First, Chuck Baldwin posted this on his Facebook page this morning:
Several Christian people have excoriated me because I have publicly challenged the political and theological positions of notable Christian ministers such as Franklin Graham and John Hagee. They tell me that because these men are ministers I have no right to challenge them. Excuse me, but that is so much horse manure.
These men are speaking as public figures; they are public leaders. Both of these men (and others) volunteered to enter the public square. They are not just preaching in their churches (Graham doesn’t have a church, obviously), they are speaking to the country. They have political influence. They volunteered to enter the political arena and take definite political positions on various issues.
As a fellow minister and public figure, one who also represents a political view to a national audience, I have a DUTY to challenge what I perceive to be erroneous, unconstitutional, misleading, and unbiblical views. The public can decide for themselves what they believe or don’t believe; but the idea that these men are somehow protected from public challenge because they are ministers is absurd. They cannot proclaim political views to a public audience and then expect that those with opposing views have no right to compete in the marketplace of ideas. It doesn’t work that way.
Franklin Graham was wrong to endorse provisions of the Obama/Feinstein gun grab bill, and John Hagee is wrong to trumpet Middle East war and foreign interventionism, and to teach his duel covenant doctrine, that Jews are going to heaven simply because they are Jews.
In my opinion, America is in the mess it is in because of the misguided public leadership of too many of our nation’s religious leaders. I would be less than honest and honorable if I would not use the public platform that God has given to me to do my best to trumpet truth and expose error as and when I see and understand it. This I will continue to do.
From: chuckbaldwinlive.com…
What Does John Hagee Really Want?
Published: Thursday, June 27, 2013
John Hagee, and many other evangelical preachers, constantly beat the war drums. Without ceasing, they encourage America’s political leaders to wage non-stop wars of aggression–especially in the Middle East. They constantly trumpet America’s unconstitutional interventions in the Middle East with terms not unlike those used by militant Muslims. Hagee’s pro-war fanaticism is so extreme one must wonder how much he is being paid by the Israeli lobby. My guess is it’s a bunch.
Much of this Christian war fever is due to a convoluted interpretation of Scripture–especially prophetic Scripture. While I will leave most of this discussion for another day, let me simply say that whatever God plans to do in regard to the reestablishment of the Davidic Kingdom, it has precious little to do with the atheistic, apostate government currently headquartered in Tel Aviv. And Hagee, himself, teaches apostasy when he declares that Jewish people today have a special covenant with God and do not need to come to faith in Jesus Christ in order to be saved, and when he says that Jesus never even claimed to be Christ (Messiah).
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” (John 14:6 KJV) Now, either Jesus or John Hagee told the truth. I’ll take the word of Jesus. Plus, Mr. Hagee apparently forgot Simon Peter’s confession, which Jesus said was due to a revelation from God the Father, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16 KJV)
So, what is it that Hagee and the rest really want? Perpetual war? Total genocide? A global New World Order with the likes of G.W. Bush or Barack Obama at the helm? What do they really want? Do they really have such an inflated view of themselves that they truly believe that they are going to manipulate what God does or doesn’t do regarding the fulfillment of end time events? Is God their servant? Is God Israel’s servant? Is God America’s servant? Balderdash! God is no man’s (or country’s) servant.
I wonder what these warmonger-preachers think about all the “blowback” from these illegal and immoral wars of aggression that G.W. Bush (and now Barack Obama) has led us into. Not only are these wars provoking people all over the world against us and doing more to recruit volunteers for militant extremists in the Middle East than anything Al Qaeda could do on their own, they are having catastrophic results on missionary work.
Now think this through: these warmongering evangelicals beat the war drums; they encourage the young men from their churches to go off and fight these “holy” wars; they work tirelessly to elect pro-war politicians; and they twist Old Testament Scripture to fit these modern crusades. Then, the politicians whom the warmongers helped elect send the US military to invade, bomb, and kill hundreds of thousands of people, the vast majority of whom are innocent people. After which, these same warmonger-preachers get up in their pulpits and cry and weep about how we need to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the same people they just got done trying to annihilate.
Exactly who is it that the missionaries are supposed to reach? The ones lucky enough to escape death and destruction from US bombers and drone attacks, I guess. And exactly what is the message our missionaries are supposed to deliver? “I’m from America, and I’m here to tell you about the love of God.” Oh, that is going to play really well with the loved ones of those family members we just destroyed.
I’ve had so many missionaries tell me how difficult it is for them to try to minister to people around the world today; and the chief reason is the bully reputation that America has built over the past several decades.
Furthermore, do these warmongering evangelicals really want to deal with the fact that we now have over 23 veterans and active-duty military personnel committing suicide EVERY DAY? That equates to more fighting men dying from self-inflicted wounds than from wounds received in the wars they are asked to fight. This is a first in US history. Is John Hagee interested in why so many of our fighting men are killing themselves?
