Appeasement, Capitulation and Eschatology - Dave Gatehouse - djgatehouse@gmail.com
The dictionary defines APPEASE (verb) and the noun Appeasement) as 'to pacify or placate (someone) by acceding to their demands.'
CAPITULATION (noun) is 'the action of surrendering or ceasing to resist an opponent or demand.'
George Santayana was a Spanish Philosopher (1863 - 1952). One of his most famous sayings was:
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
* This famous statement has produced many paraphrases and variants:
* Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
* Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes.
* Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it.
* Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them.
Those who do not know history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them.
To this worldly wisdom should be added: those who do not read the bible, will not understand history in a proper, true and inerrant context and are condemned to repeat the errors of the past which will be fatal from an eternal perspective. Furthermore, those who do not read the approximate 30% of the bible given to prophecy, will not know what God has ordained for the future. Even with a historical worldly background to guide them, they will still be in error.
But let us go back to Santayana's phrase. It has often been used to guide the policy of nations especially in matters of foreign affairs. Other adages have application too, such as leopards don't change their spots. In other words, the actions of countries and individuals in the past, produce high probabilities and indications of how they will react in the future.
Case in point: The world in 2015 has been negotiating with Iran for some 12 years, during which time Iran has never changed its position concerning their hate for the U.S.A (the great Satan) and Israel (the little Satan). Meanwhile, they have continued their stalling tactics while racing towards the development of a nuclear bomb. No amount of time and effort will change this situation, nor will appeasement or future negotiation. Iran is driven by a Shiite eschatology, not the logic of such reasoning as a 'nuclear deterrent', removal of sanctions, wanting to be part of the 'brotherhood' of mankind or any other socially accepted world view. Extending negotiations time after time does not change their position and only buys them more time. When they say they want to wipe Israel off the map, convert the world to their brand of radical Islam or chop your head off, they mean it. This is not pure rhetoric, acting, grand standing and positional staging. The world is delusional to think otherwise.
Appeasement and capitulation will only further embolden Iran. These methods convince them that the rest of the world is weak and will give into their demands.
With individuals, the same is true. If in the past, one individual has been allowed to have their way through appeasement (the other person thinking that they can pacify the one demanding), then that individual will continue to demand knowing that their demands were met in the past and will be in the future. Capitulation of the other party is 'sure', since they have ceased to resist the demands in the past.
The interesting point is this: when the individual who has consistently capitulated in the past in order to appease the demands of the individual used to getting their way, there is an extreme adjustment period to be anticipated if things change. The demanding individual can not, or will not understand that things will not turn out in their favor as they always have in the past. The response is: "Why won't the other individual appease me this time? Why won't they capitulate to my demands this time? I will turn up the heat on my demands, I will argue them into submission with reasoning, new information, and even excuses and threats if necessary to get my way. They always back down!"
Now, to the individual who has said, "enough is enough, I've had it with appeasement , it never seems to work and only makes things worse." Appeasement has always been a temporary fix to diffuse disagreements and arguments, and it only emboldens the demands of the other party the next time an issue arises. Capitulation has not worked either; giving in and saying 'uncle' gains no respect from the demanding individual, only giving them a sense of power to do the same the next time just like the school yard bully.
Having never consistently appeased or capitulated, an individual has an easier way out of a disagreement. The demanding party IS NOT sure their demands will always be met; they may take it seriously when then other party has drawn the line in the sand on a particular issue. Compromise and give and take are possible.
But for the chronic appeasing and capitulating individual, finally reaching the point where drawing the line in the sand (red lines?) is considered absolutely necessary, then they must be prepared for the battle of their lives, or the possibility of an all-out war instead of just a battle.
Such was the case in WW2. The world appeased Germany over and over again and the end result was a total all-out war. Hitler could not understand why he could not get his way after the world had consistently capitulated to his demands.
So when applying Santayana's phrase, 'those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,' we now see the unlearned lesson of WW11 potentially being played out once again with Iran and in concert with Russia and other Arab allies. This could lead to WW111. As in the past, war, not negotiations may ultimately bring about peace. It did not have to be so, if appeasement and capitulation had quickly ceased with the first ultimate deadline set for an agreement with Iran on its nuclear deal. Now it may be too late. And don't look for Churchill in the White House - he's not there. And Kerry too is delusional.
The most current deadline of March 31, 2015 is not perceived by Iran to be a real deadline. If for some strange reason, it is the final deadline in the eyes of the Obama administration, this will be an unanticipated change in the de facto 'rules of engagement' which will surprise Iran to no end. There will be a high probability that they will not back down, even if they don't have the weaponry they are comfortable with, to fight a war. Their eschatology will not let them submit to anyone except their pagan moon god Allah. Furthermore they really believe war will bring back the Mahdi who will give them victory. That is a scary and dangerous eschatology my friends.
