Pastor's Foreign Policy discussion includes Israel, Iran
By Vanessa C. Reyes - Staff Writer
JEWISH JOURNAL, Miami Dade, June 20, 2006
When pastor Ken Garrison closes his eyes, it’s not hard for him to see the very real threat Iran posses to the safety of Israel - and the world.
"If you can imagine that suddenly on every one's radar screens there is a host of missiles lifting up over Iran on their way to destroy Israel, there almost certainly will be an Israeli response and most likely a U.S. response to that," says Garrison, a pastor at the Fellowship Church at Casselberry who spoke on foreign policy issues recently at Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center in Miami Beach.
It's a grim prospect, Garrison told the audience. "I wish I could say something encouraging and uplifting, but if I look at this situation in just a purely national sense, there is not much to be encouraged about."
And yet, he does have hope.
"From my own personal perspective, and I am a person of faith and look at things from the perspective of faith, and I am personally convinced that another factor in this whole situation is God himself," Garrison said, "and that He indeed will be a factor to preserve Israel because I am confident that the whole phenomenon of modern Israel is more than a group of people deciding to build a new nation. It is as biblical as Abraham, Moses or David for that matter and that the hand of God is involved in it and that He will act to protect it."
The concept that once worked to keep world peace may not apply in this conflict.
According to Garrison, during the United States and Soviet Union standoff, the basic philosophy was "Mutually assured destruction."
"You could attack, but if you did attack, you would be destroyed yourself in the process," Garrison said. "It was a standoff that is not a deterrent with Iranians."
Garrison explains that this is because Iranians are Shiite Muslims.
"Think about the individual muslins suicide bomber that straps explosives and walks into a supermarket or walks into a restaurant and kill as many people as he can, but obviously he dies in the process," Garrison said. "Now, think if the whole society or the whole nation embraced the same mentality. We know we are going to die in the process, just like that individual, but we are willing to do that to achieve our objective and we are very concerned that Iranians may do that."
Garrison clarifies that not all Iranians may have this mentality, but these people would probably not have a vote in the matter.
The discussion, sponsored by Americans for Safe Israel, comes in light of recent declarations by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Many times the Muslims leaders, especially the Arab Muslim leader, are very bold in making threats whether able to back it up or not." Garrison says. "I think the Iranians are ethnically different, religiously the same, but ethnically different and I don't think we can take this threats idly."
The conflict involves the U.S. need for oil and the allies that it consequently makes us with various Muslim nations.
"What people end up in America being torn about is that we have to choose between the American economy and helping Israel," says Hellen Kosak, a member of AFSI and discussion attendee. "In other words the oil question keeps us appeasing the Arab world and of course we need oil for our society that is so prosperous and in order to help Israel we might have to have one car in the garage instead of two."
Garrison sees the connection to Israel as a spiritual one - and an important one.
"When I say that we [as a congregation] feel ourselves allied with Israel, that does not mean that Israel sees themselves allied to us," Garrison said. "In other words from the standpoint of a biblical position that we as congregation take it is inclusive of Israel because we see Israel as maybe the strongest witness of the presence of God in the world today."
Carol Flatto of the Miami Chapter of AFSI, believes this discussion comes at the right time because Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert addressed Congress in May seeking financial aid for his realignment plan.
"We must do our part to head off support for this disastrous plan," Flatto said. "[The] plan is national suicide, and our message to congress is: 'Friends don't let friends commit suicide,' "
To find out more, log on to www.afsi.org
