[lit-ideas] Re: Oh, Take me to JesusLand!

From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 15:15:06 -0500
The Israelis did to the Palestinians what we did to the Iraqis, only they
grabbed their land.  Ask yourself how you would feel if somebody threw you
out of your house and took it for themselves while you had to live in a
tent for refuges.  Personally, I'd be pissed.  Maybe even more than pissed.
Probably a lot more than pissed.



> [Original Message]
> From: Veronica Caley <vcaley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 11/11/2005 2:24:45 PM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Oh, Take me to JesusLand!
>
> <Several mainline Protestant churches are considering pulling their money
> out
> of the stocks of companies that sell military equipment to Israel in a
> protest against Israel's dealing with the Palestinian intifada.> 
>
> The hypocrisy of this is stunning.  Mainline Protestants object to
> companies selling military equipment to a country whose civilian
population
> is almost daily subjected to suicide bombers.  In the meantime, they
> support their own government daily killing of civilians in a country they
> invaded for no really good reason.  Amazing.  In response to the bombing
of
> two embassies and two attacks on the world trade center, we have launched
a
> war in two countries with no end in sight.  One of these countries had
> nothing to do with any of this.
>
> Having said this, I have to fess up.  I supported the attack in
Afghanistan
> to get rid of the Taliban and the training ground for terrorists.  And I
> still think that was the right thing to do any president would have done
it.
>
> I didn't know whether to support the war in Iraq.  I assumed that no
> president would send American troops to die for self aggrandizement.  It's
> amazing how one can get so old and so unwise.  I also didn't know my
> capacity for hate, until I heard my president by appointment call a triple
> amputee in Vietnam a traitor.  It all makes me very sad.
>
> Veronica
>
> Veronica
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: Andreas Ramos <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: Lit-Ideas <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Date: 11/10/2005 5:54:14 PM
> > Subject: [lit-ideas] Oh, Take me to JesusLand!
> >
> > A THEME PARK FOR THE HOLY LAND?
> > AMERICAN EVANGELICALS AND ISRAELI OFFICIALS PLAN TO UNVEIL THIS MONTH A
> $60
> > MILLION PARK WHERE JESUS WALKED.
> > By Ilene R. Prusher
> > Christian Science Monitor
> > November 10, 2005
> >
> > http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1110/p06s01-wome.html
> >
> > JERUSALEM - Officials in Israel say that out of about 2 million people
who
> > will realize their dream of visiting the Holy Land this year, more than
> half
> > will be Christian. And among those, more than half will be Evangelical.
> >
> > With that in mind, the Israeli ministry of tourism has gone public with
a
> > plan to build -- in partnership primarily with American Evangelical
> churches
> > -- a sprawling Holy Land Christian Center on the northern shores of the
> Sea
> > of Galilee, home to some of the most notable chapters in Jesus'
ministry.
> > The center, to be built on approximately 125 acres that the Israeli
> > government is offering free of cost, would be a Christian theme park and
> > visitors' center, one that would be particularly attractive to
> Evangelicals
> > and other Christians who want to spend more time in the places where
Jesus
> > walked.
> >
> > Highlights may include a Holy Bible Garden, full of plants and trees
> > mentioned in the New Testament, and equipped with quiet sites for
> reflection
> > and prayer. A Sea of Galilee Amphitheater will overlook the mouth of the
> > Jordan River and hold 1,500-2,000 worshippers. And the park will have a
> > Christian Experience Auditorium and a Multimedia Center. The center
would
> > also feature an online broadcast center, which would give religious
> leaders
> > an opportunity to address their followers back home, live, near the
> tranquil
> > blue waters of the Sea of Galilee (which today is considered a lake).
> >
> > "It will focus on the real places where Jesus walked," says Ido Hartuv,
a
> > spokesman for the tourism ministry. "It's a place where pilgrims can
touch
> > the experience -- they can touch the Bible."
> >
> > Israeli officials say they are in advanced discussions with several
> > prominent churches that will serve as investors and builders of the $60
> > million center. Tourism Minister Abraham Hirschson told the Haaretz
> > newspaper that he hoped the first of several agreements would be signed
> this
> > month, and that one of the key figures at the heart of the project would
> be
> > Pat Robertson, the prominent televangelist and founder of The 700 Club.
> >
> > "It thrills me to think that there will be a place in the Galilee where
> > Evangelical Christians from all over the world can come to celebrate the
