The last two terms which are Gods beloved and the chosen people imply that this nation and these people
Have a special position within the hierarchy of a divine creator and that simple notion creates a form of separation between them and other nations.
The purpose of this paper will be to discuss the separatist roots of the nation known as Israel and the effect this separatism has had on their past and present history.
But before I begin, I want to give you the definition of a few words you may see a lot of.
Elitism-Leadership or rule by the elite-the selectivity of the elite associated with snobbery
Fanaticism-Excessive enthusiasm, unreasoning zeal, or wild and extravagant notions on any subject especially religion
Separatism-A belief in, a movement for, or state of seperation (as schism, secession, or segregation)
The history of ancient Israel is a favorite topic of religious people in general and christians in particular. Their history is full of drama and intrigue; it has all the necessary qualities for a good novel or a good movie.
But most people only pay attention to these surface details, if you study their history from a neutral perspective, you will find separatism and elitism sprinkled everywhere.
The history of Israel started with a guy named Abram who had a vision from his god telling him to leave his country, his family, and his father's house for a country,which God shall show him, in a vision God also made a promise to Abram, which went as follows "I shall make you a great nation, I shall bless you and make your name great."
That one vision started the nation you now know as Israel and it reeks of separatism.
Thinking that you are Gods elite race can lead to many problems as we have seen by studying the history of this nation. Abram left his country, which was called Ur; this nation was located in what is known today as Saudi Arabia. He left his homeland for the land known as Canaan which was located
from the north of Lebanon through modern day Israel to the border of Egypt, the elitist attitude that Abram and descendants took eventually caused the deaths of the people of Canaan.
Because Abram and his people were supposedly promised that land by their creator, this type of thinking by Abram shows that organized religion despite its peaceful rhetoric eventually will lead to violence.
The Israelites eventually possessed the land of the canaanites not by peace but by force however, if you stop and meditate on it, they possessed the land not by divine will but by violence, which gives them another title to go along with separatist nation title, and this other title is religious fanatic.
In the history of religious fanaticism, unthinkable things were done and insane acts were justified...Why?
Because of their religion and their belief that they were the chosen ones of God, the nation Israel is no different from any other fanatical nation or movement in history except for the fact that they are good at covering their tracks and they are proficient at propaganda.
Now we will look at the current state of Israel
A number of people think that the Israel of today was reborn in one grand instantaneous moment in 1948, but that's a lie and I will give you a few details.
Since the first century AD when their nation was destroyed by the Romans, the Jews have felt like loners and wanderers and what Hitler did increased this feeling ten fold, Hitler's extermination of a few million Jews increased their longing for a homeland and in 1948 they officially got what they longed for, but before 1948 between 1930 and 1947 the Zionists (Zionists are considered the religious extremists among Jews) not only bought land from local Palestinians they also took land and killed the Palestinians for that land after some covert movements among the Zionists and with the support of bigger western countries, they created a declaration of independence and the nation of Israel was reborn and in the process they repeated history just like their ancestor Abram who later became known as Abraham and their other ancestors they went into a land that was not theirs, took the land by force and killed most of the people in that land.
In addition, they did this because they think that they have a right to the land because of texts that proclaim them as the chosen people of God and that land as a gift from God, this is separatism, elitism, and fanaticism rolled into one package and they got away with it because a lot of people buy into their religious dogma and they think its justified because of what happened to their relatives and family in nazi Germany
One nation that believes in Israel and has supported them in the past is the United States of America
You would think that our supposedly freedom loving nation would condemn the separatist nation disguised as a democracy better known to the people at large as the state of Israel
However, the USA continued to support Israel well into the 1990s...Why?
This why can be answered in two ways.
The first way is answered this way, birds of a feather flock together and the second way is the fact that the United States of America has similar roots.
The USA was founded by what could be considered religious fanatics who killed the indigenous people, took their lands and enslaved people.
The founders of this country wanted nothing to do with Britain, France or any other country, they wanted their own special land, a land flowing with milk and honey
Add to that the fact that they thought their own race was above all other races on earth.
It seems like we're talking about Israel again but I'm describing the United States of America
But let's get back to Israel for a moment
This so-called democratic country has a law that should make them look bad to the world but instead they're viewed as the underdogs who never give up.
This law states that unless you have a Jewish parent you cannot immigrate to Israel.
This law can lead to different conclusions by different people but the conclusion that most people should have is separatism
This law states loud and clear that they only want their own race to live in Israel.
Why do they only want Jews to live in Israel?
Because they consider their own race to be above everyone other race
Why do they consider their own race to be above other races?
Because their ancestor Abraham had a vision saying that he would be the father of a great nation and that his seed would be the chosen people of God.
And that says to me that this nation Israel was built on separatism and religious fanaticism just like its biggest supporter the United States of America.
In concluding, I would like to say that I think that separatism and fanaticism go hand in hand.
In many cases you cannot have one without the other and by observing the USA and the state of Israel you can come to the conclusion that separatism and fanaticism are definitely intertwined, like most people who become somewhat antisocial and elitist at the same time, these nations think they can achieve greatness or at the very least a sense of peace are deceiving themselves because not only are they separating themselves from potential allies and friends, they are creating problems by manufacturing a pseudo air of superiority around themselves and like all nations that are full of themselves they will eventually fall to the wayside.
This may seem somewhat extreme but I feel that in order for this world to be truly unified as one, all ideologies that cause consistent conflict must be pushed to the side or eliminated altogether.
All humans are basically the same underneath so why separate yourself from others by thinking you're better than you because of superficial things such as skin color, religion, or political ideology. Israel is not the only nation in the world that's practicing separatism but in my eyes, it's the only nation in the world that's not only getting away with it, they're making themselves seem like the victims in the area known as the middle east. The United States of America is not entirely free of these charges themselves because not more than 60 years ago they were doing the same thing.
Israel and the United States of America are guilty of thinking this way and thats because their roots are separatist dipped in a liquid solution consisting of elitism and fanaticism. Separatist nations will hopefully one day be history but who knows what the future holds, maybe that deity that gave Abram a vision...I think not! The End
Bibliography
King James Holy bible
Arabs and Israel for Beginners By Ron David
Webters online dictionary http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.html
ARTFL project Webster's revised 1913 unabridged dictionary http://humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/webster.form.html