Some pragmatic decisions may still be made by Iran. They may simply attack Israel, not YET being ready for a war with the USA. They may think that with their proxies such as Hamas, Hezbollah and maybe other Arab nations who for religious reasons hate Israel more than they dislike Iran ('the enemy of my enemy is my friend'), that they can finally destroy Israel. Plan two would be to take on the USA at a later date. They may also rightly discern that with Russia's military arms support, that the USA will back down and will be unwilling to support Israel just the same as they backed down on Syria, the Crimea and in the Western Ukraine. And Tsar Putin thinks he knows this too, based on past US capitulation.
As for Obama and his left leaning, Muslim appeasing administration, they probably will back off from such involvement. The animosity between Israel and the US administration has only been increased with the re-election of Netanyahu this week. The wild card here is the support for Israel within the American population itself and the possibility that some Democrats may side with the Republican controlled houses in the US government to reach the magic quorum necessary to override Obama's 'executive orders' once and for all - even to the point of possible impeachment of the President. Then all bets are off for the US non -support of Israel in the case of a middle east all out war. But don't count on that. The Bible says it won't happen. The US and all nations will ultimately abandon Israel. Is that time here?
In Canada, there is a movement to unite the Liberal and NDP parties to defeat Prime Minister Harper and his Israel supporting Conservatives. So don't assume Canada will be at Israel's side either. The Bible says ALL nations will abandon Israel.
But with all this speculation and analysis of what might play out, there is another scenario which has not been fully entered into the picture. Iran has an eschatology. The Arab nations also have their own versions of eschatology at play here be they Shiite or Sunnis. But there is also a Christian/Judaic Eschatology at work not just in western nations and Israel, but more importantly in God's plan, the only true God of the Bible.
Many Biblical prophecy experts agree on a number of things: 1) the bible end times/last day period is upon us 2) all prophecies are converging 3) Israel going back to their land after two Millennia is a super sign that the end is near 4) the Bible predicts that in that generation (when Israel comes back to their land) the end will come 5) that there may be another imminent middle east regional war with Israel's immediate hostile neighbors such as Gaza (Hamas), Lebanon (Hezbollah), possibly Syria and/or ISIS and even Jordan and Egypt (although the latter two may be reluctant to join in for a number of reasons.) The Bible infers that this Psalm 83, Isaiah 17 war will be won by Israel most likely in the strength of their own IDF.
Iran and Russia will not be pleased at all and when Israel wins and finally feels at peace. The the Ezekiel 38 war will break out with Russia, Iran and many other Arab nations such as northern Sudan, Libya and Turkey etc joining in to attack Israel. At this point israel will be totally without hope of any human effort to save them. The rest of the western world will stand by and simply watch. But according to Bible prophecy, God will directly intervene and supernaturally defeat the armies of Russia (Gog and Magog), Iran (Persia) and the other confederate hordes.
Even if you forget about upcoming blood moons, solar eclipses and tetrads linked to Jewish appointed times also outlined in the Bible; forget about the Council on Foreign Relations, the Illuminati, and other one world government players who are steering us to economic collapse then authoritarian control; forget about the Shemita year and the predicted major crash of the stock markets by year end; forget about the unsustainable American 18 trillion dollar debt. Forget about real estate bubbles bursting, or ISIS coming to a town near you. Forget about the unbiblical ecumenical associations being formed with the Catholic church and Chrislam. Forget about the rampant apostasy even in the evangelical churches let alone in religious sects, Mormanism, and emergent church movements. Forget about abortion issues that are an abomination to God. Forget about the gay movements and the reasons for God destroying not only Sodom and Gomorrah, but also the whole world at the time of the great flood.
Even without all of these warning signs or harbingers, the general unbelieving population senses and knows that something is afoot, that we live in perilous times. And things are about to get much, much worse and the time is coming shortly when the world will welcome the antichrist as the false saviour of the world.
But for the believing born again Christian, we know that these things must happen. We know that the Bible says these things will not overtake us like a thief in the night; provided that we do study history, the historical record of God's divinely inspired word in the Bible. And study His old Testament prophecies that were already fulfilled with 100% accuracy at the time of Yeshua's first coming; study the prophecies that have been fulfilled to this day in the church age and the dispensational prophecies of the last 2000 years that pertain to Israel. And be convinced that God's yet future prophecies, will be ultimately fulfilled to the 't' in the near future.
Then rest in the glorious knowledge, not just hope, that Christ is coming shortly to redeem His bride; the church. In the meanwhile who do you love so much that you want to take them with you? Don't put that off. Don't let Satan convince you that the fear of family or friends rejecting you is sufficient eternal reason to put off talking to the unsaved.
And if you haven't yet accepted Christ as your only hope and Saviour, do it now. Time is short. You know it. The world knows it. You can feel it. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Dave Gatehouse, Ottawa Ontario
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