US Politics - A Society in Meltdown

Get some help mate, it’s never too late.

Sadly I can’t arrange any help for you from Galway, mate, given that you’re in Nebraska at the moment.

But perhaps if you’re back at Christmas I could get the public health nurse to see if she can get somebody to pop down to you on one of the days and check you out?

Sinead is very good like that.

I’m not in the least surprised that Sinead O’Connor is an acquaintance of yours, pal, in fact I wouldn’t be at all shocked to hear you are related.

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:grinning:

Everything’s going great

My fave thing is him turning to other people’s taunts on him as if they’re an original thought by him.

Came in here to see if there was going to be any moaning about the “anti Semite” Trump declaring Jerusalem Israel’s capital, surprised there isn’t.

Wherever I have gone
Wherever I’ve been and gone
Wherever I have gone
Jews run the game.

If they were taking my blood in college the old lads would have had a serious buzz going out the door

Sure, try and provoke a war in the Middle East.

It deflects away from how corrupt you are.

It’s not a joke anymore. Why is he poking this bear now?

Sooner this fucker is put in the ground the better.

The second intifada in 2000 was provoked by Ariel Sharon when he decided to try and symbolically claim the site of the Haram al-Sharif mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. This is worse than that. It’s a recognition that Trump believes “might is right”.

Trump simply doesn’t care about the consequences of anything he does, it’s entirely consistent with his character and his utter hatred of Muslims to want to provoke this conflict. He only cares about wreaking destruction. He’s in Israel’s pocket, and Israel wants nothing less than to drive the Palestinians out of the occupied territories. The move is also a deeply cynical one to try and court Jewish support in the US after the anti-semitic nonsense he has indulged in.

It’s a direct violation of assurances given by the US to the Palestinians during the Oslo talks in 1991 and goes flagrantly against dozens of UN resolutions.

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It has huge significance to the evangelical movement in the US. Not just symbolic significance, they see it as a major step towards the end times and the second coming. Sounds mental but it’s the reality if it. Has been at the root of evangelical support for Israel for a generation. They don’t actually love the jews by the way, they want Jesus to return and destroy them. But this epic war in the middle east is what sets the stage.

Good twitter thread that explains it.

Full thread:

Much chatter on news and online about WHY Trump wants to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. I suspect that most secular commentators do not understand the religious dimensions of this story.

For decades, conservative evangelicals have been longing for this recognition. They believe it is necessary in order to regain control of the Temple mount.

That is important because rebuilding the Temple is the event that will spark the events of the Book of Revelation and the End Times.

Yes, of course, there are all sorts of political and secular motives for Trump’s action. But you can’t discount those evangelical advisors. Almost all of whom take these End Times prophecies literally. Of all the possible theological dog-whistles to his evangelical base, this is the biggest. Trump is reminding them that he is carrying out God’s will to these Last Days.

They’ve been waiting for this, praying for this. They want war in the Middle East. The Battle of Armageddon, at which time Jesus Christ will return to the Earth and vanquish all God’s enemies.

For certain evangelicals, this is the climax of history.

And Trump is taking them there. To the promised judgment, to their sure victory. The righteous will be ushered to heaven; the reprobate will be banished to hellfire.

People believe this. Really believe this. Have given their lives to these ideas, sing about them in their churches, evangelize others, teach them in Sunday schools.

And, this morning, with the news of Jerusalem, these people are ecstatic. This is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. And Donald Trump is not only acting on a campaign promise, but enacting a theological one.

You wonder why the high support numbers among white evangelicals? Those numbers have surprisingly little to do with policy (other than abortion) or even “earthly” morals. But they have everything to do with unfolding of God’s purpose.

They believe that Donald Trump is God’s instrument to move us closer to the Rapture, the Judgment, and the End. Because to them, that’s actually the beginning – the beginning of their reward and heavenly bliss.

So, yeah. Regular Christians – Orthodox, Catholic, mainline – can raise a fit about how this action will undermine world peace. But that doesn’t matter. Because peace in this world doesn’t matter.

What matters is that Jesus comes back in Judgement. To these sorts of Christians, that Judgment is the only true peace. Everything is phony, deceptive, even evil.

Millions of American Christians believe all this. Millions of Trump voters. Sacred history is unfolding right now because of Donald Trump and God.

They’ve based their faith, their identity, their purpose, their eternal lives on these ideas. Trust me. There’s no arguing with any of it.

Because God. Because of their understanding of God’s Word. Say what you like, trot out all the popes, patriarchs, and mainstream theologians you want, but it won’t make one wit of difference.

In their minds, we’ve arrived at the big show. The End is Near. (Why they need more SCOTUS justices if this is the case, I’m not sure. But, hey, religion and logical consistency don’t usually go together).

I first learned all this in Wednesday night Bible study at Scottsdale Bible Church when I was 15 years old. Yes. This is taught – in excruciating detail – to children and teens.
Many evangelical colleges actually challenge it, but the depth and extent of these ideas on American evangelicalism is unquantifiable.

And those evangelicals who challenge these ideas are – eventually – pushed out of the subculture, make accommodations, look the other way, or leave.

