Transcription
Okay, um, let's start class. We're continuing the United States-Iran War. Um, as I've said in the previous class, the United States will invade Iran. We don't know when; it might be two years from now, it might be six years from now. Okay, but eventually it will happen. And in today's class, I want to go over some of the reasons why the United States will invade Iran. And um, I believe that there'll be three major reasons. Okay. Uh, the first major reason is the United States must defend its Empire. Second major reason is that the United States will be pressured by its allies, mainly Saudi Arabia and Israel, into invading Iran. And the third reason is um, the Israel Lobby.
Okay, so in this, in today's class, I want to explain to you what the Israel Lobby is, but first I need to, I need you to understand what Christianity is. Okay, so remember that Christianity, it's a religion about a man, Jesus, who we know very little about. Okay, we think that he was born in 4 BCE and then he died in 31, uh, BC, uh, sorry, CE, Common Era. Um, we know that he is from a place called Galilee. We know, know that the Romans crucified him, and that's about it. Okay. Uh, what his Believers say is that he is God come to Earth, and he was preaching a gospel, or a message, that God is returning, the Kingdom of Heaven is coming, and after he was crucified, he was resurrected, and then he went to heaven. And what's really important is that Jesus will eventually return. Okay, and this is called Second Coming. Okay, this is the second coming of Jesus, and when he comes, he will bring Heaven onto Earth, and we will all live forever in peace. Okay, so that's the story of Jesus. Then the question then is why this religion become so popular, so popular in fact that today about two billion people believe in it. Okay, it's the most popular, most powerful religion in the world. And at first, the appeal of Christianity is that it was a revolutionary religion that promised a better world to the world's oppressed. Okay, so if you look at the early people who follow Christianity, it was slaves, peasants, wom—okay, people who are marginalized in society. And the idea of Jesus is that a better world is coming where everyone will be equal. Okay, the meek shall inherit the earth. So if you think about it, Christianity, uh, is appealing because what it is, it's a free lottery ticket. Does that make sense? It's a lottery ticket; it cost you nothing, and hey, if it's right, then you go to heaven.
Okay, so at first, Christianity was an extremely revolutionary religion, and its basic characteristics in the beginning were, uh, it was revolutionary, it was egalitarian, um, and it was anti-Authority. And so these individuals who before were outcasts—okay, like criminals—Jesus promised hope, salvation, and Redemption. Okay, so before, if you were a criminal, there was really no way for you to redeem yourself in society, and Jesus is the promise of your salvation and Redemption. Okay, and that's why it was so appealing to a lot of people. It became so popular that it became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Now there's a problem. Okay, because remember Christianity is a revolutionary, egalitarian, and anti-Authority religion, and now it's become an Empire. So, um, they had, they had to develop new theories to reinvent Christianity as an establishment religion. Okay, and and as we discussed um last semester, the person who did this was Augustine. Okay, Augustine, uh, remember that last semester we read City of God and Confessions, and City of God and Confessions, it's really to adopt Christianity as an establishment religion, to reduce its revolutionary nature. Okay, so is this all making sense to you? And one problem that Augustine had was the idea of a second coming—okay, that the world will end—he had, he had a major problem with this idea for many reasons. Okay, but the first reason is that, you know, if the world's going to end, why do we have to do anything? Why can't we just drink and party and play video games every day, right? What's the point of working? That's the first problem, right? Second problem is, well, well, why is Jesus coming back? It's because the world sucks, right? Well, who's in charge of the world? The Catholic church is in charge of the world. You understand? So Jesus is coming back to destroy the authority of the Catholic church. That's not good. All right. So for many reasons, Augustine basically said, okay, Second Coming, don't worry about it. Okay, Jesus will come back whenever he wants to come back, but before he comes back, we, the Catholic Church, will take care of everyone. Okay.
