I was born in the early 60's and was taught that America was the greatest country in the world, that its laws were built on Democratic principles, that we're a Christian nation (I didn't know that "one nation under God" was added to the original pledge of allegiance), "In God We Trust" with our money, Communism is bad and Capitalism is good, that people were created equal ("liberty and justice for all"), that our votes matter, that two wrongs don't make a right, that police are here to protect us, and that murder is wrong. I majored in Journalism and learned to research what I've been told... and yet it's taken almost 62 years and my daughters (who are now in their 30s) to realize that much of what I was taught about America was propaganda. I've already written or posted about police brutality and Black Lives Matter and systemic racism, the electoral college and gerrymandering tactics and voter suppression, etc... So today I will focus on the myth of this being a "Christian nation" in light of the atrocities we are funding in Gaza.
When she was 3-4 years old, Lindsay asked me why there was war because my Dad was watching the movie Geronimo and unaware that Lindsay was standing behind him. When Courtney was in elementary school and liked Barnie the dinosaur, she was ridiculed because it wasn't "cool" for kids to love each other as the theme song says. And now that they're in their 30's, Lindsay has been talking to me about what's been going on in Gaza. I had already been following Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and she has been providing other resources. Courtney asked me a while back, "Why does America always back Israel?" I told her that it probably goes back to the Holocaust and perhaps there's some guilt left over for turning away Jewish people. But really, it all probably just goes back to supporting their only "ally" in that region despite the atrocities they inflict on the Palestinians. This JVP article describes some of the Israeli-Palestinian history and how the U.S. continues to fund the apartheid and genocide of Palestinian people.
"For 75 years, the Israeli government has maintained a military occupation over Palestinians, operating an apartheid regime. Palestinian children are dragged from their beds in pre-dawn raids by Israeli soldiers and held without charge in Israeli military prisons. Palestinians homes are torched by mobs of Israeli settlers, or destroyed by the Israeli army. Entire Palestinian villages are forced to flee, abandoning the homes and orchards and land that were in their family for generations.
The bloodshed of today and the past 75 years traces back directly to U.S. complicity in the oppression and horror caused by Israel’s military occupation. The U.S. government consistently enables Israeli violence and bears blame for this moment. The unchecked military funding, diplomatic cover, and billions of dollars of private money flowing from the U.S. enables and empowers Israel’s apartheid regime. Those who continue calling for “ironclad” U.S. support for the Israeli military are only paving the path to more violence."
I'll admit that I was not aware of all this history, but I'm glad that my kids hold me accountable to learning more. I only wish my co-citizens would do the same and not just take everything at face value... But even if we do take things at face value, we do see that thousands of civilians continue to be bombed and killed every day in Gaza, a good many of them being children. The fact that our country was one of very few who voted No to the UN Resolution "because Israel has the inherent right to self-defense" is also embarrassing for me. It doesn't take a genius to know that this has gone way beyond self-defense or "eye for an eye." But I guess this shouldn't surprise me because the U.S. has also justified the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki despite civilian deaths and casualties. Curtis LeMay, who designed the strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific during WWII admitted that "If we'd lost the war, we'd all have been prosecuted as war criminals."
I guess "two wrongs don't make a right" was just something my parents taught me, but nobody in power actually learned. I was taught that Communism is bad and Capitalism is good... but really most political parties have their good points until the people in power become corrupt. As Lord Acton said, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
This country is so screwed up right now - Republicans have the majority of the House and took weeks to get a Speaker of the House. And that same House will only fund Israeli support, but not Ukraine (who was attacked by Russia) or humanitarian aid to Gaza? I guess I should just be happy that the Senate won't pass that and this will hold up anymore aid to Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as they continue to bomb refugee camps, schools, etc in Gaza. Folks who speak up for the Palestinian people get labeled antisemitic, a little 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy (Wadea al-Fayoume) gets stabbed to death in Illinois by his landlord, and our country votes no on the United Nations humanitarian truce in Gaza.
Being a Christian (yes, I still am), I don't worry about how I'm being prosecuted in a court of law or public opinion. I only care about what I will say to my Maker when all's said and done. Can I just let my government continue to fund these atrocities without even speaking what my heart is telling me? I've always agreed with Karl Barth about holding the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other, because it does no good for God's world to bury my head in the sand. I need to listen to more than just the voices I was raised with. I am going back to being an Independent voter because I cannot abide by the "unconditional support" Joe Biden and the majority of U.S. politicians are giving Israel to commit genocide on the Palestinian people. I used to think that I'd vote for the lesser of two evils but I'm thinking that really is no choice. Evil is evil, our electoral college system feeds into that thinking, and my vote doesn't really count anyway in California. I will be voting my conscience (which is led by God) going forward.
