Jay, I find it hard to believe that the world was smart enough back in the 40's to realize that having a Jewish Israel would keep the Arabs occupied while the world sucked out their oil.

Thing is, looking at prophecies, God promised Ishmael he would be a great nation (or have many nations from him, I can't quite remember off hand), and he would be very well off. Ishmael inherited all the of Mideastern lands with oil. Isreal has none.

Other prophecies, if I'm not mistaken, tell of how the land will cultivate for the Jews. Before the Jews returned in large numbers to the land, it was desert, as it had been since Rome salted the land.

Look at the former settlements in the Sinai. Where once life flourished, now there is nothing. Look at Gaza. The real test on the children of Ishmael starts now. Will the land of Gaza flourish for them as it has for the Jews who lived there?

America needs Israel, but not as much as Israel needs America. People can say what they want about the situation in Iraq. If America wanted to take over the Mideast, no ammount of terrorism could stop them. America has nukes, and I'm willing to bet that there are those on the Christian right willing to use them for the sake if a Christian nation's survival and wealth.

Is that a harsh statemen? Yes. But it could happen. America is a great nation, but ill leadership can lead any antion astray.

In any case, you talk about how the free world benifits from a Jewish Israel. If I'm not mistaken, you say that this economic benifit of the world is what allows the religion to survive. So, what you are really saying is that the rest of the world benifits economically from a Jewish state. Isn't there a prophecy about that as well?

As for Judaism fitting your econimic argument, the current government is not a Jewish government. The proper system laid out by the Torah is not in place at this time. Who is getting filthy rich by people following Judaism according to the laws of the Torah? Who is accumulating land as an individual? If your point is that we as a nation are benifiting, well, we are a nation, and as a nation, there are certain economics involved in any nation's survival. Our religion as a part of our nationality. So I still don't see how Judaism is an abuse of the masses.

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