All right, so why is this important? This is important because from Augustine onwards, we've had divergent understandings of what the second coming means. Okay, for people who believe in the second coming, the term we use is premillennialism. Premillennials. Okay, because the second coming promised a thousand years of Peace. Okay, premillennialism is this. Okay, pre means before, right? So when Jesus comes back, he will give us a thousand years of peace and prosperity. Okay, do you understand? Before he comes back. Okay, when he comes back, he will give us a thousand years of peace and prosperity. And what Augustine said is, no, no, no, no, that thousand years is just a metaphor; it's not actually going to happen. In fact, it's already happened because the Catholic church is giving us this thousand years of peace and prosperity. Okay, so he's called a millennial, Millennialist, which means no, okay, that thousand years, it's a metaphor; it's not going to really happen. Okay, so that's a second big idea. Now, as we know, because all power became concentrated in the Catholic Church, there's a rebellion against the Catholic church called the Reformation. Okay, the Reformation. And the idea of the Reformation is God did not mean for his authority to be established in the church, to be held by priests. God is meant to speak to all of us through the Bible. Okay, so what the major difference between the Catholic religion and the Protestant religion is Catholics are not allowed to read the Bible; they don't read the Bible, whereas Protestants must read the Bible; they must seek meaning and guiding from their interpretation of the Bible. Okay, and because of the Reformation, you now have thousands, tens of thousands of different religions spawning up. Okay, does that make sense? All right, so you have different religions, and you have different dissent. So let's look at England. Okay, England. So England is a king, and the before the Catholic church was supposed to have authority over the king, and of course the king did not like that, so he supported the reformation, and he changed the Catholic church and called it the Anglican Church. Okay, or the Church of England, which he would have authority over. But once the Reformation started again, you are now allowed to read the Bible, and because of that, you have thousands of new religions coming up in England. Okay, and they believe different things, but one thing that they all believed in is the Bible is the supreme authority. Okay, the, the Bible is the supreme authority, not the king, right? So this started a major conflict between these groups and the king, and these people are called dissenters, and eventually this led to something called the English Civil War, where the dissenters, the Puritans, killed the king. Okay, but, but then the King was reestablished, and so this led to decades and decades of fighting in um, England. So one way that um, the king tried to resolve this conflict is by sending all these dissenters to America. Okay, to America. And the idea is this: these dissenters believe that the Bible is a supreme authority; the Bible asks us to do certain things. Okay, because it's written in the Bible, for example, you're not allowed to drink, you're not allowed to dance, you're not allowed to have any fun; you must focus on your own spiritual improvement. Okay, you're not allowed to have slaves. And so because they believe these things, they were constantly in conflict with the establishment. Okay, with people in power. And so the King was like, guys, if you really believe in these things, go to America. Why? Because there's nobody in America, so you can build your own kingdom of heaven. You understand? Okay, so this is the origin of the United States. The United States was founded as a Christian Nation which put the Bible as the supreme authority. Okay, does that make sense? You don't, you, you guys probably don't know this about the United States. You think the United States, it's a non-religious, secular, multicultural nation that believes in science, right? That's what it looks like, like, like from the outside, but inside its soul, its history, it is a Christian Nation dedicated to achieving the kingdom of God on Earth. Okay, and using the Bible as the supreme authority and guide to achieve this Kingdom on, on Earth. Okay, does that make sense? All right, so, um, these people in America, America, and these dissenters, okay, one question that they always ask themselves is why isn't Jesus back yet? Okay, the second coming, what, why isn't the second coming back yet? And different people have different explanations. Okay, and so from this group come two more groups. Okay, um, you have some people who call the postmillennial. Okay, and postmillists believe that Jesus will come back after we establish a thousand years of the Christian church in the world. Okay, does that make sense? So we have to prove that we are worthy of God. God's not going to come back and establish this for us; we have to do it ourselves. Okay, so these, these are people called Post, which will say that Jesus will come after the thousand years. But then you have another group called dispensationalist. I, I don't know how to spell this word actually. Okay, anyway, this is historic. Okay.
