You have undoubtedly seen the recent news from Gaza. In response to rocket attacks, Israel basically cut off all access to the Gaza strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians in situations of dire poverty. Israel closed the border even to imports of humanitarian supplies. The UN announced it could not supply food to 860,000 residents. Oxfam claimed that less than a third of Gaza’s water supply pumps still had fuel. More than half have no electricity. Remember this comes on top of already strict controls on the Gaza border. This is a major humanitarian crisis.
It is also an example of collective punishment. So said the United Nations, the European Union, and the church in Jerusalem. The church’s statement called it an ”illegal collective punishment, an immoral act in violation of the basic human and natural laws as well as international law.” As Catholics, we know that collective punishment is wrong, condemned by Christ himself. And yet, so many American Catholics will still defend Israel no matter what. Why is that?
Those who hanker after a nefarious Jewish lobby are missing the bigger picture. I believe strongly that the US position on Israel comes straight out of derivative Calvinism, which has no major problem with collective punishment. After all, if you believe in predestination, you must accept the notion that whole peoples can very easily be damned through no fault of their own. There are black hats and there are white hats, good guys and bad guys, allies and evildoers. Israel is a “democracy” and so must be supported against the Palestinian “terrorists”, who anyway have a depraved and bloodthirsty culture (don’t all attempts to justify mass murder in history start from this very proposition?). If you add to this an element of weirdness from dispensationalist theology, then killing Palestinians can be read– in some really perverse way– as God’s will. Except that violence is incompatible with the nature of God, with the nature of a reasonable God anyway, as Pope Benedict is fond of pointing out. American Catholics would be wise to listen to the voices of the Church in Israel and Palestine rather than to the evangelical-inspired lobby in the US that sees Israel as capable of no wrongdoing. As is the case so often, bad theology is at fault.
don’t all attempts to justify mass murder in history start from this very proposition?
Yep – whenever I hear someone say, “The only thing the [Palestinians/Arabs/commies, etc.] understand is force…” I learn far more about the commenter than I do about the group he is attempting to describe.
“And yet, so many American Catholics will still defend Israel no matter what. Why is that?”
Rhetorical question? The unholy alliance between Republicatholics and evangelical Republicans is based on the arrangement that the evangelicals dictate the policy and the Catholics provide the intellectual justification. Policies may conflict with Church teaching but if it ain’t ex cathedra, the evangelical Republicans will win every time.
I think what’s going on in Gaza is horrible.
As a former Calvinist, I really think that attributing America’s disposition towards Israel to Calvinism is a big non sequitur. I think that it has much more to do with our collective defensiveness and paranoia when it comes to terrorism – many of us identify with Israel’s “back-against-the-wall” position, and admire the way that they stick to their guns when pressured. The people who put the Bush administration in power did so because they wished we would adopt a strategy and attitude much more like Israel’s. Turning a blind eye towards Palestinians is easy because we ultimately are very willing to be cruel to “America-hating Muslims” in order to protect our interests.
The population of Gaza elects Murder, Inc, otherwise known as Hamas. Hamas vows eternal war against Israel and launches daily attacks against Israeli territory, that is when they aren’t too busy murdering Palestinians who don’t support them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/13/AR2007061300408.html
Israel finally reacts by sealing its border. Let humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza flow from the Egyptian border with Gaza. The Israelis are sick of having their citizens murdered by terrorists from Gaza, as in this charming example:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1123305,00.html
Jews have had their critics, to say the least, throughout the centuries, but they have rarely been accused of being stupid. They learned from their experiences in WWII how much the world in general cares about the lives of Jews. Since then the Jews of Israel have decided that they will not meekly submit to being murdered, world opinion be hanged. I salute their rational unwillingness to submit to being attacked without responding.
Donald responds by proving the point I am trying to make!
American Catholics would be wise to listen to the voices of the Church in Israel and Palestine rather than to the evangelical-inspired lobby in the US that sees Israel as capable of no wrongdoing.
Bravo, MM. Well said.
Kellen,
Morning’s Minion does have a rather simplistic understanding of Calvinism and evangelical protestantism, I’m afraid.
To say that America’s attitude towards Israel arises from Calvinism is a non sequitur on the level of claiming that Democrats’ support for teachers’ unions arises from Rastafarianism.
From what I read Israel was still supplying electricity to the Gaza strip — The Israeli Electric Company (IEC) was supplying nearly 70% of electricity to the Gaza Strip, employees working despite the barrage of Qassam rockets. All the while, it is on the receiving end of Hamas rockets and mortars (according to the IDF, approx. 1500 rocket/mortar attacks since the Hamas takeover).
