Yes. Sometimes God tricks us. Always for our own good. And usually to get us to do something we don't want to do.
For example, the United States did not want to enter World War II against Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy. In fact, the foremost people in the USA staunchly stood for pacifism, including the almost god-like Charles Lindbergh, the hero who first flew across the Atlantic solo. Let anyone speak out against pacifism in the 1930s and they would receive the kind of scathing condemnation that Carrie Prajean, Miss California in the Miss USA contest, got from Perez Hilton and his buddies for her stand supporting traditional marriage. Politically incorrect, to say the least.
Yet God had another idea. He wanted the USA to enter World War II and help defeat fascist Germany. So, how did he do that? He helped Japan sneak attack the USA at Pearl Harbor. What! God helped a fascist nation deal a terrible blow to the USA! Yes. Because we held the unjust, cowardly, and self-seeking view that Hitler could have Europe for all we care. We have our security and comfort separated by 3000 miles of Atlantic ocean. Let's live by George Washington's admonishment to keep out of entanglements with Europe.
We should have detected the huge Japanese fleet approaching Hawaii. We didn't. The US military commanders at Hawaii should have received telegrams informing them of the likelihood of a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. They didn't. The newly installed radar should have alerted the US forces at Pearl Harbor of the approaching squadrons of Japanese dive bombers and fighters. It didn't. Even the detection and destruction of miniature submarines in Pearl Harbor didn't put the US forces on full alert. It just seemed destined that the US Navy, Army Air Force, Army, and Marines would be caught relaxing that beautiful Sunday morning on December 7, 1941.
The combination of oversights and mistaken judgments seemed so unbelievable that many scholars of American history believe Franklin Roosevelt allowed Japan to successfully attack the US forces at Pearl Harbor to give the USA reason to fully enter World War II. That is wrong, but not far from the truth. God allowed Japan to attack the USA to bring us into WWII. And thank God He did! The USA, teamed with Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Australia, New Zealand and the underground resistance of conquered nations to bring down the satanic ideology of fascism advanced by Germany, Italy, and Japan. Could you image the world today if the USA had stood on the sidelines allowing the fascist forces to conquer the world? That is too bleak to imagine. For one thing, there would be no Jews, homosexuals, lesbians, gypsies, or, for that matter, anyone other than Aryans living on the earth. That is, unless Japan and Italy could defeat Hitler in a battle of the victors.
Then came another of God's tricks! God needed the USA involved in the Middle East to help free it from feudalism and introduce democracy. There is no way in hell that the United States would do that unless we saw it as in our national interest to do so. We are reluctant warriors for any cause other than that which directly affects us. Maybe that is a good thing. At least it keeps us from jumping into every holy crusade that pops up from time to time. But God wanted the USA to get involved more than holding a few peace retreats at Camp David, sending military hardware to our player of the day in the Middle East, supporting Israel with money and weapons, and talking peace at the UN. So God tricked us.
We believed that Saddam worked to develop weapons of mass destruction. By "we", I mean the entire world intelligence community. Saddam may have planted that idea to protect his brutal dictatorship, hoping that would intimidate the USA and others. We got fooled. We believed that Saddam had been close to producing nuclear and biological weapons and, for that reason, the United States and Great Britain, with a small coalition of nations supporting, invaded Iraq in 2003.
Why did God trick us? Because he needed the terrorist dictator Saddam Hussein removed and a democratic Islamic republic established in fact, not just in name. He needed the first successful Islamic democracy in the Middle East, a democracy rich in oil, water, and educated people. With Iraq a thriving Islamic democracy, other nations in the Middle East would topple the same way one after another. And guess what? We won the war in Iraq! Has anyone noticed? Of course, much remains for the Iraqi people to work out. But once people taste freedom and equality, it is impossible to give it up.
Within a few years, Iraq will be a relatively stable, prosperous democracy shaped by Islamic values. Iran's religious fanatical leaders will fall to a popular uprising. Saudi Arabia will experience a revolution in which the king and prince oligarchy will turn upside down. And, most importantly, Israel will be at peace with her neighbors, cooperating in the development of the Middle East rather than continually struggling to survive surrounded by deadly enemies.
