Thomas Getman: When and How Did Evangelicals Become Zionists?

our next speaker is discussing the topic of Christian Zionism for those of you who don't know Christian Zionism is the belief that the established the establishment of the modern State of Israel and the Holy Land is the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and thus deserves unrelenting support from Christians when President Trump announced in December is intention to declare Jerusalem as the capital of Israel many attributed his decision to the power of Christian Zionists who are a key Trump constituency and have a powerful and devoted member and vice president Mike Pence but just how powerful the Christian Zionists are is up for debate and we will address that today there are also theological questions about Christian Zionism and the extent to which it is legitimate interpretation of Scripture and to the extent to which is heretical I like that word and finally questions as to how it started where is it going and who is challenging the evangelical community to discuss this today we have Thomas Gedman he is a partner in a private consulting group that specializes in international the United Nations and non-governmental organization affairs he got his start in South Africa and fighting for justice there and later discovered the Palestine issue he has worked primarily as many you know for a world vision where he worked continuously for Palestinian issues in the West Bank and Gaza I believe yes and with that I will like to introduce him to discuss Christian Zionism [Applause] good afternoon everyone thanks to the wonderful organization of the our sponsoring groups and for your being here to discuss these important issues with us as the resident theologian today I must tell you that particularly this morning I was reminded that we operate within a very secular climate but we also operate in an aura of the creation ordinances and sometimes that's forgotten and I got my cut my eyeteeth on human rights in the Middle East because the likes of tutu and boo sak and bears no day and people like that said to me if I really wanted to prove my bona fides in terms of human rights I should turn my eyes to the Palestinians and I really am grateful for that because I was truth be told a complicit evangelical Zionist like the polling data today showed but unwittingly I didn't even know what it meant but living and working in the Middle East for five years to begin with and now twenty years all told we see that there is a breaking forth of history that is beyond our usual comprehension of things it's good to be reminded as we seek reasons for hope that those who lay traps get their own feet ensnared those that do things in the dark have it come into the light and there are things happening on college campuses today university campuses today because of the suffering of our sister from San Francisco State what man means for evil the transcendent order understands for good so the topic today drives us to seek to understand the question today is helpful to comprehend that American Christians in particular speak in to theological languages when it comes to Israel and Zionism we are living in a troubling culture with a culture war darkness as a nation and this may help us understand how we arrived here the great majority of mainstream Christians that would be Catholics Protestants and Orthodox Eastern Orthodox and even more even more than 20% now of the hundred million evangelicals are rooted in a 2000 year orthodoxy that was quantified during the creedal debates of the 3rd century it's not just religion we're talking about it's not just creedal material we're talking about we're talking about social justice on the other hand Zionism both Jewish and Christian is rooted theologically in the 19th 19th and early 20th century minority belief and in it the Bible predicts 7 dispensations of history a real stretch to do this kind of cherry-picking moving us toward the return of all Jews to Palestine or more appropriately Jews to all of Palestine in order to hasten the day of the end times you may have noticed recently there's been some predictions about when it was coming I hope you got your stuff stored away it's been popularized by the left-behind fictional series this view purports Christians suddenly disappear presumably to heaven a final apocalyptic war Armageddon occurs against the evil Antichrist and a thousand-year peaceful reign of the Messiah begins everyone is judged as to their faithfulness to God's plan but ironically two-thirds of all Jews are killed and the rest become Christians the millennial reign according to Zionists began with 1948 and 1967 Zionism becomes dangerous when it aligns with Empire and ethnic religious nationalism ethical guidance takes a back seat especially with exceptionalism this highly imaginative imaginative view is considered heresy in most of the theological circles and it's no longer widely embraced by evangelicals certainly not by rabbinic Jews or by main denomination Christians unless it's without thought without really knowing the issues that's where our responsibility comes in even Billy Graham said he was agnostic about the end times when he declared it will all pan out in the end but silence in the mainstream church has allowed Palestine to be defined by Zionists it is the basis of Christian Zionism about which a straightforward definition is offered by dr. Don Wagner a Presbyterian former Zionist himself when he states it is a movement within Protestant now Catholic