U.S. Major: "Throw out Christian Premillenialism"

This is worrisome--not unexpected--but worrisome. What he is saying is that we should no longer let the Bible form our worldview. Why do I support Israel? Because the Bible says that those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed (Genesis 27). As much as I love the United States, I certainly do want to live in a cursed nation.

From: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=119315

A research paper written by a U.S. Army major for the School of Advanced Military Studies in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., calls for Americans to lose the evangelical Christian belief of pre-millennialism because of the damage it does to the nation's foreign interests.

"As a result of millennarian influences on our culture, most Americans think as absolutists," Maj. Brian L. Stuckert wrote in his 2008 course requirement at the school for military officers.

"A proclivity for clear differentiations between good, evil, right, and wrong do not always serve us well in foreign relations or security policy," he said. "Policy makers must strive to honestly confront their own cognitive filters and the prejudices associated with various international organizations and actors vis-à-vis pre-millennialism.

"We must come to more fully understand the background of our thinking about the U.N., the E.U., the World Trade Organization, Russia, China and Israel. We must ask similar questions about natural events such as earthquakes or disease."

He warns against the Christian beliefs espoused by many that the end times will involve Israel as God's chosen nation, a final 1,000-year conflict between good and evil and an ultimate victory for God.

"The inevitability of millennial peace through redemptive violence and an exceptional role for America have been and continue to be powerful themes running throughout the security and foreign policies of the U.S.," Stuckert wrote. "Official U.S. government policy expresses these themes in a number of ways from the national seal that reads Novus Ordo Seclorum – the New Order for the Ages – or the nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile known as the Peacekeeper.

"As demonstrated by American history, millennialism has predisposed us toward stark absolutes, overly simplified dichotomies and a preference for revolutionary or cataclysmic change as opposed to gradual processes," he said. "In other words, American strategists tend to rely too much on broad generalizations, often incorrectly cast in terms of 'good' and 'evil.'"

Embryonic Stem Cell Research: a question of worldview

from: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/09/obama-lift-restrictions-stem-cell-research-funding/

President Obama on Monday signed an order to lift restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, a move he said rejects the "false choice" between science and morality.
The order would not fund the creation of new stem cell lines, but would allow federally funded scientists to conduct research on existing embryonic stem cells that under the Bush administration were off limits.
Obama said the full promise of such research "remains unknown" but that it should be explored because of the potential for scientists to find better treatments for ailments ranging from diabetes to Parkinson's disease to cancer.
"That potential will not reveal itself on its own. Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident. They result from painstaking and costly research," Obama said.

I adamently disagree with President Obama on embryonic stem-cell research. We disagree because I presume he and I have very different worldviews--ways in which we view reality around us. I come at reality believing that the Bible is the inerrant word of the God who created all reality. And this God says in the Bible that He knew us before we were ever conceived. So, to kill an embryo, even for the sake of research, is to kill someone for whom God had purposes and plans. So, to a Christian, this is not a false choice between science and morality. In a Biblical worldview, the ends never justify the means. Jesus said, "Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness"--in other words what has God's approval--"and all these things will be given to you as well."