All right, so now the premillennial are split into two other groups. So the historic premillennial are people who believe, believe what the early Christians believed, which is that Jesus is going to come back, don't worry when he's coming back, just be a good person, and he'll come back eventually. Okay, it's not up to us to ask when he's coming back; he's God. Okay, he has a plan; he knows what he's doing; just be patient, guys. Okay, that's the historic premillennial. And then you have another group called the dispensationalist premillennial. Okay, and what they believe is something different. They believe that, oh, in the Bible, if you read the Bible very, very closely, it tells you how and why Jesus will return. Okay, what the Bible says is that there must be a nation called Israel. Okay, and Israel is of Jews, and then Israel has something called the temple, because that's where God resides. Okay, it must have the temple, and then what will happen according to the Bible is that the Antichrist, okay, or Satan, lives. Okay, the, then, and then there will be an Antichrist, okay, Satan, who will be the Great Deceiver; he'll pretend to be God, he'll pretend to be Messiah, but he's really Satan. Okay, and then he will launch a war, when all the nations of the world will try to attack Israel, and at this point Jesus will come back, and he will destroy the Antichrist, he will save Israel, and he will usher in a thousand years of Peace, before, and then a thousand years later, you'll have the last judgment, where God will judge us to be either worthy or not worthy. If we are worthy, we'll live on forever; if we're not worthy, then we'll burn in hell forever. Okay. Okay, so there are different variations of all this Prophecy, with what, what, what they believe. Okay, so in other words, the historic, historic premillennial, what they believe about the coming of Jesus is it's a promise. Okay, Jesus promises to return; he's God; he will keep his promise; he's probably very busy right now with other things, so don't worry about it, guys. Okay, let's just be patient and trust in, in Jesus. Okay, that's what they believe. But the dispensationalist premillennial believe that the prophecy, it's a plan. Okay, it's something that we must achieve to bring Jesus back, and we do what the Bible tells us to do, which is to say to have Israel as a nation run by the Jews, to, um, have the temple, and then to face the Antichrist, then Jesus will return. Okay, does that make sense? Okay. Now, so these are the four different views of the end times. Okay, you have the historic premil who believe that Jesus has promised to return; let's just wait, guys, don't worry about it. You have the dispensationalist premillennialists believe that we have to work hard to bring Jesus back. Okay, and then you have the amillennialists who are like, now, the thousand years, it's just a metaphor; it's not going to happen; don't worry about it, guys. Okay, and then you have the postmillennial who believe that it's up to us to establish a good world; Jesus is not going to do it for us; if we do this, then Jesus will return. Okay, and so, but remember, guys, okay, this is a very simple version of, of the four different beliefs; even within each belief, there are variations. Okay, because again, there are two billion people who believe in Christianity, and they all believe something different. Okay, does that make sense? All right, are we clear about the four different, um, ideas? Any questions? Okay, so, okay, okay, so do you, you don't actually have to remember this. Okay, but, but, but all I'm trying to show you is that even within Christianity, there's a debate. Okay, but there's a concern, an obsession as to when Jesus will return and how he will return. Okay, does that make sense? All right, so, um, this is important now. Um, most, most Christians don't believe in dispensationalist premillennialism. Okay, in fact, most Christians believe that dispensationalist premillennialism is actually pretty evil. Why? Why would it be evil? We shouldn't, we should not, we cannot believe in dispensationalist premillennialism because it's evil. Why, as a Christian, why would you think this is evil? What's a problem with believing that there's a plan in the Bible? What, why would that be anti-Christian? Okay, so, um, this is hard. Okay, but, but the idea is that with this plan, you're trying to manipulate God. Does that make sense? Sense? Okay, you're trying to force God to return, and you shouldn't do that. If you believe in God, then you will trust God, and you will try your best to be a good person, which is what the Bible asks you to do, and when God returns, it's none of your business. Okay, it's not our concern. So the dispensationalist premillennial are an extremely controversial minority within Christianity. Okay, Christians, most Christians don't actually believe this, and they find that a lot of these beliefs to be evil, um, and, and, and maybe even, uh, blasphemous. Okay, you're insulting God with this sort of thinking. Okay, the problem is that of all these groups, the dispensationalist millennial premillennial are the most organized, and they're the most fanatical; they really believe that this is true. Okay, we know that throughout history, those who achieve their objectives are people who tend to be the most united and who are the most fanatical in, in achieving their objective. Okay, that's the first point. Second point is that this sort of belief, um, thrives in a time of massive uncertainty and inequality, like the time that we are living in today. Okay, where inequality is growing, where there's more instability and uncertainty. So in other words, there are more and more people who believe in dispensationalist premillennialism. Okay, does that make sense? Okay. All right, so why this is important is that dispensationalist premillennialist, as Christians, have done a lot to cause conflict in the Middle East. Okay, so they're the ones who are actually encouraging conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis; they're the ones who want Israel and Iran to go to war. Why? Why are they actively encouraging conflict between the Palestinians and, and, and the Israelis? Why are they encouraging a war between Iran and Israel? Why would they want a war between Iran and Israel? Well, no, no, well, Israel is already back. Why? Because it's part of the prophecy. Do you understand? It's part of the prophecy. The prophecy is that Israel must be, was first, must first be reconstituted as a nation. Okay, this happened in 1948, and then Israel must go to war with other nations. Okay, does that make sense? So these Christians are actually promoting war between Israel and its neighbors. Okay, does that make sense? All