Let me preface this piece by stating, for the record, that I am a Zionist. I have been a Zionist long before I truly knew what the term meant, or even that there was a term for it. As a child reared in a church upbringing, I can remember many of the stories and lessons of Sunday school teachings from very early in my life. I fell in love with the nation of Israel at a very young age, have spent my life as an advocate of modern Israel, once considered immigrating TO Israel to volunteer to be a member of her armed forces after having served my OWN country in OUR armed forces.
That being said, here is the piece that started out as a reply and wound up being a personal revelation:
The "holy wars" karen refers to are most likely the wars Israel fought in ancient times against such tribes as the Philistines, the Hittites, and the Canaanites (whom they defeated when they first began settling ancient Israel), among others. The Bible and tradition teaches that Israel was to destroy her enemies utterly and completely. There was a reason for this; from day one, Israel has been fighting for her very survival.
Is Israel indeed the chosen nation of God? Let's do a brief tracking through history, looking at things in a fairly non-specific manner.
Israel has survived, over the millenia, enslavement by the Egyptians, a division of the kingdom into the Kingdoms of Israel and Judea, captivity by the Babylonians, and the Romans, who dispersed the Jews from their homeland, from which they remained in exile until they were given leave, by Britain (who did little to nothing to help them, in actuality) to return TO the area known as Palestine in the late 1940's. In the time period between the Diaspora and the Return, the Holy Land has been ravaged by Arabic occupations and wars, the Crusades, which saw western Christendom establishing kingdoms and baronies of their own via mandate of the Church, the dispelling of Christendom by Islam, and finally occupation by the British Empire until the Jews returned, finally, home.
That's roughly six thousand years stuffed VERY tightly into a nutshell.
Six thousand years. The Babylonian Empire is gone. The British Empire is no more, they are now the British Commonwealth. The Roman Empire is gone, as is the Holy Roman Empire.
Israel has not only survived being spread among the nations of the Earth, she has returned to her home. She has survived.
Now, following this to it's logical conclusion, it would appear, indeed, that there IS something wondrous and special about Israel. Something that goes beyond the mere boundaries of a land. Israel is a people, a people set aside and chosen, a people protected BY the hand of a God who not only keeps and preserves them, but, as is shown clearly throughout the Bible, a God who chastises and punishes them when they are out of his will.
But you will notice that Israel survives, DESPITE so many attempts through history to eliminate this proud people from the face of the Earth.
Who then, are the infidels? I say to you that if there are infidels, if there are unbelievers, it would be those who are hell bent on the destruction of Israel. That would be radical jihadist fascist extremist Islam, at the top of the list. True "neo-Nazi's."
My mother's uncle fought under Patton during World War II. He was very quiet regarding most of his military service. He wouldn't discuss the war much at all, other than to talk about the French and Italian countryside and how beautiful the land was, and to say that MY generation would have to face the Nazi's again, because their message of hatred had spread beyond Europe into other parts of the world. Look to the Middle East, to Radical Extremist Islam, and their message.
Ossama bin Laden fancies himself, if one looks to both history and psychology, as being the Saladin of our lifetime. Saladin was an honorable man, a true warrior, a true leader. Saladin led his forces HIMSELF, in the open, and had no fear to meet his opponents face to face in meetings of truce, and on the open battlefield. Saladin would NEVER have dishonored himself by hiding in caves, in supporting acts of dishonor and cowardice of convincing others to blow themselves to hell in crowded places to kill innocents, pronouncing them martyrs to be rewarded in heaven.
I am a Zionist, yes, and have been all of my life, for as long as I can remember. The lessons of Israel's history, not just the religious messages, but the lessons of the people, the individuals, are as rich and meaningful today as they were when they were written so many millenia ago. Yes, there are lessons to be learned by studying other cultures, other religions, other societies, but Israel endures. Sampson, Gideon, David, and Solomon were my heroes long before Superman, Batman, Richard, Charlemagne, and even Saladin. I suppose there is no surprise, all these years after my initial teachings, that the great love of my life is a daughter of Zion. However, I also have questioned God for a number of years, at times questioning his very existence, let alone his divine will and purpose in my OWN life, my individual existence. Time has brought these questions; time, observation, experience, and situation. I'm in good company, I suppose, for I share that habit with the likes of David, Moses, and Jesus of Nazareth himself. I don't equate myself in ANY way with these men OTHER than that I do have questions which have yet to be answered. Perhaps there are no answers, not in the form in which we tend to think of them. I have maintained, after much reflection through the years and no small amount of studying Zen and practicing it's meditations when I was younger, that all true answers to such questions can ultimately be found within ones self.
A student asked me once, before one of my classes, when I was teaching, about my life before teaching. It took me a bit off guard, something that high school seniors are prone to attempt with their teachers, especially the ones who come back to their home towns to take interim positions after being away and out of contact with the "locals" for some time; I was an enigma to them. That I was known as having come into the teaching field later than most, having spent time as a soldier, a fireman, and a contractor, furthered the mystery about me in their minds even more, I'm sure. Most of their teachers, from the time they began kindergarten on through the years until their final year in school had been more "traditional," having gone from high school to college and then into their own classrooms to teach. I didn't fit into that mold. I weighed her question, which was honest and sincere in it's presentation, having been the subject of much discussion amongst my classes, and considered how best to answer her, and the others who had turned their attention to me awaiting my answer.
This is the basis of what my reply to her was:I have lived my life largely on my own terms for as long as I have been able to do so. I have been and done everything I set out to do and to be, I have seen things of incredible beauty, I have seen things of absolute horror. I've been places and done things that I can never share with anyone, but those memories, those experiences, live within me every day of my life. I have seen life come into this world, I have seen life leave this world in the most horrible of manners. I have known the fear that comes with the closeness of death. I have saved lives, I have done otherwise at least once...
I have loved greatly and fully, and I have known the agony of love lost, and the rapture of love returned and the promise of tomorrow. I have known pain of the body, pain of the soul, and joy beyond measure.
At my lowest point, I had considered my life, and had asked myself, "Is there nothing more? Have I done all that there is to do?" I very nearly decided that I had, when three simple little words found me and shook me to my foundations, urging me to begin a climb out of my own personal hell back into the light. Those three little words were something special, precious, meant just for me, and they literally saved my life. With those words I began the most difficult assent of the soul that I have ever undertaken, and I continue it still, more confidently each day as I continue on this quest that I am meant to endure.
My students were silent when I finished, I know not what their thoughts were, or even if I had answered their question. Perhaps I left them wondering even more with my reply. I do know that it was the most honest answer that I could give.
Perhaps, in retrospect, I found an answer of my own as well. Perhaps my studies did more than instill me with a love and respect of a tiny little nation forged on the shores of the Mediterranean sea so long ago. Perhaps the chastising of a nation can equate to the trials of the soul of the individual, as well. Perhaps the will of God for me is to do exactly what Israel has done through the millenia; to endure. And endure I will, for I cling fast to that promise of tomorrow, and with each day the quest draws me closer to that for which my heart and soul long and yearn for.
Questing onward...
Once and Always, an American Fighting Man