George W. Bush to Raise Money for Group That Converts Jews to Bring About Second Coming of Christ

[Coyotl]

He's back, following in the footsteps of Glenn Beck!

George W. Bush to Raise Money for Group That Converts Jews to Bring About Second Coming of Christ
The former president follows in the footsteps of Glenn Beck, who addressed the group last year.

—By Sarah Posner - Nov. 7, 2013 - http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/george-w-bush-jews-for-jesus-messianic-jewish-bible-institute

Next week, former President George W. Bush is scheduled to keynote a fundraiser in Irving, Texas, for the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute, a group that trains people in the United States, Israel, and around the world to convince Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah. The organization's goal: to "restore" Israel and the Jews and bring about about the second coming of Christ.

Messianic Jews have long been controversial for Jews of all major denominations, who object to their proselytizing efforts and their message that salvation by Jesus is consistent with Jewish theology. Last year, Abraham Foxman, president of the Anti-Defamation League, told Politico that former Sen. Rick Santorum's appearance at an event hosted by another Messianic Jewish organization, the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, was "insensitive and offensive." And Commentary magazine, which bills itself as a "conservative American journal of politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues," noted, "it must be understood that the visceral distaste that the overwhelming majority of Jews have for the Messianics is not to be taken lightly." Many Messianic Jews are Christians who have adopted aspects of Jewish ritual observance; others are Jews who share the Christian belief that Jesus is the Messiah.

Asked about Bush's upcoming appearance at the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute (MJBI) event, Rabbi David Saperstein, the director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said, "It's disappointing that he would give his stamp of approval to a group whose program is an express effort to convert Jews and not to accept the validity of the Jewish covenant." Foxman was traveling overseas and unavailable to comment.

[Update: After this story published, Rabbi David Wolpe of Los Angeles' Sinai Temple, whom Newsweek has called the most influential rabbi in the country, tweeted, "this is infuriating."]

Based in Dallas, the MJBI claims that it acts like the Apostle Paul in helping to "educate Christians in their role to provoke the Jewish people to jealousy and thus save some of them .....

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. They're a front group for stealth conversion financed by the Southern Baptists.

More info:

www.jewsforjudaism.org

[atreides1]

2. You know what?

Just when you think that he couldn't get any dumber, Bush finds a way to prove people are wrong!

[jwirr]

3. I'm sure the Jews appreciate his efforts.

[Gothmog]

7. The Jews for Jesus group is a dangerous group

I am Jewish and we have to warn out children about these people. This group can be very large pain. There are a couple of related christian groups who believe that they can hasten the second coming of jesus by converting a set number of Jews. Both groups seem to work in tandem with the same goal of speeding up their second coming.

Several years ago, the daughter of one of my fellow temple members was targeted for conversion by a christian club at her high school. She was told that she was being selfish by not converting and was causing the second coming to be delayed. This was being done by members of a school sanctioned club whose sponsor believed this crap. It took one visit by the ADL to that school to put an end to this crap. The club sponsored got worried when he was told that he was going to be sued personally if this conduct did not stop.

[jwirr]

9. I have known about these two groups. Thanks for the added info. There seems to be no end to these

end time theories.

[Arugula Latte]

13. I have a niece who was mercilessly harassed by zealous young Christians at her middle school.

I mean, it was nasty. It was a place where a significant percentage of these little religious terrorists-in-the-making would meet at the flagpole to pray to Jeeeeesus before school. She is part Jewish and non-religious and that was totally unacceptable to these little mini Christian Talibanists. She finally got the hell out of the school and was home schooled for the last part of 8th grade.

[Gothmog]

14. The same thing was happening to the daughter of my friend

My friend's daughter was fortunate in that we have a good ADL office who took these actions seriously. This group targeted her because she was one of a couple Jews at that school. They told my friend's daughter that she was being selfish by not converting. After a lawyer from the ADL visited the school and talked to the sponsor and to the parents of the kids, this conduct stopped.

[Arugula Latte]

15. I'm glad they stood up for their daughter and were able to get it to stop.

[Coyotl]

17. At least they no longer burn people at the stake.

Seriously, wasn't that long ago and that practice defined Christiandom.

