by Al Benson Jr.
I just read an article on https://www.lewrockwell.com by Pastor Chuck Baldwin, who many dislike because he tells the truth about national Israel from a theological perspective. The article was dated today, May 10rh and I will quote a part of it.
Pastor Baldwin starts off by quoting Dr. Stephen Jones, who says: “Yesterday (May 2) Congress passed what is called the Anri-Semitic Awareness Act. It is a bill which criminalizes any criticism of the Israeli state or of Zionism. It also criminalizes any Bible passage (such as Acts 4:10) which states that the Jews crucified Jesus. And because the bill assumes that all Jews are Zionists, it confounds anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism. Many Christian congressmen voted for this bill. What will they do when the Bible is banned? No doubt they will claim that they never intended for this to happen, or that they voted for the bill without even reading it. Yet they should have known how unconstitutional this bill is, as it greatly restricts the right of free speech. This would not have been possible had it not been for the support of Christian Zionists such as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who used to be a constitutional lawyer.”
So we have now reached the point where any criticism of the state of Israel is now considered “anti-Semitic” and therefore, a criminal offense. I’ve noted before that most present day Jews are not racially Semites, but have their racial origins in Western Russia and Eastern Europe. That being the case, calling this bill “anti-Semitic” is a complete misnomer. It is not anti-Semitic–it is really anti-Zionist But even for that, it is still a restriction on our First Amendment rights. And while those congresspersons who voted for this First Amendment restriction should have figured that out, it is a testament to their lack of discernment that they do not seem to have done so.
So now, any preacher in this country who dares to quote the wrong Bible verse regarding Christian Zionism in a sermon runs the risk of having committed an “anti-Semitic” crime because he dared to quote a Bible verse that laid part of the responsibility for Christ’s crucifixion on first century Zionists.
Maybe we should have been informed that our First Amendment rights do not include any criticism of the modern secular state Of Israel or of any actions of earlier day Zionists. I would also assume that any quotes from earlier day Bible scholars that are critical of any aspect of Zionism will now also be considered criminal activity. Therefore, any biblical criticism of the Scofield “Bible notes” which promote Christan Zionism, will now also be considered “criminal” activity.
Can you think of a better way to restrict the biblical views of Reformed theologians who have serious doctrinal issues with dispensational theology? I can’t. All of a sudden, with one congressional “bill” your right to level any justifiable criticism against anything remotely considered pro-Israel or pro-Zionist, is now non-existent! Congress might just as well have passed a bill restricting the right to criticize bank robbers! And maybe, given the mindset of some of our present district attorneys, a bill doing that isn’t too far down the road!
Can you imagine what a bill like this will do to sermons in Reformed churches? I shudder to think! Lots of Reformed churches will just cave in and make sure their Sunday morning sermons never reflect any anti-Zionist commentary–ever! A handful won’t! They’ll continue to preach the truth even if their pastors might be jailed for it because the truth is still the truth–even if Congress wants to shut part of it down!
You’d think Congress had enough to do dealing with political issues that they’d have sense enough to steer clear of theological issues. Such doesn’t seem to be the case when it comes to Israel.