It’s hard to separate the fact from the spin — for instance, The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry on Thursday accused Hamas of robbing fuel stockpiles in two hospitals in the Gaza Strip that rightfully belonged to them. And earlier, on the 14th, security workers found nearly 2 tons of explosive fertilizer used in the manufacturing of Qassam rockets concealed in a truck transporting ‘humanitarian aid’ to Gaza. Back in December, they found 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate hidden in sacks marked as sugar from the European Union.
At the same time, there’s no getting around the fact that Israel’s strategy has worked against Israel, and inadverdently assisted in Hamas’ campaign against them. (I don’t agree with the wholesale blockading of humanitarian aid, howbeit I don’t blame Israel for tightening security and monitoring what goes into Gaza).
“As the United Nations Security Council debated a response to the situation in the Gaza Strip and Sderot, Israel’s New York Consulate held a protest in front of UN headquarters on Thursday, in which they placed 4,200 red balloons on the UN’s doorstep. The number of balloons signified the 4,200 Kassam rockets fired into Israel from Gaza since the 2005 disengagement from the Strip. [...] “Up until this day, every attempt to raise the issue and make it part of the American media’s agenda has been unsuccessful,” Consulate Spokesman David Saranga said.” — Balloon for each Kassam on UN doorstep Jerusalem Post January 24, 2008.
(The original UN draft condemning Israel’s blockade made no mention of the rocket attacks which triggered the Israeli response).
What is the point of that quote, Christopher? Are you or are you not supporting collective punishment?
I’m sorry, but the idea that one can divide the world into the saved and the damned is intrinsic to Calvinism. If you cannot see how this has influenced, and continues to influence, American foriegn policy, then you are not looking hard enough.
Of course, MM is right about dividing the world into the “sheep” and the “goats” as being an essential part of Calvinism. So is the notion that the “saved” (us) REMAIN “good” (and “saved”), no matter what atrocities we commit, because we “believe” (…are given this “belief” through “grace”) and the “unsaved” (them–the Muslims, et. al.) remain “unsaved” because they remain incorrigible “unbelievers,” due to their not being among the “elect.” If Mr. McClary can’t recognise the parallel with American “exceptionalism,” I don’t know what kind of intellectual universe he’s living in.
MM, forgive my forgetfulness, but when did Christ condemn collective punishment?
I find this discussion interesting on a secondary on a less important level: as a teacher I am occasionally tempted to resort to collective punishment when several members are misbehaving…I may have to rethink this, although I have never admittedly been fully comfortable with it I have resorted to it out of laziness or feeling that I had no other option.
I think Calvinism says that you can’t even know for yourself whether you are one of God’s elect (let alone other people); and US policy towards Israel doesn’t depend on any notion that we humans can discern who is saved and who is damned. Thus, as far as I can tell, nothing in that last comment is accurate.
I think, frankly, the reason why so many Americans sympathize with Israel is that we realize they put up with an awful low. Certainly, they sometimes over-react, and are known for doing so.
While, if cornered, people might condemn some specific Israeli actions (and not having followed this story closely enough, I don’t know if MM is accurate in saying that they’re engaging in collective punishment right now, or simply taking valid security measures) but at the same time people realize that if we had a situation like that on our boarder, we’d probably have difficulty maintaining as much patience as they do. Can you imagine what it would be like if people in Juarez had been sending an average of 5 missiles per day over the border into the US for the last two years?
[Morning's Minion]: What is the point of that quote, Christopher? Are you or are you not supporting collective punishment?
The media tends to condemn the checkpoints (or the wall) without providing sufficient notice as to why it exists in the first place. “In response to rocket attacks, Israel basically cut off all access to the Gaza strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians in situations of dire poverty” didn’t really cut it for me — take that quote as a vivid reminder of how many “rocket attacks” Israel must face, day in and day out.
I don’t support the cutting off strictly humanitarian aid (when of course ‘humanitarian aid’ means exactly that, and not concealed explosives); but we should recognize that there’s more than one party behind this “humanitarian crisis.” I’d say those presently engaged in holding the population of towns like Sderot — “” — hostage are also to blame:
“Life here is measured in intervals of 15 seconds. It is how long the people of Sderot have between the sounding of the sirens and the inevitable explosion. Civic life is almost non-existent. People are on edge, unwilling to plan anything in advance, entertaining – if at all – at home, and fearful of dropping their children at school, lest it is the last time they see them.
Sitting in the spacious dining room of her house in Sinai Street, Shula Sasson explains, with the weary voice of experience, that 15 seconds is not long enough for anyone except the most agile to get to the safer downstairs from upstairs. “If you have to carry a small child, you haven’t a hope.” So the upstairs of their large house is hardly used. Mattresses are piled up behind the settee. Everyone – seven people – now sleeps in the living room. ife here is measured in intervals of 15 seconds. It is how long the people of Sderot have between the sounding of the sirens and the inevitable explosion. Civic life is almost non-existent. People are on edge, unwilling to plan anything in advance, entertaining – if at all – at home, and fearful of dropping their children at school, lest it is the last time they see them. ”
We should be directing our attention to the victims and hostages on both sides of the border.
