How The Christian Right Exploits War's Youngest
Victims
Yahoo News/Huffington Post RJ Eskow June 3, 2006 Supposedly "Christian" religious leaders helped bring right-wing Republican extremists into power, and were enthusiastic proponents of the Iraq invasion. Now they've exulting over the opportunities created when children are ravaged by war. Like George Romero zombies, they wander a blasted landscape searching for souls - and, more importantly, for right-wing propaganda points. It's not only ghoulish - it's a textbook example of how ruthless preachers exploit the spiritual impulse for political purposes. I hope Christians ask themselves, what would Jesus really do? Personally, I think He'd weep bitter tears at the plight of Iraq's children. The folks at Campus Crusade for Christ International, on the other hand, don't share in the sorrow. They're as exultant as vampires in a blood bank. These kids give them an opportunity to find converts, raise money, and promote the Republican agenda. Listen to their latest fundraising letter (from Vice President Steve Sellars), which begins "Dear friend in Christ": "This opportunity has been years in the making, and now is the time to act. ... Campus Crusade for Christ staff teams in Iraq have been working since the American-led liberation, reaching people there with the Gospel. They have seen a tremendous response to the Good News, but recognize the time to so boldly reach out may be short." Translation: We can benefit from their misery, which has been "years in the making," but only while we're the undisputed rulers there. An autonomous Iraqi nation wouldn't let us proselytize the way its current American overlords are doing. They seem to have studied Gingrich on political language, too. The phrases "opportunity," "years in the making," and "American-led liberation" are all designed as subtle brainwashing for the letter's well-intended Christian readership. They're all words with positive charge, applied to a war that's now wildly unpopular even among evangelicals. It's a way to use a reader's Christian faith as a tool to persuade them that our GOP leadership was right to attack Iraq, and is doing the right thing by remaining there. Here's more:
So, you see, it's not all bad that we've created so many orphans and poor children. At least now we can bring them to the American Jesus! And if they want to eat, they're going to have to listen:
You might be tempted to ask Campus Crusade for Christ why they're supporting a government that plunges 100,000 children into "desperate need" in the first place. Don't bother. They're Republican marketers first, and evangelicals second. As Republicans, they want to promote the "positive" side of the carnage at all costs. And as evangelicals for a highly ideologically form of Christianism, the horror of war is nothing more than another marketing opportunity. Think that's being too rough on them? Listen to this:
Hey - kill a few more Dads and we can start a Youth Choir! That 11 year old who watched her entire family being murdered at Haditha should be a likely candidate. She can be a "good news" item in the next Christian Crusade letter, especially when you consider her comments afterward: "I feel sorry. I was wishing to be alive," said Safa. "Now I wish I had died with them." I guess she's ready to hear about Heaven now. This makes another justification for Haditha - one that can sit alongside Carol Platt Liebau's and Michelle Malkin's. So here's the drill: The people they helped put into power start a needless war based on lies. That war maims, impoverishes, and orphans hundreds of thousands of children. But that becomes cause for celebration - and why not? Now they can market to Iraqi's most helpless and America's most persuadable at the same time. Here's a little background on the Campus Crusade and its founder, Bill Bright. As Sara Diamond writes in her book, "Spiritual Warfare":
The Campus Crusade has been heavily funded by right-wing extremist billionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt. Hunt, a dedicated John Bircher, was convicted of conspiracy for his criminal behavior in manipulating (and ultimately devastating) the international silver market. This paragon of Christian virtue joined with Bright and Conlan with the goal of creating a right-wing, fundamentalist, extremist government. It was a wild-eyed plan - but it succeeded. Today, the Republican/Christianist hegemony they've created has waged a war that's devastated hundreds of thousands of children. But to the Crusade and Sellars, those kids aren't a problem - they're an opportunity:
Whatever it takes to "soften the hearts" of these youngsters is apparently OK. And don't forget the parents, too - the ones who've had to watch helplessly as their kids suffer:
In a Dickensian flourish, Sellars adds:
There's more, but you get the idea. Create a "dark future," then offer Jesus - our Republican Jesus - as the only way out, and use the whole effort to build political support among naïve but well-meaning Christians at home. And, make no mistake, their contributors are well meaning. I've lived among them. To them, witnessing for Christ is the kindest thing you can do for anyone. You're saving them, now and for eternity. These good-hearted Americans don't realize that what the Campus Crusade represents isn't spirituality, but the carnal longing for political power. And when it comes to politicking, the Crusade hasn't forgotten its original college constituency. They're proselytizing for Republicanism there, too. Here's my favorite anecdote (from their website):
In case you doubt their conflation of faith with politics, read that line again: "He kept putting it off ... from an assumption that a conservative College Republican was probably already a Christian." That's the America that was envisioned by evangelist/politico Bill Bright and Nelson Hunt, the billionaire Bircher. It's a radical departure from the secular and tolerant state envisioned by the founders, but they've made it a reality. Now they're using the horror of war to promote their agenda at home and abroad - one devastated child at a time. Some Christians. Commentary: |