Opinion by Mathew Carr (with some help from search engines, Grok, Claude, Google Gemini, ChatGPT.)

August 15-16, 2024 — The US is helping broker a ceasefire in Gaza, which just might stop it breaching its own constitution.

Meanwhile, violence continues, with 40,000 deaths and counting. Some say it’s closer to one fifth of a million.

There is little doubt that the Zionist/Israeli land grab for Gaza and expansionist moves outside the internationally agreed Israeli borders is aimed at getting hold of Jerusalem — and future tourism revenue (and fossil fuels, etc).

The inability of the US and Israel to share the seat of Christianity with other religions is partly behind the ongoing multi-decade conflict in the region, according to some Christian leaders familiar with what’s going on in Gaza. (ie people who have traveled to Gaza several times).

The brutal violence in my opinion shows how desperate each side of the US presidential election is to win evangelical Christian/Jewish votes. It’s no secret that Jewish folks hold a lot of the pursestrings as well as the political and economic power in the world’s biggest economy. This is a statement of fact, not antisemitism. Rural Christians also hold considerable political power in swing states.

Meanwhile, Jerusalem holds profound significance for several major world religions:

1. Judaism:
   • Jerusalem, known as Yerushalayim in Hebrew, is the holiest city in Judaism. The Western Wall (also known as the Wailing Wall), which is a remnant of the Second Temple, is one of the most sacred sites for Jews. The Temple Mount, where the First and Second Temples stood, is central to Jewish faith and history.
2. Christianity:
   • For Christians, Jerusalem is crucial because of its association with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Key sites include the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed to be the site of Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection, and the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed before his arrest.
3. Islam:
   • In Islam, Jerusalem, or Al-Quds, is the third holiest city after Mecca and Medina. The Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount (known as Haram al-Sharif in Islam) are significant. Muslims believe that Muhammad ascended to heaven from here during the Night Journey (Isra and Mi’raj).

Jerusalem’s unique status as a holy city for these three Abrahamic religions makes it a focal point for religious pilgrimage, study, and often, unfortunately, conflict due to its sacredness to multiple faiths.

BREAKING:

This is not Gaza.

This is the village of Jit in the occupied West Bank.

Armed Israeli settlers are on a rampage burning Palestinian homes and cars, and terrorizing Palestinian families in the middle of the night.

This is not self-defense. It’s terrorism. pic.twitter.com/08wuQMGPrH

— sarah (@sahouraxo) August 15, 2024

Each religion has its own historical, spiritual, and cultural connections to the city, making Jerusalem a complex tapestry of religious significance.

The US Congress has agreed to support the violence in Gaza and the region, which is fairly clearly against its constitution, which separates church and state. (Funding seems to amount to about $40 billion since Oct. 7. Don’t forget Israel helped set up Hamas.)

ICJ: It’s Shameful That Jewish Folk Deployed Nazi False-Flag Playbook to Justify Gaza Violence After Saying ‘Never Again’

The question of whether U.S. laws favor one religion over another, potentially violating the U.S. Constitution, touches on the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.” Here’s how this issue is generally understood:

• Establishment Clause: This clause aims to prevent the government from endorsing, supporting, or favoring one religion over another or over non-religion. The intent is to maintain a separation between church and state, ensuring that the government remains neutral in matters of religion.
• Yet Congress has repeatedly favored Christianity/Jewishness. God promised jewish folk the promised land. In Exodus, a book of the Christian bible, we witness God beginning to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Though the children of Israel were enslaved in a foreign land, God miraculously and dramatically delivered them to freedom. He then established Israel as a theocratic nation under His covenant with Moses on Mount Sinai.
• Congress has failed to recognize Islam’s justified claims. Even though Palestinians are generally minded to sharing the region/Jerusalem according to some, Christians and jews are not so inclined, said the source.
• Legal Precedents: Over the years, the Supreme Court has interpreted the Establishment Clause in various ways, leading to a complex body of law. For instance:
  • Permitted Practices: The Court has allowed certain religious expressions in public settings if they are seen as part of a broader cultural or historical acknowledgment rather than an endorsement of religion. Examples include prayers at legislative sessions (Town of Greece v. Galloway) or religious symbols in public displays when part of a larger secular context.
  • Prohibited Practices: Conversely, laws or government actions that explicitly favor one religion or that have the primary effect of advancing religion have been struck down. This includes cases where public funds were used in ways that could be seen as promoting religion over non-religion or one religion over others.
• Public Sentiment and Debate: From X posts, there’s a mix of interpretations and sentiments:
  • Some users argue that any law or action that seems to favor Christianity or any other religion, especially if it’s not universally inclusive of all religions, is seen as unconstitutional due to the Establishment Clause.
  • Others point out that the Constitution doesn’t prevent all forms of religious expression in public life but rather prevents the establishment of a state religion or undue favoritism.
• Critical Examination: While the Constitution aims for neutrality, critics might argue that in practice, certain laws or policies might subtly favor Christianity due to its historical prevalence in American culture. However, these arguments often hinge on interpretation and application rather than explicit legal text.
• Conclusion: Based on legal interpretations and public discourse:
  • Direct Favoritism: Laws explicitly favoring one religion over others would indeed violate the Establishment Clause.
  • Indirect or Cultural Favoritism: There’s debate over whether certain practices or laws indirectly favor Christianity or any religion due to cultural norms or historical practices, but these are often contested in courts with varying outcomes.
  • Neutrality Principle: The overarching principle remains that the government should strive for neutrality, not promoting or denigrating any religion or non-religion.