There are black hats and there are white hats, good guys and bad guys, allies and evildoers. Israel is a “democracy” and so must be supported against the Palestinian “terrorists”, who anyway have a depraved and bloodthirsty culture (don’t all attempts to justify mass murder in history start from this very proposition?)
Well, you don’t see that many Israelis dressing up their kids as mock suicide bombers or mothers proclaiming how delighted they would be for their jihadi children to slaughter some Israelis. You don’t have a host on a children’s program sing “Oh Gaaza…Let Your Lighthouse Illuminate the Sea Of Blood” — if that’s not depraved I don’t know what is.
And why put “terrorist” in quotes? — What else would you call someone who blows himself up inside a pizzeria or a bus with the intent of murdering as many civilians as they can?
Apologies — missing a closing URL tag. If you (blog host) can correct it, it would be much appreciated.
Why doesn’t aid flow through Gaza’s border with Egypt. Is Egypt in with Israel on punishing Hamas and Palestinians?
Digbydolben,
What you’ve described is not an accurate representation of Calvinist doctrine.
The doctrine of predestination is essential to Calvinism. Calvinists hold onto the penal theory of vicarious atonement, which, alongside predestination, implies that God is willing to damn large number of innocent people. The American evangelical “hey presto, wave you hands in the air, call Jesus you personal savior, and bada-bing, bada-boom, you are saved” is merely a trivialized, derivative form of Calvinism. Far from not being sure of your elect status, the American development of religion, and the concomitant development of American exceptionalism, was underpinned by such knowledge. Remember Withrop, manifest destiny and the role of staunch Calvinists Woodrow Wilson and Charles Foster Dulles. Even today, many on the evangelical right call America “God’s country” and believe that God grants it special blessings and protection.
Morning’s Minion,
Well the doctrine of predestination is also essential to Catholicism (though the Church’s understanding of the doctrine is somewhat different than Calvin’s). As for the rest, you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s on the level of saying that Catholics worship Mary and think you can earn your salvation.
Blackadder — MM’s understanding of Calvinism isn’t nearly that intelligent.
People need to understand that quick comments in a comment box is not a dissertation, and so they might seem hyper-generalized and simplified. So be careful when you are correcting someone acting like they do not know what they are talking about: they might be making a simplification for the sake of argument. If you want to say someone is wrong, also, it would be well for you to show how they are — in other words, I don’t see much indication from the criticisms given against MM that the people really know Calvinism as much as they don’t like the association being made.
Moreover, one must look at how MM sometimes is going in and out of Calvinistic perspective in his arguments: thus Calvin would not say God sends innocent people hell since Calvin would say God made them so they won’t be innocent, but from the bigger picture, and a human perspective, one can see what MM is getting at.
As for predestination — again, MM is talking about it in the context of Calvinism. So it doesn’t do well for equivocation.
Henry,
If Morning’s Minion’s talk about Calvinism was limited to a couple of quick comments in a comments box, you might have a point. But it’s not. It’s a regular theme/hobby horse of his. He’s written several long posts touching on the subject, his comments on this blog are peppered with accusations that this or that policy, political movement, or society is “calvinist,” and when asked to substantiate the claim he produces what can only be fairly described as a crude caricature of what Calvinists (not to mention other protestants) actually believe.
Henry:
It’s incumbent on the person who makes a comparison to Calvinism in the first instance to explain why the comparison is apt. I don’t see why it’s my responsibility to write a lengthy post refuting a comparison that most people would immediately recognize as bafflingly inaccurate.
MM:
Calvinists quintessentially think that God has predestined some people to be saved and some people not to be saved. At the same time, at least in America (which is the purported comparison), it is quite routine for Calvinists to say that we can’t know for sure who is in either group. It’s all up to God to decide in the end. See, e.g., Sproul’s comments here. For similar opinions, see here, or here, or here (“We do not know whether our neighbour or enemy is one of the elect or not, but still we are to love them.”), or here (“Calvinists believe that Christ died to atone for the specific sins of specific sinners, and only God knows who they are.”), or here (“Calvinists would retort that only God knows who He has chosen. Therefore, in practice, it makes very little difference to preaching the gospel.”).
The American evangelical “hey presto, wave you hands in the air, call Jesus you personal savior, and bada-bing, bada-boom, you are saved” is merely a trivialized, derivative form of Calvinism.
