Some of the most interesting aspects of the war against terrorism are found not in coverage about the war in Iraq, but from coverage of talk in the United States. Consider this recent news report: Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine punishment for “dividing God’s land.” “God considers this land to be his,” Robertson said on his TV program “The 700 Club.” “You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,’ and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.'”
Notice how Robertson shares the same basic premise as that of the religious tyrants in the Middle East, even if superficially he seems “pro-Israel.” This premise is that a nation does not make a claim to land based on rational factors such as how well (if at all) that nation respects the rights of individuals to be free, or to enjoy the separation of church and state, or to live under a democratic regime rather than a tyranny. Israel, although certainly not perfect, is far ahead of the P.L.O. or any of the thugs or gangs who run Middle Eastern governments by this standard. Yet to Robertson, like Osama bin Laden, this is beside the point. “God” decides, not objective facts. And who is “God” in actual practice? Well, that’s a little trickier. To Robertson, God is his God–meaning he, Pat Robertson, gets to decide; and to bin Laden, God is Allah–meaning he, bin Laden, gets to decide. God is subjective, and the believer gets to set the standards.
Another interesting irony is how Robertson shares the same basic premise as those on the American left who despise Bush for intervening at all in the Middle East or for siding with Israel even a small amount. These leftists demand to know “Who are the Americans to pick a side in this conflict?” To them, it’s all subjective and nobody can make objective determinations about which country is better or worse in a particular conflict. Just as American leftists, who are happy to enjoy all the benefits of the United States as it has developed over the last several centuries, roundly condemn the United States for having “pushed the American Indians off their lands,” these same leftists–most of them atheists or agnostics–would rather see Israelis and Arabs live under a brutal religious tyranny than under a country that in large measure respects democracy and individual rights, such as Israel.
Like I said, God is subjective, and the believer gets to set the standards. The liberals are no less subjective, only they leave out the God part. The great irony is that in the end, they all wind up on the same side of the fence, supporting tyranny, whether it’s their intention or not.