Given this context, while there might be laws or practices that some perceive as favoring one religion, the Constitution’s intent and much of legal precedent aim to prevent such favoritism. However, the application of these principles in real-world scenarios often leads to debate and legal challenges, suggesting that the issue of favoritism is more about interpretation and implementation than the Constitution’s text itself.

Donald Trump, who is not a Christian (unless he recently converted), stoked tension in the Middle East by deciding in 2018 to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, even though he claims to be against war generally. He tends to lie a lot for someone who might respect the 10 commandments of the Bible. The Democrats do too.

It all does not make much sense, especially to a part-crushed Gazan toddler who got away with their life.

There are several reasons why the United States Congress has not formally recognized Israeli control over Jerusalem:

1. Complex Religious Significance: Jerusalem holds immense religious significance for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Recognizing Israeli control over the city could be seen as disregarding the claims of other religions.
2. Diplomatic Sensitivity: The status of Jerusalem is a highly sensitive issue in international diplomacy. Many countries, including key US allies, oppose Israeli control over the city and believe it should be the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state.
3. Domestic Political Considerations: There is significant bipartisan support in the US for Israel, but there is also a large Muslim-American population that opposes Israeli control over Jerusalem. Recognizing Israeli control could alienate this important voting bloc.
4. Peace Process Implications: The status of Jerusalem is a core issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Recognizing Israeli control could undermine efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

The US embassy move was not formally recognized by the international community.

In my opinion Muslims understand the notion of sharing better than Christians seem to do right now.

This was demonstrated by the recent British fasting ritual, where I had first-hand knowledge of food that travelled up and down the UK countryside among Muslims …subtly shifting wealth to those who are less well off — and all this in a supposedly a Christian country.

Christian religions also support foodbanks, which have helped overcome inequity caused by rampant inflation…so it’s not one sided.

A shift toward sharing from brutal competition also boosts the chance business and government will achieve the global 2030 sustainability goals.

The cleverness needed by lawmakers will be in whether they can redraw market rules to provide competitive tension AND less inequality. Helping improve the world, protect nature and cut pollution is not woke communism. It’s better capitalism.

Britain is no longer divided by religions, no matter how many divisive characters and media try to say that it is.

The fact that counter protests by the unifying British people overwhelmed the dividers in recent weeks after riots got briefly out of control shows the US MIGHT HAVE less to fear than it thinks it does.

Both the Trump and Kamala Harris camps (and Israel) should be agreeing to share an important religious hub in the Middle East…rather than pushing to occupy it to win evangelical/Jewish votes in some zero-sum nightmare that protects an economic system that is clearly failing.

Continuing this system would give future generations around the world bad lives when they can be better than ours.

Jewish folk can be special without dominating everyone else, without breaching the US constitution and while “sharing the terms of sharing” during any ceasefire, a deal which CAN become permanent.

The alternative — the strategy to overpower and dominate the other side — is so last century (as Russia knows too).

Sharing really is caring.

(comments my way, mathew@carrzee.net)

AI art meant to combine Muslim and Christian/Jewish symbolism. Let me know if it fails in some way