right. Okay, so now the other thing is that after the Reformation, okay, um, they developed a new theology called Christian Zionism. Christian Zionism. Okay, what is Christian Zionism? Christian Zionism is the belief that as a Christian, you must support Jews in the return to Israel. Okay, so because remember that, um, um, Israel as a nation was only found in 1948, and then, um, basically it, um, in about 70 BCE, the Romans burned down the temple. Okay, so for about almost 2,000 years, really, the Jewish people have not lived in, so sorry, sorry, the Jews were not in control of Israel. Okay, about 2,000 years, and there are Christians who believe that it is our responsibility, is our duty, to help Jews take control over Israel. Okay, and they believe this for many different reasons. So Christian Zionists, some may believe that that's what the Bible says; God promised Israel to the Jews. Okay, so Christian Zionism intersects with dispensationalist prism. Okay, there are Christian Zionists who believe that, okay, for Jesus to return, we also, we need Israel back, and we need Israel to be in conflict with the Middle East. Okay, so in other words, the Middle East, okay, yeah, all of them, all of them. Okay, so, um, so Christian Zionism, um, I mean, you can make the argument that it's a pretty evil idea. Why? Because they're using the Jewish people as a tool, as a mechanism, in order to achieve what they believe, which is the return of Jesus. Okay, does that make sense? Because, um, Christianity believes that if Jesus returns, then all Jews, then, then, then, je, then Judaism as a religion will cease to exist; two-thirds of all Jews will die in the battle, and the, and the rest, a third, will, will immediately convert to Christianity. Okay, so you can make the argument that Christian Zionism, it's a pretty cynical, um, and a pretty evil idea. Okay, and then from Christian Zionism, we have the idea of Zionism. Okay, and Zionism is the belief among certain Jews that two things. Okay, one is that the Jews are the chosen people of God, and that Israel is a promised land, and therefore Jews must return to Israel. Okay, does that make sense? Okay, but what's important is before Christian Zionism came along, Zionism was not, Jews didn't really think this. Okay, so it was the Christians who supported this idea of Zionism, and even when this idea came about, which, which was about 200 years ago, it was an extremely unpopular religion, very, extremely unpopular idea. The reason why is Jews didn't think they were a race of people; they felt they were a religion. Okay, they felt that, okay, um, I'm in, I'm in Iraq; well, guess what? I'm an Iraqi like everyone else; I may have a different belief, but I'm still Iraqi. Okay, they didn't put the religion above their nationality or their, uh, race. Okay, do you understand? And Zionism is like, no, being a Jewish person is a race, and therefore you must return to Israel. Okay, the problem, uh, with, with all this is that in Israel, uh, Palestine, it was mainly Arab people. Okay, so there are very few Jewish people, and in fact, Zionism couldn't convince anyone to come to, um, Palestine. Okay, but then, of course, the Holocaust happened, and after the Holocaust, many Jews start to go to Israel, and in 1948, they established the state of, um, Israel. And the Christian Zionists and the dispensationalist premillennialists were, were very happy with the establishment of Israel because they feel that we've achieved the first step in this plan to bring Jesus back. Okay. Okay, does that make sense? Okay. Um, so, um, to summarize the main message is this. Okay, here's what you need to know: First is that Christ, there are many Christians who believe that Israel and the Jews must be used as a tool to bring Jesus back. Okay, that's the first thing. Second thing is that America was founded as a Christian Nation; therefore, its soul is Christian; its first leaders were, uh, Christians who believed in Christian Zionism; their descendants now control the military and the foreign policy apparatus of America. Okay, the second thing. Okay, and the third thing is that, uh, Israel as a na, as a nation, um, thinks that it can use Christian Zionism in order to advance its geopolitical interest, which is to basically, um, gain control over the Middle East. Okay, do you understand? And that's what's driving the conflict between Israel and Iran. Does that make sense? Okay, what's driving the conflict between Israel and Iran is America believes it has a religious responsibility to protect Israel against Iran. In fact, if there's a war between Iran and Israel, that's a good thing because it's going to drive this prophecy and the return of Jesus. Okay, and then the, and people in Israel are like, you know.
What if we go to war with Iran? America is going to fight for us, so why not? Right? We don't have to fight this war. America is going to do it for us, so why not fight this war? We lose nothing; we gain everything from this war. Okay, so um, the idea is that all this is driven by a religious worldview, understanding the world, okay? And over time, this worldview will only become more popular in America. Okay? Does that make sense? Right? Okay, okay, good. Any questions about this? Do anything that's not that's not clear about what I just what what what what I just explained? Do you mean to clarify anything?
Okay, um, I don't really understand the question. Can you can you repeat the question? Right? So okay, so both Judaism and Christianity are religions. Okay? There's no race; there's no race to the idea of Christianity. Right? You can be Chinese and Christian; you can be American and Christian; it doesn't matter. Right? And that's what the Jewish people say as well: I can be Chinese and Jewish; I can be American and Jewish, because being Jewish is a religion. But the idea of Zionism is that being a Jewish person is a race; in fact, you are directly descended from the Hebrews in the Bible, which is complete nonsense. This is not true. Okay.