fundamentalism that understands the modern State of Israel as a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and thus deserving of political financial and religious support Christian Zionism preceded by 50 years and even influenced the emergence of Jewish Zionism surprise when the British literalist cherry-picked biblical references to apply to a physical state for diaspora Jews ultimately they helped to bring about what their adherence promoted and now believe is that state brought through an act of God in 1948 this nationalistic perspective can be seen as a key to understanding the troubling geopolitical field fire fan by the Jerusalem announcement by the US president and the fawning fumbling visit by the vice president it explains the division of the house in Israel which resulted in damaging replacement of rabbinic social justice Judaism with secular joy Sian ISM recent history shows the resulting marriage of convenience for joint image protection by the Jewish Christian Lobby so how did we arrive here especially at this crucial juncture it's important to understand it the 200 year progression of this history is at once instructive and frightening we can see the consequences of rationalizing colonialization and partisan politics influenced by religion to exclude the rights of one group over another the law of love is replaced by violence South Africa former director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Georgetown Professor Charles Villavicencio explained it's the fault line running through Western civilization the first century of the Common Era the church was born and the synagogue was transformed in the midst of this issue religions separating groups with the right of one group to dominate the other or whether they bring humankind to the realization of our unity and connectedness as children of the father Abraham and recipients of his promise to establish many nations this is the central issue the lobby writ large is the questionable combining of forces between the Israel government and American Christian Zionists our government and our church people are complicit in this fear t of enterprise sometimes unwittingly AIPAC is successful as an agent of minority Gentile sentiment not just Jewish poor and sadly the majority as you heard from me early has been silent we must stir them up and I propose it is bad for Israel as well as America's place in the free world it's destined for failure it is important to see the progression of Christian Zionism is development it has roots at least as far back as the 16th century European Reformation 's the early literal readership of the local language translations like the King James Bible later in Scofield reference additions had footnotes and commentary that promoted dispensational Zionism it led to several centuries of anti-semite Jewish persecution ultimately the Holocaust and all the way to the mid 20th century best-selling fictional works of the late great planet Earth and left behind the modern movement can be traced to early 19th century with a group of eccentric British Christian restorationist lacking formal theological training they began to lobby for Jewish return to Palestine and the necessary precondition for the second coming of Christ or the first coming of the Messiah as you wish john darby was their leader and the darby us gained traction from the middle of the 19th century when palestine became strategic to britain france and germany and their colonial interests in the Middle East these Christian Zionists who preceded joy Zionism were some of Theodore Herzl strongest advocates and ironically were both clergy and laypeople who embraced the anti-semitic theology and genocide limit us a round racial nationalism Herzl 's appeal to the British leadership was in part on an understanding anger for what had happened to Jews in the previous centuries but also miss undergirded by misinterpreted scriptures in the early 20th century evangelist Billy Sunday DL Moody and others from promulgated the Scofield Bible dispensational point of view to convert people by employed end-of-the-world fear as early as 1917 the British bartered away Palestine with the Balfour Declaration and the 1919 American king crane report urged caution about Zionist intention of dispossession but the reports attention to the local population was either ignored or buried by President Wilson for several years this was concurrent with the Arab false appreciation that they would gain palestinian liberation by their alliance with the ottomans Arthur Balfour and Lloyd George were predisposed toward Zionism and their support for a Jewish National Home but with mixed racist motives about white British superiority their primary goal was to advance British imperial interests with utilitarian politics Zionism continued to reflect some of that strain into the middle of the last century and to today after World War two more urbane Billy Graham avoided the label Zionists with his approach which stirred Millions he did not however instruct about the dangers of Zionism and the churches to which he sent his converts even with his anti-semitic misstep recorded with Richard Nixon fortunately he founded Christianity magazine a globally minded modern evangelical publication the reflected his social justice abolitionist roots and has had a series of progressive editors partnering with Anglican scholar anti Zionist John Stott and the NGO sponsored trips to the Holy Land sadly his son Franklin hasn't taken this the same path the impact of