> > actual place where Jesus Christ lived and taught. It will be our
pleasure
> to
> > fully cooperate with this initiative of the Israeli Government," says
Mr.
> > Robertson.
> >
> > The plans to build the center -- and to turn a large swath of the
pastoral
> > waterside territory, from Magdala to Bethsaida, into a Galilee World
> > Heritage Park, complete with hiking trails along paths Jesus would have
> > walked -- come at a time of seesawing in relations between Israel and
> > various US churches.
> >
> > Several mainline Protestant churches are considering pulling their money
> out
> > of the stocks of companies that sell military equipment to Israel in a
> > protest against Israel's dealing with the Palestinian intifada. Churches
> > considering an economic boycott point to the building of the West Bank
> > barrier as well as an expansion of Israeli settlements over the Green
> Line,
> > Israel's pre-1967 boundaries. In August, the Presbyterian Church passed
a
> > resolution to explore divestment, but no final decision will be taken
> before
> > the church's next convention in the summer of 2006.
> >
> > Ever since Benjamin Netanyahu -- Israel's prime minister from 1996 to
1999
> > -- cultivated ties with US Evangelicals and other Christians during his
> > tenure, Israeli governments have sought to strengthen relations with the
> > sector of the Christian world which, for religious reasons, tends to
take
> a
> > pro-Israeli view of the Arab-Jewish conflict. On Mr. Robertson's
website,
> he
> > says that God gave this land "to the descendants of Israel," not to
> > "so-called Palestinians." Older churches, such as Orthodox and Catholic
> > denominations, have more local Palestinian followers and tend to support
> > that side of the conflict.
> >
> > But Uri Dagul, the head of the Israel Youth Hostels Association and the
> > creative force behind the project, says it is more focused on tourism
than
> > politics. The idea, he says, reflects an improvement in Jewish-Christian
> > relations, underscored by the visit of Pope John Paul II here in 2000.
Mr.
> > Dagul says the project should be a nondenominational Christian center,
not
> > an explicitly Evangelical one.
> >
> > Some of the existing churches and monasteries the shores of the Sea of
> > Galilee -- such as in Tabgha and Capernaum, where Jesus lived for a
time,
> > were built as recently as the early 1900s by prominent churches in the
> Holy
> > Land: the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholics, represented by the
> > Franciscans. But the area has not, more recently, been developed for
> > visitors, says Dagul, and so the busloads of tourists who come to the
> coast
> > north of Tiberius find it difficult to secure a place to pray and
reflect,
> > much less find a rest-stop equipped to accept hundreds of pilgrims.
> >
> > "Jerusalem comes only later in the story, but most of Jesus' history is
in
> > the northern part of the Sea of Galilee," says Dagul. "We can give
people
> > the opportunity to experience it, to pray here, to broadcast to their
home
> > congregations, to walk on Jesus' trails. People go to churches all over
> the
> > world, but this is the place where it happened."
> >
> > A spokesman at the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ),
> > which represents Christian Zionists from around the world, views the
> center
> > as an important step towards developing sites for Evangelicals, whom he
> says
> > make up the fastest-growing segment of Christians.
> >
> > "The Protestant world in general got a late start on the Bible-sites
> > business. While the Greek Orthodox -- as the successor to the Byzantine
> > empire -- and the Roman Catholics have been involved in identifying
> > Christian sites and maintaining them for pilgrims for centuries," says
> David
> > Parsons of the ICEJ. "It's very astute of the Israeli government to do
> this,
> > with all the support of the Evangelical world out there," he adds. "We
> have
> > a stake in the tourism industry here, and this gives us a place to call
> our
> > own."
> >
> > Whether the development will resemble a study center more than a theme
> park
> > is unclear. The developers say they plan to check kitsch and
commercialism
> > at the door. "No way will it be a Disneyland. We have to keep the spirit
> of
> > the place," Dagul says. "You can see the movie about Jesus' life, then
see
> > the mountain," he says, referring to the Mount of Beatitudes, where
Jesus
> > gave his Sermon on the Mount, containing some of his essential
teachings.
> > "But if we lose this spirit, with too many lights and projectors, it
will
> be
> > a catastrophe."
> >
> > And bowing to protests from Orthodox Jewish groups, the Christian
partners
> > will have to agree not to go out and proselytize to local Jewish
Israelis.
> >
> >
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[lit-ideas] Re: Oh, Take me to JesusLand!

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