Blessed Are You Who Are 54-Inches-Tall, for You Shall Be Allowed on This Ride

From The Guardian:

The Israeli government is planning to give up a large slice of land to American Christian evangelicals to build a biblical theme park by the Sea of Galilee where Jesus is said to have walked on water and fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish.

A consortium of Christian groups, led by the television evangelist Pat Robertson, is in negotiation with the Israeli ministry of tourism and a deal is expected in the coming months. The project is expected to bring up to 1 million extra tourists a year but an undeclared benefit will be the cementing of a political alliance between the Israeli rightwing and the American Christian right.

This is possibly the worst idea to come out of the church since the Spanish Inquisition. For one, putting an amusement park on the shore where Jesus is thought to have performed one of his most famous miracles strikes me as sacriligious. Secondly, the religious right rarely does anything in Israel without an eschatalogical motive. Finally, the park is located "north-east of the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and Capernaum which was described as the town of Jesus in the Bible." This places it very close to the Golan Heights—a territory occupied by Israel that Syria still claims as its own. In other words, this region isn't exactly ideal for tourism.

Hat tip: Wesley Blog.