the Holocaust in this area was a legitimate concern and then coupled with the guilt about us capping Jewish Asylum and turning away refugees the UN partition resolution of November of 1947 was supported by Harry Truman he was influenced certainly by his dispensational beliefs but likely even more by the looming reelection campaign considerations and the financial infusion from pro-israeli donors the fact was ignored the Palestinians as the 66% majority owned 90% of the land Christian Zionism was encouraged twenty and forty eight Israel was assumed to be the sign of God and his personal intervention with the anticipation of the endtime battles of Armageddon and was as well influenced by apex predecessor American Zionist Council it gained impetus after the return of Jews to what they called the eternal undivided capital in 67 which encouraged the populace teaching of dispensational theology by Dallas seminary and similar seminaries especially throughout the South in the Bible Belt the more secular Israeli labor party had few relationships with Christian Zionists pride of the election of lacunae Menachem Begin in 1977 Bagan however saw the necessity of the theö political match made in heaven laocoön courted the relationship with leaders such as Falwell Robertson and other TV preachers who captured the TV time for most Christians and from the booming fundamentalist Zionist churches in the south in 1979 with great fanfare Falwell was presented a private jet by Bagan purportedly to affirm the Israeli policies such as there soon 1981 bombing of Iraq's nuclear site but also to spread the Zionist Action Plan the election of Ronald Reagan who was converted to Christian Zionist beliefs helpful helped solidify Christian Zionism at the center of the Republican Party in the White House along with several speakers of the house opposition began to be more public by well-known liberal ministers and scholars and even John McCain called Falwell and Robertson agents of intolerance still Jewish Zionists had few encounters with Christian Zionists before 2000 even with the assumption by Christians that the 67 war was final proof to them for the return of Jesus it took politics of necessity to drive the strange benefit bedfellows together helped of course by Jewish lack of faith in the zionist christian distasteful endtime creed 9/11 sealed a marriage the glue was that they both feared and hated muslims this hastened the growth of the so-called evangelical Zionism in this present era and especially with the election of Trump and the Republican Congress and encouragement movement in opposition to Christian Zionism has grown among mainstream political and religious entities this has helped us to battle complicity those who lay the traps will have their own feet caught as the Zionist profile became more public through the pro-israel lobby of Christians and Jews especially through John hey guys Kofi Christians United for Israel three factors were apparent first the lobby served to undermine peace and increase even encourage violence second their utterly biased and one-sided utterings and massive funding have been opposed by Jews as well as Christians and finally third the United States has seen increasingly to be a party to injustice rather than an honest broker for a just settlement of the conflict the lobbies goal to stand shoulder-to-shoulder for significant influence in Washington by portraying Israel in a positive light and public discourse is proving more difficult and counterproductive the Israeli Lobby is being seen as an agent of the foreign power in part because of mr. Newton house death demands and decline thank God and mr. Trump's ignorance and intrusion more open debate is happening on university campuses as we've just heard especially as BDS has caused panic efforts in Congress and Knesset to limit First Amendment freedoms and print and broadcast media Pro Israeli editorial and news bias shows real signs of change greater understanding is occurring about faulty oppressive theology and excesses and American Christian complicity and illegal neo-colonial activity there is an increasing awareness of severe demonization of Palestinians Muslims and Christians treatment of other minorities within Israel in the region is stirring opposition especially because of the horrors of Gaza the expulsion of African refugees and the church tax bank issues many more people including the young are travelling with alternative social justice agencies to the traditional Holy Land holy sites but they're spending a lot more time than has been traditionally the way in the West Bank talking to the living stones who are demanding liberation the arc of history is being bent toward justice by young people polling and experience indicates that evangelicals especially Millennials are more pro-immigrant less Islamophobic and increasingly concerned about the negative impact of occupation annexation appreciation is growing for and in solidarity with influential progressive and modern Zionists for instance +972 lara friedman rabbis for human rights and mainstream israeli combatants for human rights as they seek help on their PTSD pilgrims even now amazingly some enlightened progressive dispensationalists are embracing more of the true prophetic biblical declarations about responsibility toward the marginalized poor blind and oppressed the strangers in the land Genesis 12 has been the basis of much of Zionist propaganda that God would bless those who bless you to Abraham and above all the people you curse