Calvinism doesn’t lead to altar calls. Quite the contrary — if you think that salvation is solely up to God’s will and that we’re all totally depraved left to ourselves, then you don’t think that salvation can be obtained just by your own choice to say a few words at an altar. That’s why Calvinists usually don’t like altar calls. See, e.g., here, or here, here (“They pronounce that altar calls are wicked because a non-Calvinist, Charles Finney, originated them.”),
In short, “Calvinism” is an actual set of theological beliefs. It’s a word that has an actual meaning. It’s not just an all-purpose insult to be thrown willy-nilly at someone who merely thinks that one side of an international conflict deserves our support rather than the other side.
HK – I appreciate your effort at moderation, I’m definitely not looking to pick a fight or make cheap shots. Here’s my reasoning:
The vast majority of Calvinists would say that even though God collectively punished (e.g. the sin of Achan), we don’t have that right as fallen men. Just because God did or does something doesn’t mean we have the right or the ability to do the same.
In addition, MM lumps together dispensationalism and Calvinism – two schools that are at each other’s throats over precisely the ideas that MM cites as being common to both. Calvinists have predestination, dispensationalists are rabidly pro-Israel, and ne’er the twain shall meet. Dispensational thought is much more dominant in American evangelical thought than Calvinism; most evangelicals cringe at the thought of predestination, so saying that Americans support collective punishment as American foreign policy because of predestinational theology makes no sense.
Blame it on dispensational thought? Sure! Hagee &c. have been promoting it and goodness knows the Bush administration seems to buy into it. But don’t attribute it to Calvinism – it’s an insult to the good Calvinists I know who do not support what is being done to the Palestinians.
Do I need to keep repeating that what I am talking about is the derivative Calvinism that underpins the American civic religion? And yes, it is a mish-mash of predestination, penal vicarious atonement, gnosticism (see Henry’s series on that one), even some dispensationalism. See the link in the post for a more detailed argument as to how it affects American foriegn policy, and why Americans react every differently to things like terrorism than people in other countries.
OK, but can you find a word other than “Calvinism”? Even invent a word, if you like, but this isn’t Humpty-Dumpty. If you keep using the word “Calvinism” to refer to things that have nothing to do with what other people think of as Calvinism, it’s confusing.
I think that both MM and I would agree that orthodox Calvinism (not the mishmash–agreed–that popularized Calvinism has devolved into) is an EVIL, heretical theology that has taken the Jehovah God of the ancient Jews and blended him with the “unmoved mover” to create a sort of monster–certainly not the “Abba” of Jesus Christ or Job’s and David’s deeply emotional and sympathetic Yahweh. That evil god is amply well depicted by Milton and by William Empson’s Milton’s God, as being cruel, legalistic and exclusionary regarding “grace”–as far removed from the God of Thomist, Catholic (not Augustinian) Christianity.
I come from the so-called “Bible Belt,” and this IS, indeed, the god of most Protestants in that region of the country, whether you call their “theology” Dispensationalist,” watered-down “Calvinist” or “Evangelical.”
More on Israel and Hamas from that right wing rag, the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/23/AR2008012303327.html
In the old days, you could use similarly twisted logic to blame whatever you hated about America on the Freemasons. Or more conveniently, the Jews.
But railing against the Calvinists is much safer — people are less likely to recognize you for the conspiracy-minded crackpot that you are, and you don’t have to worry about being called an anti-Semite. Blackadder and Stuart are right — this scapegoating of Calvinists is straight out of the Loraine Boettner playbook. You might as well refer to anything anti-democratic or authoritarian as “derivative Catholicism”, given our alleged slavish devotion to the Pope.
And as usual, it’s left to Donald and Christopher to stand up to those who like to frame every issue as a “have you stopped beating your wife?” quiz (or in this case, “are you or are you not in favor of collective punishment?”).
Yes, that’s right, we must never never say anything bad about the heresy of Calvinism. We wouldn’t want to offend our good friends on the right, now, would we?
I hold no brief for Calvinism, which as you correctly pointed out, is a heresy. Calvinists have enough to answer for without someone twisting their already-twisted theology into something it isn’t, and if you want to actually read up on what actual Calvinists believe — as opposed to the bogeymen you’ve set up in order to have something to beat the straw out of — and rip it all apart, then go to town.
Likewise, iF anyone doesn’t like Catholicism, that’s his thing. I’ll do my best to show him he’s wrong, but even if I can’t, I still expect him to refrain from using it as a shorthand reference for everything he doesn’t like about America, just because he’s too lazy and sloppy to come up with a word that actually fits.
HA is right, MM. No one here is objecting to an informed critique of actual Calvinism. People are objecting to the silly and uneducated propensity to slap the label “Calvinism” on anything that you don’t like.
[...] Vox Nova has a good commentary on the Israeli oppression of Gaza: Collective Punishment. [...]
And what pray tell, are the Israelis supposed to do to make you happy? The Palestinians can’t be trusted not to try to kill the very people who employ them, feed them and take care of them when they get sick. Let’s see how their Egyptian brothers handle them.