Um, so um, Zionism is the main political belief of Israel. Right? Why does Israel exist? Because Israel is the promised land that God gave to his chosen people. Okay? And this was a promise that dates back at least 3,000 years to the time of Abraham, and it's written in the Bible; therefore, it must be true. Okay? Does that make sense? All right. Any other questions? Okay, that's a great question. Okay. All right, so I'm making an argument that Christian Zionism and dispensationalist premillennialism will over time become more popular religions in America. Okay? And the question and Charles asked like, well, why? Okay, let's go back to the founding of Christianity. Why did Christianity become so popular? It became popular um because it was in the Roman Empire. Okay? At that time, there was something called the Pax Romana, which meant the Roman peace. Okay? Which meant that the Romans controlled everything; therefore, there were no wars; therefore, people were at peace. Right? And you think that's a good thing, right? The problem is that if there's peace, then you have massive inequality. Okay? Because war is a mechanism, back then, of social mobility. Right? War killed people, and if war kills people, that creates opportunities for the people who are alive. But if there's no war, then what happens is, if I'm a rich person, guess what, guys? I become more rich. If you're poor, what happens? You become more poor. Okay? So as a poor person, what do you think? You think that life is hopeless, life is pointless, there's no future, there's no hope. Right? And so Jesus comes along and says, "Listen, if you believe in me, then I will bring the Kingdom of Heaven onto Earth, and I will is I will destroy inequality; everyone will be the same." Okay? So again, back then it was a free lottery ticket. Today, we live in something called the Pax Americana, and the Pax Americana, same thing, where for the past 70 years there's been peace around the world. Right? Very few people have died, but all that means really is is that inequality has increased; fewer and fewer people have money. Okay, guys, billionaires make no sense. Do you understand why? Should a few people have all the money? That makes no sense, because money is meant as a mechanism of exchange and transaction. Right? You you use money; you should spend your money. If it's all in the bank, what's the point of that? Okay? So having billionaires is a bad thing, and if you go to America, you'll find that there are many young people who feel that like life is pointless. Okay? So they're looking for alternatives. You understand? And this idea of dispensationalist premillennialism, which is like what's happening right now in Israel, will lead to a better world; that's kind of attractive to you. You understand? Right? Well, because you're poor and you're stuck being poor. Guys, imagine you are um a delivery person in China in Beijing. Okay? You're like a qu. Right? What hope do you have for the future? You have your life is pointless and and hopeless. No one's going to marry you; even if someone marries you, you can't have children because you can't afford to have your children go to school; you can't buy a house; you can't afford anything; you're stuck being a delivery person for the rest of your life. Do you understand? Do you do you know do you know how many delivery people there are in China? Millions and millions. Okay? You have millions and millions of young men who have no hope in the future. Right? Yes, because Jesus is coming and he's going to destroy the world we live in. That's exactly right. Christianity is a free lottery; it cost you nothing, and if you win, you win big. Okay? Right? What does it cost you? It cost you nothing. Right? Okay? Do you understand? That's why it will become more popular over time. Excuse me. Right? So what you do is you support America, you support Israel, you you support the war against Iran; you want you want more conflict in the Middle East because the conflict in the Middle East will drive the prophecy. Right? Do you understand? That's what you want; you want more war. What what what good does peace do you? Right? Peace just means like at like tomorrow you'll still be poor and hopeless. Right? But war, it's an opportunity for a new world. Exactly right. So all this inequality is making people much more extreme and desperate. Right? Which will leave which will lead people, more people, to believe in dispensationalist premillennialism. Okay? Um, the government of course does not want any instability, but what can the government do about it? I you're absolutely right. Okay? So the government could provide social welfare uh to poor people, but where will the money come from? Right? You understand? Okay? Okay. Who's more dangerous to you, a few rich people or millions of poor people? No, no, no, no, no, no. A few rich people are much more D more dangerous than millions of poor people. Do you understand? That's right. United. Right? Poor people don't know how to unite. That's right. Um, yeah, but but but they don't um right. Okay. Okay, so doesn't make sense. Okay. All right, so this is this is the so I mean it's hard because this is religion. Okay? And we're not religious; I'm not religious; you're not religious; so we don't we understand how religious people think. Okay? But remember that on this planet, on Earth, most people are religious, and they take their religion very very seriously. Okay? You understand? They're willing to die for the religion because they think that if I die from from a religion, I'll go to heaven. Excuse me. Okay. All right, so so that's exactly right. Do you understand? Okay? Right? Because you're not giving people any hope, and religion gives people hope. Listen, in the real world, the poor will always lose; the rich will always win, no matter what happens. The poor doesn't realize that's right; that's why they're poor. Okay?