This Just In: Israel, Hamas and LGBTQ+ in the News 

Did you know that Qatar is a country that combats terrorism? For instance, in conjunction with relevant UN agencies, it sponsors conferences on counter-terrorism. Now that’s fighting those terrorists. Stop what you’re doing or we’ll have a conference! 

If you think back to the 9/11 attacks on America, the Qatari record doesn’t look so good. Former Qatari government bureaucrat Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was the mastermind of the attack. But that was more than two decades ago, say you. How about today? 

Well, in fact, Qatar is a major funder—to the tune of $400 million per year—of Hamas, a terrorist organization if there ever was one. Hamas is dedicated to killing Jews, as was so ably demonstrated on October 7. 

But why would anyone want to kill Jews? The Qatari government daily, Al-Sharq, can help us with the answer. An article by Qatari journalist Ibrahim Abd Al-Razzaq Aal Ibrahim called Zionists and Jews treacherous, corrupt, and full of 

…filth, wickedness and depravity. They are the bats of darkness, the devils of Hell who suck the blood of the nations, a corrupt and corrupting junta that devours the assets of others and steals their resources, distorts facts and historical records, and is incorrigibly [full of] resentment and jealousy…All these [traits] really characterize them and they will never give them up, because they are the Jewish sons of Zion! They are unreliable, irresponsible and without a moral compass. [In fact,] moral corruption is a universal Jewish trait that characterizes all Jews. It is an inherited genetic characteristic of all Jews everywhere and in every era. A Jew can give up everything except for his moral corruption. A Jew can give up everything except for his moral abominations. He can give up everything except for his depraved actions, his deception, treachery, lies, jealousy and resentment. 

Is that clear enough?

If not, here is more illumination from Syrian and American “intellectuals.” 

In an appearance on Al-Quds Al-Youm TV, Syrian Islamic scholar Abd Al-Rahman Kuki asked, 

Why did the European countries send the Jews to the land of Palestine? It was in order to get rid of their evil, corruption, wickedness, and deception. Brothers, always remember: wherever there are Jews, there is corruption. The Jews are pure evil. Wherever they are found, there will be corruption, evil, deception, lies, promiscuity, and perversion. The Jews are pure evil.

Abdou Zindani, imam at the Islamic Universal Services Association in Warren, Michigan, proclaimed, 

There will be no peace until Israel is uprooted from the Palestinian lands, until it is uprooted from Gaza in its entirety, until it is uprooted from the Golan in its entirety, until it is uprooted from the Shebaa Farms, and the other areas on the Lebanon-Palestine border, and until it withdraws its forces from the Middle East, back to their dens. That is all…These people are not Jews. They were planted there. They were [sent] from Europe, America, and the Western countries, in order to annihilate everybody and take over their money.

So where is this Abdou Zindani from and how and why did he end up in Michigan?

In a video on his YouTube channel, IslamLife, Richmond, Virginia Islamic scholar Jalal Abualrub discussed Americans who voted for President Trump. He questioned, “You voted for Trump? Why didn’t you just vote for the Devil?” Abualrub also called Mike Huckabee, President Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Israel, a “stinking fanatical Christian.” He further reflected that Israeli settlers “look like human beings,” but are in fact “the children of the Devil,” adding that American settlers are the worst of them.

LGBTQ+ Insanity

In eulogizing the late President Jimmy Carter, we must remember that he was a theologian as well as a politician. In an interview, Carter once said, “I think Jesus would encourage any…love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else, and I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else.” I wonder where in the Gospel he found the good news that sodomy doesn’t damage anyone. His proctologist certainly didn’t tell him that. Carter once said, “I think Jesus would encourage any…love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else, and I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else.”Tweet This

The United Methodist Church’s official public policy arm is partnering with an LGBTQ caucus to offer pastors a course in Queer Theology. The new course’s objectives are, 

• To introduce participants to key concepts and figures in queer theology. 
• To equip participants with tools for critical analysis of theological texts and traditions. 
• To foster a supportive community for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies. 
• To inspire participants to engage in practical ministry and advocacy.

The course curriculum includes “Queer Biblical Interpretation, Queer Liberation Theologies, Gender and Sexuality in Christian Tradition, LGBTQ+ Spirituality and Ritual, and Queer Ethics and Social Justice.” 

I have a logical and moral conundrum for these folks: How can you be ethical about something inherently immoral?

Yeshiva University in New York has agreed to recognize an LGBTQ+ student club, after years of litigation. The school assures us that the club “will operate in accordance with the approved guidelines of Yeshiva University’s senior rabbis.” Maybe we better ask the junior rabbis what they think. On the other hand, we’d better not.

And you thought the “revolution of common sense” had won? Not so fast, my friends.

Consider the research project at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, undertaken by Helen Hopkins, a postgraduate researcher at Birmingham City University. As reported by The Telegraph, Hopkins and the trust reached the conclusion that to venerate Shakespeare is to support “white, Anglo-centric, Eurocentric, and increasingly ‘West-centric’ views that continue to do harm in the world today.” The idea of Shakespeare’s “universal” genius benefits “the ideology of white European supremacy.” The “racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise harmful” material in the SBT’s collections commits “epistemic violence. . .”

Now I know where I went wrong. I played “Richard III” at Georgetown University and, after I got out of the Army, was a professional actor performing in even more Shakespeare. 

No wonder I turned out racist, sexist, and homophobic, and have been “otherwise harmful.”