to Muslims endearingly and with numerous references to the “holy Qur’an.” We can’t help but contrast his homage to the Muslim world with his lack of interest in the religious heritage of the United States.
Blatantly denying the importance of America’s Judeo-Christian roots, Obama declared, “We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation.” Mere weeks later, while referencing highly inflated Muslim population figures, he proclaimed America “one of the largest Muslim countries” and pointed with pride to 1,200 mosques scattered throughout the nation. In an additional slap to America’s faith-based community, the White House announced it would not observe the National Day of Prayer.
Equally troubling is the administration’s treatment of Israel. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, prominent radio and television host, observed, “Last year, right after Obama captured the Democratic nomination, I received a phone call from his campaign asking if I would serve as one of the chairs of ‘Rabbis for Obama.’ In the end I declined because I feared that Obama would draw equivalence between Israel and the Palestinians and pressure the former to appease the latter. But even I never suspected that it would happen so quickly and so lopsidedly.”
A disturbing case in point was Obama’s address June 4 to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt. In a dramatic dislocation from reality, he equated the Palestinian people’s sufferings to the horrific persecution of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. Additionally, he has applied public pressure on Israel to halt a growing Jewish presence in the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria––commonly called the West Bank by the dominant news media.
Sadly, our President fails to acknowledge that legitimately founded and developed Jewish communities among the Arab populations of Judea and Samaria should never be an excuse for Arab hostility. Some 1.2 million Arabs live freely among the Jewish people of Israel where they receive equal protection and equal rights under the law, including voting rights. Why should legally established Jewish communities not be permitted to develop among Arab populations? Why should Jewish people become victims of apartheid just because they’re Jews?
The real problem in the Middle East is one our President refuses to acknowledge: Israel’s opponents have no desire for a Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel in peace. Their real desire is to replace Israel. They want no Israel! That indisputable fact is on their Web sites for all to see. And they labor tirelessly day and night to accomplish that goal.
Almost as striking as the administration’s pressure on Israel is its silence regarding a host of disturbing realities. Silence on the Arabs’ inhumane treatment of their refugees. Silence on Islamic terrorism; the administration even avoids using accu-rate terminology to describe the reality. Silence on the plight of Christians who are horrendously persecuted in many Muslim-dominated countries. Silence on the inculcation of hatred for Israel and the Jewish people that permeates every aspect of Palestinian life. Silence on the exploitation and abuse of children by indoctrinating them in the glories of becoming suicide bombers.
The Friends of Israel cannot sit still in the face of these continuing assaults on biblical morality and on Israel. We pray God will strengthen us daily and uphold us with His righteous right hand as we proclaim His Word from the Bible and forge ahead with our worldwide mission of communicating biblical truth about Israel and the Messiah while fostering solidarity with the Jewish people.
