Give em hell, Barry! Too bad he won't be running in 2008... Republicans like him aren't allowed in "the club" anymore... oh well, at least we can still vote Libertarian... (in most states...)

I don't know if you are a Christian or not - it doesn't really matter to me. But Christians allege to believe in the Hebrew Bible as well as their own book. The Book of Joel is prophetic work in the Hebrew Bible and the policies of the sitting Israeli government do divide this land. Ariel Sharon was the head of the government. So this televangelist was right on the money to state that this stroke was punishment for his actions.

If this bothers you or other supposed Christians, obviously you are having trouble believing in the texts you claim to.

It doesn't matter whose name you try to drag into the fray. Your opinions are yours. You are free to state them. You shouldn't hide behind the skirts (so to speak) of truly great men.

Very strange. The recent comments list shows a comment from Ruvy here, but yet when I go to the post there's no comment. Bizarre.

Dave

this old format problem has been site wide for a while

Ruvy,

I love the Middle East and try to better understand it's rich history and people continously. I enjoy sitting down with someone such as yourself who lives there and just listening to the views you hold.

Likewise I think it most important that those who are so close to the region (Middle East) allow for other views to also be heard and considered. The region you live in, and the actions taken there do have real consequences for the entire world. Making policy that effects everyone based on Scripture is really most regrettable. Would those who advocate doing the same with the Koran be wrong?

So when America or Europe makes suggestions about settlements and borders, etc. it is not because we bash a religion, or a people but because distance from a problem does allow for perspective and guidance.

Allen Drury writes,

"Making policy that effects everyone based on Scripture is really most regrettable. Would those who advocate doing the same with the Koran be wrong?"

What do you think Al Qaeda is doing? What do you think the Wahhabi cult behind Al Qaeda is doing?

They are making policy based on THEIR interpretation of the Qur'an. Al Qaeda even admits that the Qur'an grants OUR people title to this land. Then they argue that because we do not put G-d first in our behavior, because we are willing to compromise and give up parts of it for "peace" we have lost the right to it.

Yassir Arafat stated upon rejecting one of the agreements reached that he did not have the right to give up Jerusalem. That was a public statement based in his interpretation of the Qur'an.

Joshua, the leader of our people after Moses died, did not make his policies according to 'realpolitik.' He made them according to the dictates of his G-d. I do not find this regrettable at all. Maybe, sitting in your armchair in Wisconsin, you can afford to call his behavior uncivilized. But according to the words of G-d, "the cup of the Amorite was full." G-d meant to kick them out of His land. And Joshua was His instrument for doing so.

In essence, what you and many like you would have us all do here is to forget what we believe in and 'play nice' by your rules. Then, and agreement could be reached that would be fair and equitable - again by your rules. But the United States did not create the universe, something it gets reminded of now and again - something it will be reminded of more forcefully in the near future.

Belief in a Divinity is like being pregnant. Either you do or you don't.

If you don't, fine. If you do, that has consequences. We may not like them, but the consequences are there nevertheless.

RUVY: I can only attribute some of what you are saying to the obvious and horrible pressure you are living under. You have still not explained in any coherent or credible way the nature of this ancient deity of yours never mind the myriad pronunciations and interpretation of this alien being's words.

Glib if inaccurate statements like your comparison of a belief (= theory without evidence) with a physical condition like pregnancy (= actual fact) just do not help to support your position, which is already only supported by the circular arguments of your dogma.

Ruvy,

While I respect your views, please understand that I asked how it would be different if the Koran was used for policy creation in government today.

You used the Koran to show why using a religious text for creation of policy is a disaster. And yet you seem unable to make the connection that using the Bible for those same purposes poses the same problems.

Robertson is using you and your fellow citizens for his own purposes here.

I think you might ponder why Pat Robertson supports Israel's decision to allow gay people to serve in the military and yet would deny gay people to serve in the United States armed forces. He never said that Israel was going to be destroyed by God if your nation allowed gay people to wear your national uniform. He never said the leaders of Israel would suffer strokes as the result of this policy.

Understand that Robertson picks and chooses his weak arguments, and in this case has stirred unneeded controversy during a very sad time for most citizens of Israel. I would think you might be outraged at being used by this unscrupulous individual.

Allen,

I suspect you do not understand at all what my views are.

I never stated that Al Qaeda's policy making was a disaster. I don't like Al Qaeda, but I respect them - a great deal. With respect to opposing Israel, their policy, based on their understanding of the Qur'an, is not a disaster at all. That's because the secular leaders of THIS country can't comprehend that Al Qaeda doesn't want a deal. They want our lives or our conversions. Period. Westerners just don't get that.

There is literally NOTHING that we can put on the table in dealing with Al Qaeda. So long as our leaders don't comprehend that simple point, they will put more and more on the table, and the leaders of Al Qaeda and other groups will just take and take - and then demand more.

This method of policy making is an astounding success, not a disaster! But you're so mentally invested in a "deal," based on your own cultural biases that you don't see that. This is true with most of the other writers on this blog site.

Let us finally drop Robertson. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Robertson was right in linking Biblical causality to a stroke. For once, he got a hole in one. There are more linkages to this than merely what is written in the book of Joel. Things that you wouldn't comprehend because they deal with the workings of the Jewish calendar.

But for the most part, Robertson spouts pious nonsense, ever with the goal of trying to steal Jewish souls. You make far too much of his comments, and beat the horse to death. Give the man his due when he is occasionally right, and ignore him the rest of the time. This is what I do.

If you can understand what I have written above, you may be able to understand why I beleieve that followign the Tana"kh as a guide for foreign policy can only be a success. Hope spings eternal.