The next generation will have a much kinder view of the presidency of George W. Bush. He will be remembered as the one who toppled the Berlin Wall of Islamic despotism. Even though God tricked him into doing it.
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Thanks for sharing, Daniel -- interesting observation and analysis. Indeed, it's often difficult to see how God's Hand may be involved in something, especially from our horizontal, localized human viewpoint. Sometimes we connect the dots after a series of events and can see a bigger picture was unfolding and we had just thought it was a collection of random, unrelated events.
ReplyDeleteYou need to put "I think" or "I believe" before your claim God tricks us.
ReplyDeleteYou have no way of knowing whether this claim is true because you do not and cannot know the mind and working(s) of God with any degree of certainty.
Dear Daniel
ReplyDeleteLiked your blog piece a lot.
I know you were once a Zionist Christian - but I differ in one respect in that I no longer see Israel as a victim nation "continually struggling to survive". I see its fear, paranoia and past driving it to be the main obstacle to peace in that region. It is now the little big bully doing to others what once happened to it - how sad, how ironic!
Is God tricking us with Obama? - like to see the write up on that one.
Lloyd
Hi Lloyd,
ReplyDeleteGreat insight. I think Israel is powerful yet surely out numbered. With Iran in the wings developing nuclear weapons, the threat to Israel's existence is real.
I remember working in the Jordan Vally with my kibbutz in 1972 in fish ponds with the Golan Heights in view. The kibbutz workers had their Uzi submachine guns close at hand. I knew that 30 or 40 years of living with that tension would cause them to break. And they have. I agree that some of the soldiers (I hope it wasn't policy) acted ruthlessly in Gaza and elsewhere. I guess frustration by any other name is still frustration.
I am reading Obama's book Audacity of Hope and pondering his actions. Interesting fellow. At some point I will write on that subject.
I appreciate your sharing your thoughts.
Peace and happiness,
Daniel
Dan
ReplyDeletePhysically outnumbered yes but the others are outgunned, outbombed and outbulletted. If I was an Israeli and looking at the numbers and the long term future I'd be constructing constructive policies not a scheme to weaken all those around me.
And as I said 1-1/2 years ago to my dialogue group of Christians, Jews and Muslims - worry less about stable Iran and more about unstable Pakistan - now we're coming to see forboding meltdown there.
Regarding the recent Gaza massacre it was without doubt a heartless, scorched earth policy - they know exactly how much force they are using and from the government's point of view overkill is the best policy. And again they undermine peace and plant the seeds of future enemies.
I just expect a people who has been through what they have would be the ones to avoid doing it to others - but demons of the soul have gripped them to the core . . .
Interesting idea I indirectly got from you - So maybe Obama is the inadvertent, unknowing instrument of America's deconstruction resulting in a leveling of the present structures (economic etc) for a new beginning!!! So many seem to think he's fixing the problem but I think the groundwork for a greater collapse is being set and perhaps God is planning t make the best of that. We'll have to wait and see. You're welcome to pose the thought on your site. Obama was surely seen by many as a messiah figure and maybe Heavenly Father wanted many to think that way so he could get elected and make ready a situation prepared but not in any way we imagined!! Oh the mysterious hand of God.
take care friend,
Lloyd - broken-hearted lover of Israel, brother of Palestine
Hi Lloyd,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your thorough and careful thinking on the Middle East. Israel has a conservative government newly installed. I wonder what your advice to the new government would be?
I think you may be right on about Pakistan. The Talibanization of Pakistan is a possibility. I would feel a whole lot more comfortable with Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State than with Hilary right now.
Obama. He is an interesting character. I think people projected on him what they wanted to see. In his book, he mentioned that. He inherited a mess, and probably contributed to the creation of it, at least the Democratic party did.
Peace and happiness,
Daniel