Just recently, an Iraq War veteran killed himself and left a sad and compelling suicide-letter explaining why he ended his life. The letter was posted with the family’s permission. This young soldier was engaged in over 400 combat missions as a machine-gunner in the turret of a Humvee. He was also involved in the interrogation of countless Iraqis. In the letter, the soldier said, “The simple truth is this: During my first deployment, I was made to participate in things, the enormity of which is hard to describe. War crimes, crimes against humanity. Though I did not participate willingly, and made what I thought was my best effort to stop these events, there are some things that a person simply can not come back from. I take some pride in that, actually, as to move on in life after being part of such a thing would be the mark of a sociopath in my mind. These things go far beyond what most are even aware of.
“To force me to do these things and then participate in the ensuing coverup is more than any government has the right to demand. Then, the same government has turned around and abandoned me. They offer no help, and actively block the pursuit of gaining outside help via their corrupt agents at the DEA. Any blame rests with them.”
The distraught soldier went on to say, “Is it any wonder then that the latest figures show 22 veterans killing themselves each day? That is more veterans than children killed at Sandy Hook, every single day. Where are the huge policy initiatives? Why isn’t the president standing with those families at the state of the union? Perhaps because we were not killed by a single lunatic, but rather by his own system of dehumanization, neglect, and indifference.
“It leaves us to where all we have to look forward to is constant pain, misery, poverty, and dishonor. I assure you that, when the numbers do finally drop, it will merely be because those who were pushed the farthest are all already dead.
“And for what? Bush’s religious lunacy? Cheney’s ever growing fortune and that of his corporate friends? Is this what we destroy lives for?”
See the report and the soldier’s complete suicide-letter at:
Iraq Vet Kills Himself After Being Ordereed To Commit War Crimes
What was the soldier’s lament? He was forced to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was forced by the government to cover up these crimes. His government abandoned him in his hour of need. His pain and guilt was more than he could bear. The soldier’s own words were that his was “Not suicide, but a mercy killing.”
Mr. Hagee and the rest of you warmongering evangelicals out there, is this soldier’s suicide (and the suicides of over 23 active-duty and military veterans every day) what you had in mind when you beat the drums for America’s undeclared, unconstitutional wars of aggression? This young soldier saw the reality of these wars up close and personal–and he didn’t like what he saw. And don’t try to brush this off by saying it’s always been this way. No it hasn’t! We didn’t have suicides like this during World War I or World War II. Whatever the politics back then was or wasn’t, those were lawfully declared wars in which our men knew what they were fighting for. They went in; they fought; they came home.
The war we are fighting in the Middle East is now America’s longest war, and there is no end in sight. Bush and Obama have made perpetual war an official US policy. In addition, this “War on Terror” has transformed the American people from citizens into suspects–every last one of us. Military drones by the tens of thousands are, or soon will be, flying over the skies of America. The American citizenry is being spied on relentlessly. Two super spy centers are currently being built: one in southern Utah and one near San Antonio, Texas. These super spy centers are designed primarily to spy on the American people. Liberties once protected by the Constitution and Bill of Rights are now publicly and blatantly abused. And evangelicals such as John Hagee say nary a word of protest. Instead, they continue to support and promote this so-called “War on Terror.” At what cost, Mr. Hagee? At what cost?
Hundreds of thousands of innocents are being killed; animosity against the United States is growing exponentially; in an effort to keep our country at war, our economy is being overburdened and overtaxed to the point of no return; in the name of the “War on Terror,” America is on the verge of becoming a giant police state; we are inciting China and Russia into nuclear war; and America’s military veterans are killing themselves more frequently than are enemy bullets. Is this what you want, Mr. Hagee? Is this really what you want?
(c) Chuck Baldwin
Related:
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Ron Paul: Christian Just War Theory — “Evidently, I have been reading a different Bible. I remember something about ‘Blessed are the Peacemakers’”
Ron Paul’s Christlike Attitude: Love, Peace & Hope – No *Initiation* of Aggression!
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Ron Paul: “I’m supporting Chuck Baldwin” & “the most difficult group to recruit has been the evangelicals who supported McCain and his pro-war positions”
[2011] Ron Paul’s Statement of Faith
The Amazing Ron Paul: Bribe Money — “Wars should not be covert or casual. We absolutely should not be paying off leaders of a country while killing their civilians…. This is not what America is supposed to be about.”
Pat Buchanan: “On foreign policy … Ron Paul and Sarah Palin are on opposite sides completely.” What would Jesus do?
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Lew Rockwell: The Enemy is in Washington. That’s why RON PAUL runs NOT FOR GLORY, not for POWER, not for CONTROL. He runs to dismantle the aperatus in Washington. He wants to stop the war, stop the Fed’s counterfeiting, stop the rip-offs for the big bank, the big corporation, and for Big Pharma.” | CAN RON PAUL WIN? CAN THE ‘CHRISTIANS’ put their DESIRE FOR BLOOD below their desire to have some kind of standard of living…?
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EXCELLENT! Cynthia McKinney: Obama’s So Called Humanitarian Aid to Libya is A Disaster: “The American people are being lied to.” Kadafi was standing in the way of a globalist, Mediterranean states alliance with Europe.
Col. Bob Bowman: The immorality they’re foisting on this country — We haven’t been the good guys for a long time. The countries we’ve invaded happen to be the few countries in the world that are not part of the Rothschilds’ banking cartel.
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