I will not be carrying a petition for Congressman Eliot Engel this week.
My
action—or my lack of action—is my steadfast objection to Congressman
Engel’s unwavering support for Reverend John Hagee and his cult-like
group, Christians United for Israel (CUFI).
This
may come as a shock to many of the recipients of this e-mail. This may
also be viewed as an act of party disloyalty by some of you. But I
maintain that my refusal to carry these petitions is a righteous
protest, in the true spirit of the Democratic Party. I am justly
protesting against Congressman Engel and demonstrating that he has
harmed the very morals and principals that guide this party and define
us as Democrats.
On
Tuesday July 22, Congressman Engel will be attending and speaking at
the Christians United for Israel’s Washington-Israel Summit, as he has
done the previous two years. He will be giving the “Middle East
Briefing” along with conservative and anti-choice activist Gary Bauer,
noted Republican Party stenographer William Kristol, and warmongering
and theocratic Congressman Mike Pence (R-Indiana). At other times
during the conference, the dais will be graced by Democratic turncoat
and Iraq War supporter, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Rev. Hagee
himself, former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Has Been), and Clifford D.
May, the president of the neo-conservative Foundation of Democratic
Democracies and the Chairman of a hyper-neurotic organization known as
the Committee on the Present Danger. There are no other Democrats
attending this conference.
More
than a week ago, Engel's office was contacted by concerned constituents
and members of the media who read about his attendance at the
conference. Engel's press secretary promised a response last Thursday,
but no response came. Congressman Engel is ignoring this issue, hoping
that we'll forget about it and let this whole matter slide.
So,
why should I (or should you) be so upset by this? First of all, Rev.
Hagee is the same clergy member that has said, at various times, that
Hitler was “doing God’s will” by hunting the Jews and sending them back
to Israel, that “gay sin” was the cause of Hurricane Katrina, and that
the Roman Catholic Church is “The Great Whore” and the mother of
prostitutes that was revealed in the book of Revelation. Recently, an
audiotape of one of Hagee’s sermons revealed blatant disgust for the
Jews that he claims to love. Hagee claimed that the current “the
Antichrist” is half-Jewish—as he claims Hitler was—and a homosexual as
well. This statement, above all, is obvious hate language that reveals
a disgust for non-Christians and the gay community. I find his words to
be disgusting; I would never associate with anyone that would say such
things about his fellow man.
Now,
what about Christians United for Israel? As revealed by Max Blumenthal,
in a revealing video last year (which you can access from The
Huffington Post, YouTube and from some of the links I provided below), CUFI
is a group that uniformly lobbies the government to attack Iran because
it plays to the group's eschaton beliefs. Yes, CUFI is nothing more but
a fatalistic Doomsday cult that believes that there must be a
theoretical State of Israel as one of the conditions for the “War of
Armageddon” and for like-minded Christians to experience “The Rapture.”
This group cares nothing about Jews or the Israel, they only seek to
move their Doomsday clock forward and to put all the pieces in motion
for this scenario to play out in a bloody war, which they also predict
will kill a third of the humans on Earth.
Members
of the group are on the record in Mr. Blumenthal’s video as stating
that their support of Israel is based solely upon this Armageddon
scenario. Why should we believe otherwise? And now, the group sees Iran
as an imminent threat to Israel and a possible and fortunate trigger to
their end-of-the-world scenario. They are currently seeking to lobby
the United States government to destroy Iran without questioning the
validity and morality of such a war.
I
find it totally unacceptable that a member of the Democratic Party—and
our supposedly progressive Congressman nonetheless—continues to
support, acquiesce to, and appease groups like CUFI. Without a doubt,
CUFI is a dangerous group of maniacal war-mongering theocrats and
dominionists. They do not represent even a negligible percent of
Congressman Engel's constituency. So why does Eliot Engel, who we
support with our signs, petitions, and donations, continue to support CUFI? That’s one question I would like to see answered by the Congressman.
In
the meantime, we have got to convince Congressman Engel to stop his
continuing support of the CUFI cult and Rev. John Hagee. This is not
just an unfortunate alliance, it is outright treason to our amalgamated beliefs and to our party.
I
hope that other Rockland County Committee members and other New York
State Democratic Committee members will join me in my simple protest
not to carry Congressman Engel’s petitions. I am looking forward to
other committee members coming out about this matter publicly. I
sincerely believe that we are obligated as Democrats to stand up for
the fundamental principles of this party and for the shared vision we
see for this country. Our loyalties to individual politicians should
only be tempered by how well they adhere to these principles.
Therefore, anyone’s choice not to carry Congressman Engel’s ballot is
not an act of party disloyalty, but a patriotic act of true believers
of democracy, peace, and egalitarianism.
Please join me in this protest and respond to the group with your thoughts about this unfortunate matter.
There
are likely many people I've left off the Orangetown committee list, as
mine is woefully incomplete. Please forward my message to those that
likely missed it. Also, forward this message to members of other
Democratic Committees in Congressman Engel's district and to voters
that may otherwise—and unwittingly—sign a petition for Congressman
Engel this week.
P.S.:
I would not make allegations without evidence. So, for more reading
(and watching and listening), I suggest that you view the Web pages,
audio files, and videos that I list below:
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