[Hekate]

19. I'm glad your friends had help in putting a stop to this. When my daughter was in 7th grade...

... there was an active Jesus club at her school. Their sponsor brought in pizza at lunch, it was all pretty attractive to a sociable kid. I really didn't like that.

Fortunately, when my husband and I got married she was still in 5th grade and it was at that point we joined the local Unitarian Universalist Society (in some places they call themselves a church) and enrolled the kids in their Sunday school. Aside from liking the UUs and their philosophy, I absolutely knew my daughter was going to end up recruited if she didn't have someplace to point to as her spiritual home.

What happened to your friends was outrageous and I'm glad they had the clout to put a stop to it.

[Turbineguy]

4. That may be a rather clever strategery...

Let God know just how stupid we are and how close we are to doing irreparable harm to his world. Then presumably, God would say HOLY SHIT! I'D BETTER GET DOWN THERE PRONTO BEFORE THESE IDIOTS FUCK IT UP BUT GOOD!

[joeybee12]

5. It's all about the Rapture...only 150K can get in...Jews that is,

who accept at the end, so might as well have a smaller pool to pick from when those end times come.

[Happyhippychick]

6. We Jews aren't converting. We're too attached to the concept of the 20 minute wedding ceremony

And the week-long food festivals after funerals.

[Gothmog]

8. I agree

Jews are not going to convert so that these idiots can somehow feel that they are advancing the second coming.

[sakabatou]

21. However, some of us wish the Saturday afternoon service would be out by 12

[Coyotl]

10. Let's organize an effort to convert these people to science. We could start with good schools

and follow up with a real university education.

Oh wait, that's why they want to defund schools and have our taxes pay for their charter schools (indoctrination centers).

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Typical.

[Arugula Latte]

12. You have to be George W. Bush-level stupid to believe in this hokum.

[Coyotl]

16. kick

[Hekate]

18. Dubya is a true believer who was secretly anointed by one of these groups before he ran for Prez

All those shout-outs to fundamentalists and evangelicals, all the dog-whistles, the faith-based initiatives -- crap, he really had a fan base among them, and catered to them as much as he could get away with. At one of the conventions his lectern literally had a cross on the front, worked into the design of the wood. His people made sure that missionaries and their supplies got to Baghdad along with the so-called reconstruction and transition workers, and that guidelines for women's medical care conformed to right-wing Christian religious norms when clinics were built.

Sometimes I wondered if he was that deeply cynical or really meant it, but after seeing a film of Dubya among the faithful in Crawford I realized that it was the only time I'd ever seen him look completely genuine.

I still think he's detestable. I'm with the Jews on that one, though for slightly different reasons: Commentary magazine, which bills itself as a "conservative American journal of politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues," noted, "it must be understood that the visceral distaste that the overwhelming majority of Jews have for the Messianics is not to be taken lightly."

[fadedrose]

20. Jews have paid a high price for being Jewish

Leave them alone, George Bush. If there's any truth to the second coming prophecy, Jesus doesn't need you or anyone else to make it happen.

Oh, and the prophecy says that ALL nations will rise against Israel and that's when Jesus will come back. How you gonna arrange that, George? Have Cheney start some rumors?

Start a fund to convert Iraq all to one religion (any) even if it takes another war to accomplish what the first continuing one didn't - bring peace there. Poor Iraq. Another victim of help.

Nonsense, all nonsense, forcing prophecy to happen.

[Gothmog]

22. Update-Webpage with W. has been deleted

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-removed-george-w-bush-speech-pages

n case you didn’t get a chance to see the web pages promoting former President George W. Bush’s event with the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute (as reported on in Mother Jones magazine and on TRMS tonight) before they were taken down, we grabbed some pages from the site from Google’s archive below:

The fact that these pages have disappeared is very revealing.

[lpbk2713]

23. Shit-for-Brains and Deadeye Dick love being out of office.

They don't even have to pretend any more.

[LeftishBrit]

24. Ugh