Death To...

I have an interesting ‘home’ screen on Substack. It consists of people interested in Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Theology… and politics.

And amongst the ‘politics’ crowd’ there are both pro and anti Israel voices. (Is a Substack note a ‘voice’?) And these voices range from the strongly pro-Israel, to the rabidly pro-Palestinian. Except there is a bit of a gap. There are very few, at least on my feed, ‘moderate’, pro-Palestinian voices.

(To justify the ‘rabid’ adjective, I just read a SS note that said that Israel assassinated Charlie Kirk because he wanted the Epstein files released.)

Ground Rules

Genesis 22:17-18

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Now, an interesting thing about these people, on both sides, is that they both seem to share certain assumptions. Not facts, they disagree wildly on those. Not conclusions, they disagree on those as well. But… assumptions. Assumptions about how we determine which side is right or wrong. And, more interestingly, I disagree with those assumptions.

God’s Donation

Now the first assumption that seems to be going around I agree with, actually. Sort of.

Pretty much everyone seems to agree that IF God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people, then that would change the equation. The way that those who are anti-Israel reveal this is by denying, loudly and frequently, that God did give the land to the Jews or, from a different angle, denying that the current ‘Jews’ are actually Jews. The pro-Israel side either ignore this completely (if they are secular), or bring it forward (if they are believing Christians or Jews).

Now I obviously believe that God gave the land of Israel to the Jews, I don’t believe that that gift has been revoked, and I find the ‘they aren’t Jews’ argument bizarre… but I don’t think it makes that much of a difference. Because, IMO, in order to make this claim as a nation, they would first have to acknowledge God… His Laws and His Promises… as a nation. They haven’t done so. So… it doesn’t matter much. The day will come, however…

International Law, Genocide, Terrorism, and all that Jazz

The primary assumption of both the pro and anti Israel side, and the one that I most disagree with, is that there are these rules out there, and that one or the other side is or isn’t following the rules, and that following, or having another side which doesn’t follow the rules, justifies one side or the other.

Let me be more specific. One side says ‘Israel is committing genocide’. The other side says, “The Palestinians would like to commit genocide, and would do if they weren’t so incredibly incompetent and if Israel (and the west) didn’t defend itself.” And I say, “I don’t care. That is not the metric I use to judge who I support in this conflict.”

(I also say, “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, and thought they could get away with it, it would take an afternoon, and would cost no Israeli lives.” But I don’t say that in order to justify Israel. Indeed, I often say it to condemn their mealy squishy responses.)

One side says, “Israel shoots teenage boys in the testicles.” The other side says, “Hamas raped dozens of women on October 7.” One side says, “Hamas took hostages!” The other side says, “Israel keeps Palestinians locked up in jail.” And I say… “That is not the metric I use to judge who I support in this conflict.”

Death to America

Mat 22:4-7

Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

So, let me give you my first metric. If one side starts shouting ‘Death to…’ they are usually either the bad guys, or comedians. (See ‘Support your Local Sheriff for an example of the latter.) If they shout ‘Death to Serbians’ or ‘Death to Afgans’ I am pretty sure that I will not be on their side of any political debate.

I am now old. Not ancient, but I’ve been around for a while. And for my whole life the Palestinians have been shouting ‘Death to America’. Time after time, year after year, situation after situation, they gather in the streets and shout ‘Death to America’… ‘Death to Israel’, ‘Death to all Jews’, ‘Death to all Christians’… and ‘Death to America’. Probably ‘Death to the British’ too. Maybe even ‘Death to the French’.

But year after year, time after time, after tragedies, horrors, and attacks… they gather and yell ‘Death to America’ and bring our flag.

I would like you to imagine yourself in Ancient Babylon. And the king is sitting there having a meeting with his various advisors and one of them tells him of some small country on their border, and says that the citizens, after some flood or something in Babylon, gathered in the streets and shouted ‘Death to Babylon’. And then envision he looks at one of his minor generals, and says, “Bring lots of salt.”

A Gift

Proverbs 21:14

A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.

I Samuel 25:18, 23-35

Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.

…

And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,

And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.

Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

So, you know, if I was the leader of that little city on the border of Babylon, I would follow the example of Abigail. I would gather together some really cool presents, get me on a donkey, and hurry to meet the general… a long way from my country.

I have called for the complete, total, unconditional surrender of the Palestinians to Israel. Or, if that’s too scary, to the United States. And as part of that surrender, doing a little bit of retraction on the whole ‘Death to America’ thing.

Do you get my point? Palestine has made itself out to be my enemy. The enemy of the United States, Israel, Britian, and every civilised and Christian country. I take them at their word. I have no sympathy for them. When I’m building my ‘Fantasy Nation’ team… no Palestinian is on my draft list.

The Rules of War

Joshua 9:3-6

And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai,

They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;

And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.

And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us.

Much is made, nowadays, of ‘The Rules of War’. A truly stupid concept for anyone that knows anything about war. History, they say, is written by the victor… and had the Germans won either of the World Wars they would have been the ones to hold ‘war crimes’ trials.

But there is another kind of rule of war… the kind you find in the Book of Proverbs under the ‘really stupid things you shouldn’t do’. And among those rules is this one: When you are a small, insignificant, country with several really large differences between you and your powerful ‘neighbours’… don’t organise ‘death to’ marches. Just don’t.

Conclusion

Deu 20:10-14

When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.

And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:

And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:

But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given

So what are my rules? How do I determine who I support in a given conflict? Outside of, you know, not holding ‘Death to America’ parades? Well, here are some of them:

1. What have you done for me lately? Allies help each other. Allies come when the other is attacked. And the enemy of my ally… is my enemy.

2. Are you even offering peace? When I (my country) comes and offers peace (even peace with tribute, as we read above) do you agree? Are you peaceful?

3. How do you treat my citizens and my ambassadors? Are they safe in your country?

4. If you are my current enemy, go to the Gibeonites and Abigail. Sue for peace, humble yourself, be willing to be slaves.

That’s a partial list, and the Palestinians fail every test. So… bring lots of salt.

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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,

Von