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View Full Version : Ted Cruz and the most cynical, despicable political stunt of the year




CaseyJones
09-12-2014, 06:05 PM
http://theweek.com/article/index/267993/ted-cruz-and-the-most-cynical-despicable-political-stunt-of-the-year


Since the second half of the 20th century, some of my fellow Christians have been the most persecuted religious group in the world. They still are. You probably are surprised to hear this. That's because most of these persecuted Christians don't live in the West. They are, as the awful phrase has it, too foreign for the right and too Christian for the left.

In recent weeks and months, however, the West has heard about the plight of at least one set of these persecuted Christians: those in the Middle East. These communities, many of which date back to the very beginning of Christianity, are now facing outright extinction. And it's happening at the hands of ISIS, the West's Public Enemy No. 1.

It is in this context that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) indulged in what might be the most cynical and despicable political stunt of the year, which is certainly saying a lot.

A summit was held this week in Washington, D.C., in support of Middle East Christians, and Cruz was supposed to be a keynote speaker. However, right in the second paragraph of his speech, he began exalting Israel. After a while, the assembly started to boo and heckle him. Cruz said, "If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you," and left the podium.

Keep in mind that many Christians in the Middle East are ethnic Arabs who live under Israel's occupation of the West Bank, and therefore have negative feelings about Israel. Of course, there are also many Middle East Christians who are supporters of Israel (indeed, there are even Arab Christians who serve, with distinction, in the Israeli Defense Forces).

As the excellent coverage, transcript, and recording provided by The American Conservative's Jonathan Coppage shows, the audience in Washington applauded Cruz's first lines of support for Israel and the Jews. The crowd turned against him only when it became clear that he was launching into a rah-rah pro-Israel stump speech that had nothing to do with what they were doing there.

Now, I am no Ted Cruz antagonist. I am a supporter of the Tea Party — it's done, on the whole, a world of good for the Republican Party by reinvigorating it and strengthening it. I even supported Cruz's push to shut down the government to stop ObamaCare implementation. And I am also a full-throated supporter of Israel.

But let's be clear about what Cruz was doing in D.C.: using one of the world's most beleaguered minorities as a prop for his own self-aggrandizement.

Why would he do this? This is speculation, but perhaps Cruz, who is a Southern Baptist and whose father is a fundamentalist Baptist preacher, was subtly pandering to a segment of fundamentalist Christians who do not believe that Middle East Christians are "real" Christians. To a serious undercurrent of American Fundamentalism, the Catholic Church is the Antichrist that has been oppressing the "true" Church for millennia, and anything that looks vaguely Catholic, with ordained priests and ornate liturgies, is equally evil. Of course, this is hokum: Middle East Christians were Christians (with their priests and liturgies and incense and icons) for 1,800 years before the Fundamentalists invented their revisionist history.

This much, however, is absolutely clear: Cruz tarred and attacked one of the most powerless and beleaguered minorities in the world, solely for personal political gain. He was speaking truth to the powerless. He was strong against the weak.

In the end, what was most striking about Cruz's tirade was the last phrase: "If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you." Cruz was literally standing in a room with his fellow Christians. In the Bible, the idea of the fellowship of Christian believers is a very important one, and to break fellowship is to put oneself outside the community. What Cruz was saying was that agreeing to his views on Israel was more important as a badge of fellowship than believing in Jesus Christ.

There are many things Christians disagree about, but surely one of the things they should agree on is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is more important than anything, and certainly more important than any political cause, as good as that cause may be.

That is Christianity. Obviously, whatever Ted Cruz believes in, it's something different. And I hope that Christians who are registered to vote in America realize it.

dillo
09-12-2014, 06:11 PM
https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/posts/10152489381436336

reading the comments really enforces dangerous radicals are. Radical islamics are no doubt a threat to a peaceful and free world and possibly America. While radical Christians arent doing the bombings themselves, they seem very eager to let the military fight their crusade. If this is the majority of the republican party than I am ashamed for ever registering as one

specsaregood
09-12-2014, 06:16 PM
I'm left wondering if Randal is going to get dragged into this fray. The group would have made a better decision to have Randal headline the event since he has been on the forefront of this issue since the beginning of his senate career. now cruz has strutted in and made an issue that all US Christians should have been able to agree upon (I would think) into an issue of division. well played Cruz, you douchebag. All cautious favorability I had for cruz is gone now.

DamianTV
09-12-2014, 06:34 PM
Lets be perfectly clear here.

Cruz is not trying to rally support of the Israeli people, he is trying to rally support of the Israeli Warmongers that hold high positions of power by confusing the language with terms that represents their people. And all to advocate perpetual wars with the perception that our people support their warmongering leaders. Every country will have its share of warmongers, and every person needs to be aware that their expressed support may have been manipulated. Am I inadvertently supporting violence in any form? If I am, I need to take a step back and take a good long look at myself. I try my best not to. Now, who can say the same thing for themselves? Its not something to feel guilty over. Everyone is being manipulated. That knowledge helps us all to resist that manipulation and free ourselves from the Tyranny of Perpetual Violence.

sparebulb
09-12-2014, 06:55 PM
I'm left wondering if Randal is going to get dragged into this fray. The group would have made a better decision to have Randal headline the event since he has been on the forefront of this issue since the beginning of his senate career. now cruz has strutted in and made an issue that all US Christians should have been able to agree upon (I would think) into an issue of division. well played Cruz, you douchebag. All cautious favorability I had for cruz is gone now.

