Right-Wing Religions of the World Unite to Oppress Women and Gays More Ruthlessly
Right-Wing Religions of the World Unite to Oppress Women and Gays More Ruthlessly
Again, what these interfaith efforts are all seeking is religion as an excuse for discrimination — a license to hate and to treat people unequally.
These troubling interfaith efforts don’t just happen within Christianity; they span national boundaries and bring together completely different religions. Take, for example, the well-known alliance between right-wing evangelical Christians in the U.S. and right-wing Jewish settlers in Israel. It’s a bizarre marriage of convenience; many of the settlers believe that Israel should rightfully possess all the land that, according to the Bible, God promised to the Jewish people. The evangelicals believe this as well, but add the idea that Jewish possession of the promised land is a necessary precondition for the return of Jesus and the apocalyptic war predicted by Revelation, at which time all Jews will either be converted to Christianity or slaughtered.
Despite their very different motivations, these two groups have forged an effective alliance. The religious nationalists in Israel have had more or less free rein, and they’re increasingly allied with ultra-Orthodox Jews in expanding illegal settlements. Meanwhile, the evangelicals have pressured American governments to shield Israel from international criticism and to take a hands-off policy toward the settlements. The evangelicals have even raised money to help build more of them.