Perilous Times
America ‘cursed’ by God ‘if we reject or condemn Israel’
By Andy Birkey 2/8/10 8:34 AM
bachmannrjc1At a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Los Angeles last
week, Rep. Michele Bachmann offered a candid view of her positions on
Israel: Support for Israel is handed down by God and if the United
States pulls back its support, America will cease to exist.
The Republican Jewish Coalition is the same organization that recently
hired former Sen. Norm Coleman. Bachmann’s appearance on Feb.1 is part
of a whirlwind of national events for Bachmann in February. Next up:
she’s keynoting the Take Back Washington North Dakota event in Bismarck
this Friday night.
Here’s a transcript of some of her remarks at the RJC event:
I am convinced in my heart and in my mind that if the United States
fails to stand with Israel, that is the end of the United States . . .
[W]e have to show that we are inextricably entwined, that as a nation
we have been blessed because of our relationship with Israel, and if we
reject Israel, then there is a curse that comes into play. And my
husband and I are both Christians, and we believe very strongly the
verse from Genesis [Genesis 12:3], we believe very strongly that
nations also receive blessings as they bless Israel. It is a strong and
beautiful principle.
Right now in my own private Bible time, I am working through Isaiah
. . . and there is continually a coming back to what God gave to Israel
initially, which was the Torah and the Ten Commandments, and I have a
wonderful quote from John Adams that if you will indulge me [while I
find it] . . . [from his February 16, 1809 letter to François Adriaan
van der Kemp]:
I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than
any other nation. If I were an atheist, and believed in blind eternal
fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the
most essential instrument for civilizing the nations. If I were an
atheist of the other sect, who believe or pretend to believe that all
is ordered by chance, I should believe that chance had ordered the Jews
to preserve and propagate to all mankind the doctrine of a supreme,
intelligent, wise, almighty sovereign of the universe, which I believe
to be the great essential principle of all morality, and consequently
of all civilization.
. . . So that is a very long way to answer your question, but I
believe that an explicit statement from us about our support for Israel
as tied to American security, we would do well to do that.