Quite right.

This would have been a perfect venue for Rand. Now, Rafael has checked Rand on addressing this group, and in a certain way, the whole subject of Christians in the middle east. If Rand were to prematurely address this, or similar, organizations, the media will distract from the issue and make it a Rand attacking Raffie issue.

Exercising my perfect hindsight, Rand should have addressed this group long before Raffie.

Vanguard101
09-12-2014, 07:54 PM
He's probably trying to get good with them after he trashed CFR

Natural Citizen
09-12-2014, 07:57 PM
perhaps Cruz, who is a Southern Baptist and whose father is a fundamentalist Baptist preacher, was subtly pandering to a segment of fundamentalist Christians who do not believe that Middle East Christians are "real" Christians.

http://theweek.com/article/index/267993/ted-cruz-and-the-most-cynical-despicable-political-stunt-of-the-year

This is basically what I was referencing over in the other thread (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?459640-Now-that-the-Sola_Fide-Rond-AquaBuddha-sock-puppet-has-exposed-himself&p=5646767&viewfull=1#post5646767)when I said that there exists a group who are a part of a revived phenomenon or a new generation of political activists who are evolving or transisting with a political demograph of old men who remain focused on conversion by way of geopolitical force because their American evangelicalism cannot, at it's root, tolerate a civilization whose Christian traditions are entirely different from their own.

Ted is a prime example. And this, specifically, shows why/how. It may be considered a stunt but it's very predictable skullduggery from the likes of some in the demograph.

William Tell
09-12-2014, 08:06 PM
In the end, what was most striking about Cruz's tirade was the last phrase: "If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you." Cruz was literally standing in a room with his fellow Christians. In the Bible, the idea of the fellowship of Christian believers is a very important one, and to break fellowship is to put oneself outside the community. What Cruz was saying was that agreeing to his views on Israel was more important as a badge of fellowship than believing in Jesus Christ.

This was pretty much my reaction, he cares more about a flawed secular foreign nation, than he does about those who share the faith he professes.

Carlybee
09-12-2014, 08:10 PM
The radio heads who lean tea party were defending him today. I'm having a hard time right now embracing any faction of the Republican Party. Clowns to the left and jokers to the right.

WD-NY
09-12-2014, 08:29 PM
I'm left wondering if Randal is going to get dragged into this fray. The group would have made a better decision to have Randal headline the event since he has been on the forefront of this issue since the beginning of his senate career. now cruz has strutted in and made an issue that all US Christians should have been able to agree upon (I would think) into an issue of division. well played Cruz, you douchebag. All cautious favorability I had for cruz is gone now.

This!

Allahpundit's initial analysis (quoted below) definitely had me worried that Cruz had once again succeeded in subverting an issue that Rand had turned into a HUGE positive that ALL REPUBLICANS could benefit from/leverage...

"Watch the clip to see what he said next. Rand Paul’s made it a staple of his comments on the Middle East over the past few years to note how many of our “allies” persecute Christians. He’s right, and that’s shrewdly calculated to appeal to evangelicals who might otherwise be jittery about Paul’s motives in wanting to scale back foreign aid. Watching this, though, and knowing how it’s destined to go viral among grassroots righties, I feel like Cruz probably did himself as much good in 40 seconds with those voters as Rand has in two years. Smart guy, but then we already knew that." - Allahpundit

via http://hotair.com/archives/2014/09/11/video-cruz-booed-offstage-for-defending-israel-at-conference-of-middle-east-christians/
Was definitely not expecting the backlash that's followed (nor the gruffness of language used). Some of the articles (like the Doughtey post quoted at the top) are absolutely BRUTAL:
HotAir Quote's of the Day: http://hotair.com/archives/2014/09/12/quotes-of-the-day-1850/

:cool:

anaconda
09-12-2014, 08:54 PM
He's probably trying to get good with them after he trashed CFR

Cruz trashed the Council On Foreign Relations? Gonna have to fire up the search engine. I missed this.

UPDATE: Sure enough he did! Apparently in 2011 while campaigning for Senate:

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2011/10/politico-cruz-scores-group-his.html/

Christian Liberty
09-12-2014, 09:57 PM
Its not even just Catholics that don't buy the whole "Israel is God's Chosen Nation" shtick. Many Protestants do not either.

fr33
09-13-2014, 12:30 AM
If Israel is so great, then why do Christian refugees flee to Syria. Cruz is dependent upon uninformed morons.

anaconda
09-13-2014, 01:23 AM
Cruz is dependent upon uninformed morons.

a.k.a. the largest voter demographic. :)