And was Jerusalem builded here pt2

And where am I going with this post and the last one?

First off, it amuses me that once pervasive British Israelite beliefs, their associated cultural references and architecture have been so comprehensively forgotten.

Secondly, as peculiar and dated as Freemasonic British Israelism may seem to be its influence has percolated down to present day politics.

When British forces commanded by General Allenby, a British Israelite supporter, captured Jerusalem from the Turks in 1917, British Israelites believed that the Holy City was under ‘Israelite’, i.e. British, control for the first time since the destruction of the Temple in AD70.

Basically, a lot of people thought Jesus was due for a Second Coming shortly afterwards. The signing of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, guaranteeing a homeland for Jews in Palestine, fitted in with this Millennial belief and desire to fulfill Biblical Prophecy

It is now a matter of historical record that Jesus didn’t turn up on cue.

Surprise, surprise

No matter. Even though British Israelism now appears to be dead in the water many of its core beliefs are alive and well in the Christian Zionism movement, particularly in the United States. And, however fruity and peculiar all this stuff may appear to be, we are talking literally millions of politically influential Christian fundamentalists supporting Israel wholeheartedly as a means of fulfilling Biblical prophecy and doing what they can to give the Apocalypse and the Second Coming a helping hand.

Which is pretty fucked up in my opinion.

This isn't about being 'pro' or 'anti' Israel or 'pro' or 'anti' organised religion. I would describe any movement that cites the End of Times as being one of its core aspirations as being pretty fucked up.

There's currently a lot of chatter on the Internet about the Israel Lobby and the significance of its influence over US foreign policy. There is a lot less chatter about the fact that there are many, many more Christian Zionists than Jewish ones. Nor is there much discussion about the underlying beliefs of those Christian Zionists. I suggest that this side of things gets less coverage because it is er, well, frankly, strange. And more than a little scary.

And I’m not too sure what God is making of all of this. I’d guess that he will choose to unleash the Apocalypse at a timing convenient to him and not a bunch of tele-evangelists. The Fundamentalists will, of course, claim that they are merely instruments of His Will and that the timing really will be of God’s choosing. I suppose much of it boils down to whether you believe that Biblical Prophecy is a Prediction or a Mission Statement. If it is the latter, well, they may have a point.

It’s still pretty fucked up though

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So, what have I learned from all of this?

• I was the only person on this entire planet sad enough to go out of my way to stand on a particular point in Trafalgar Square at 5.42pm yesterday
• Sad as I am, I am not so sad as to vote for a political party based on whether they are committed to realising Biblical Prophecy or not
  
• Britain may or may not be the New Promised Land but it’s a really crap place to build solar monuments. It rained at Stonehenge at sunrise yesterday and Trafalgar Square was swathed in cloud at the most inconvenient times
• Characters in Dan Brown novels never have to deal with monuments covered in hoardings and plastic sheeting or inconveniently timed cloud cover at crucial points in the plot
• After a quick scout around I am moderately certain that the Holy Grail is not located at the tip of Nelson Column’s Summer Solstice shadow
• Sometimes, the World is driven by forces much more peculiar than we would like to believe