The Last crusade religion and the politics of misdirection -Barbara Victor

Résumé du document

Barbara Victor is a journalist and a frequent lecturer on women's issues and the Middle East. She worked for CBS television for fifteen years, where she covered the Middle East. Her books include Terrorism, an account of the Lebanon war from 1975 to 1982, A voice of reason: Hasnan Ashrawi and Peace in the Middle East, a biography of Hanan Ashrawi, which was nominated for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize, Getting away with murder, a study of domestic violence in the United States and also Le Matignon de Jospin, an inside look at the workings of the French government. In her book, she tries to define Evangelical Christians, explaining how different they are from the mainstream Protestant or Catholic population of the United States, how absolute they are in their beliefs and how determined they are to implement those beliefs throughout the United States and the world.

Extraits

[...] I think this huge Evangelical lobby might threatens individual freedoms and social progress. There has been a sexual revolution in the United States in the 1950s and I have the impression that the Bush Administration tries to erase the social progress which have been done since this time In fact, many elements described in the book scared me and I would like to conclude by an Evangelical slogan which is, to me, particularly revealing and worrying: “What Can 80 Million Evangelicals Do For America? [...]

[...] But in reality, religion and faith in God have always been a comfort to the American people during times of extreme political and military tension. 43). Evangelical elements have always been important in the Christian churches in the West. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, American Christians, concerned by the spread of secular ideas associated with the Enlightenment and the recent successful revolution against Britain, embarked on a grand project of religious revival. This movement focused on missionary work in the cities and on the frontier of the States. [...]

[...] The most basic belief that Evangelical or Fundamental Christians hold is that no one is born a Christian. Anyone can become a Christian if he commits his life to Jesus-Christ and acknowledges that He suffered and died for man's sins on the cross. To be Born-again must include an acknowledgement of having fallen short of the truth and moral precepts found in the bible. Having a personal encounter with the Lord is part of that process. Besides, Born-again Christians see missionary activity as central to their duties as a Christian. [...]

[...] Barbara Victor also explains the Born-again doctrine. Born-again Christians or the Christian Right believe in theories based on passages from the bible. Preachers have taken these passages and have combined them to form irrevocable beliefs. Fundamentalism holds the bible to be infallible and Evangelical preachers consider personal faith the answer to all ethical and moral problems in society. The Fundamentalist view is that everything happens for a reason. A majority of Americans believe the world will end in the battle of Armageddon between Jesus and Satan. [...]

[...] Many American leaders studied Israeli politics more carefully, intent on using the model to effect religious influence in the United States. And in the United States, the Jewish American community has moved politically to the right. Evangelical Christians contribute millions of dollars in order that Israelis can live more comfortably, as well as financing the arrival of new immigrants to the Jewish state. Besides Evangelicals live in Israel on a semi-permanent basis. Groups of affluent Christians also finance trips to the Holy Land for Evangelicals Christians to see for themselves the biblical importance of the State of Israel. [...]