I’ve long suspected that this end times fixation is one of the drivers of younger evangelicals leaving church – and the growth of the “nones.” It is powerful stuff, a worldview that is profoundly difficult to challenge.

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Have you ever had an original thought in your head?

Which Arab nation is going to start a war with Israel?
Do you not think they have learned their lesson from having their asses handed to them on every occasion since 1948 when they tried?

Would that be down to the massive military aid the “honest broker” the US has given Israel since the 1940s, by any chance?

Do you understand what intifada is?

Obviously that’s a rhetorical question, given who it’s aimed at.

What wars have the Trump administration started or what countries have they completely destabilized since taking office compared to the utter moronic actions of the past two US administrations?

Look at the territory that ISIS control now versus 2014, it has shrank by at least 80%.

The only pathway to peace in the Middle East is for the barbarism that is radical Jihadist Islam to be defeated and for the major players in the region to move to more secular societies. Israel is the only country in the region that even remotely resembles a modern democracy, and yet the left wing lunatics want to see Israel destroyed and replaced by their Islamist lunatics.

Saudi and Israel are cooperating now, all that’s needed is for Iran to join the party and stop their support for the nutters. If the Arab states had the will, they could have created a state for the Palestinians 60 years ago or at any time up to today. They won’t because of their hate for each other and their hatred towards the West. The Israeli state was created out of the collective guilt of Europeans slaughtering six million Jews (it wasn’t just Germans who slaughtered Jews and handed them over to be slaughtered).

Israel has the right to exist and not have neighbors who have been intent on wiping them out since 1948.

See my above answer. You’d prefer to have seen all the remaining Jews exterminated?
What a disgusting anti-Semitic shit you are.

Time for the Arab world to move on from 1948. If they gave a shit about the Palestinians they would have built a state for them, they have vast wealth and plenty geography to do so. Israel was converted from a desert to a thriving economy, no reason why the same couldn’t have been done/be done for the Palestinians.

Where would you prefer to live, Israel or an Islamic shit hole that offends against every cause you claim to represent?

Give him time, pal. Your standards for success are very low if you think not starting a war in ten and a half months amounts to success.

Trump has totally destabilised the situation as regards North Korea. That’s because Kim knows he’s a fruitcake and has wound him up like I wind you up.

Kim is not the insane loose cannon in this situation.

And if you don’t think this is a complete destabilisation of the Israeli-Palestinian problem, you should read a book.

I suggest “The Great War For Civilisation” by Robert Fisk as a starter.

Basically, only a fucking idiot would think Trump is anything other than a disaster as regards international relations.

Trump is responsible for this how? He’s done nothing except continue Obama’s existing policy.

The people responsible for ISIS losing ground are overhelmingly Assad’s forces, Iran, the Kurds and the Iraqis.

Israel has never negotiated in good faith its history. It’s goal is to drive the Palestinians out based on an insane two thousand year old irridentist religious ideology, backed up by the US.

Obviously you get your news from US sources, and the worst US sources at that, which are the last places one should look for an informed opinion.

And thus, you have, yet again, an opinion which is worthless.

The reason a Palestinian state doesn’t exist is because Israel and the US will never, ever allow one.

Great insight there, mate. To throw your own question to another poster back at you, have you ever had an original thought in your life?

Of course Israel hasn’t been intent on wiping out Palestine. Or something.

Deary me. I said in my previous post that you had a worthless opinion, but you’ve actually gone and surprised me there with the extent of your broad brush ignorance.

Such idiocy doesn’t deserve to be engaged with.

But suffice to say, it’s safe to say that had you been around in 1969, you’d have been screaming for the Brits to push the Catholics out of the north.

It’s funny how you claim to be an atheist as your ideology is that of the most insane type of evangelical extremist. Your ideology and rhetoric is straight from the DUP’s playbook.

It’s deeply ironic you should bogusly claim to be concerned about anti-semitism, given that you were shamelessly on the side of the anti-semites during the Charlottesville protests. That’s a real, actual instance of naked anti-semitism, and you nailed your colours to firmly to the anti-semite mast on that occasion. But that’s no surprise given the support you’ve expressed for the European far-right.

Anti-semitism fits neatly beside Islamophobia and belief in the inherent genetic superiority of whites in your portfolio of shameless, racist beliefs.

Have a look at a fucking map mate. Look at the size of Israel compared to the size of the region, and tell me the Arab world could not have created a Palestinian state at any point after 1948. It’s not like there are 100 million Palestinians.

Why the fuck would Israel negotiate with countries that have been intent on their annihilation since 1948. Don’t you think they saw enough annihilation by Europeans from 1939 to 1945? or again would you like to see all of them exterminated, you hateful cunt.

Have you been to Israel? It’s a wonderful modern country which has largely abandoned religion, in fact the predominant “belief” system is atheism. They are surrounded by utter fanatical lunatics mired in 7th century hatred for each other and hatred for everyone other than themselves. The solution to the Middle East is for Arab countries to march into the 21st century and abandon their delusional Islamic nonsense.

You are an utter fruitcake.

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