he will curse the fact is that promise wasn't made the Israel it was made Abraham the father of all of us they forget that there is a change in sensitivity increasingly people are understood to be chosen as in the old children's song all the children of the world red and yellow black and white maíam angelical colleagues now say Jews Christians and Muslims are precious in His sight the more liberal and progressive social justice denominations and believers including many Jews align themselves with the 2006 statement on Christian Zionism by the Jerusalem patriarchs of the traditional faiths they declared quote we categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the Bible's message of love justice and Reconciliation and quote and the American National Council of Churches adds the theological stance of Christian Zionism adversely affects justice and peace in the Middle East unusually on February 22nd just passed in response to us recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital 25 well-known senior evangelical leaders expressed concern albeit too timidly in my view about unprecedent actions that may jeopardize lives in future may jeopardize lives and future security of the people of the Holy Land I hope they can be more concerned about current Palestinian suffering but it opens the door for more White House dialogue therefore it is questionable how much contemporary American theology and electoral politics and legislating are being driven extensively by heretical dispensational understanding of Eretz Israel further evidence of it being challenged is because of actions by evangelical organizations such as sojourners evangelicals for social action faith-based operational agencies who have some of their staff people in prison these and other faith groups are partnering with J Street Joyce moister peace new Israel fund operational agencies as well as the think tanks such as Middle East Institute and the foundation for peace also great films God on our side road to a party occupation of the American mind Nora's film Gaza gaping wound Gaza and context etc social justice evangelicals are working to rehabilitate their brand or frankly to desert it if necessary in order to differentiate further from the Hagi's Pence's and mores of the world which has potential for impacting the fall elections members of Congress who have expressed quiet opposition for his early policies are being more vocal regarding treatment of children Metis McCollum's bill and child prisoners MCs price and Welch's and a hundred members action on hundra which is a question we'll pursue and in conclusion many prominent progressive leaders are helping to sharpen our thinking regarding Christian Zionists for the God they portray looks to be militaristic xenophobic genocide us and would not sufficiently be moral enough to conform to the Fourth Geneva Convention so is God turned from love and grace to be a great ethnic cleanser Martin Buber the great Ephesus said in his declaration of opposition to Zionism hatred is bound to ruin us guilt and complicity are twins hard to separate those who pull the trigger and those who pay for the guns are an extra in ex trickle abound anglican theologian Naima take States we must oppose Christian Zionism by asserting one clear principle any religion that does not promote justice truth peace love forgiveness and reconciliation among people has lost its rudder and is undeserving of respect their religion and their teachings are destructive rather than liberating force in the world I would place Christian Zionists in this group he says having seen their impact personally while living in Jerusalem and in other places in the world I do too thanks very much [Applause] thank you very much we have three minutes for questions so I'll shoot about maybe two of them to you and you can respond to relatively quickly that'd be appreciated one person asks can you say something about Israel's treatment of Palestinian Christians and Western Christian NGOs such as World Vision where he previously worked and another person will ask what is it say about Christian tonight for Israel the largest Christian Zionist lobby that their executive director a who is a who Barak's cousin and is not actually a Christian is a lot it shows can I dare use the word evil of the kind of collaboration that happens around a political issue rather than moral and ethical issues on the first question I believe the NGOs are being stifled there they're being shut up they're being arrested as a cooling effort to scare our people I think the NGOs generally are in the target big time and some of our staff people are arrested for trumped-up charges that are just so counterintuitive s to be ridiculous and talking to the lawyers about what happens to these people he Israeli I'm an Israeli Jew says we all together must speak out more about this atrocity because these folks are innocent as the day is long but the Israeli government finds them an easy target and it can be used to stifle advocacy and when marketing plays such an important role for operational agencies or for churches for that matter this has a huge impact enough said Thanks may I just add that if you want to see some of these films that I've mentioned the the folders are in the room and these are really worth going out of your way to see or you can order them on Netflix thank you thank you very much [Applause]

Channel: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

Views: 124,977

Keywords:

Id: ItWWZu2geSE

Length: 28min 7sec (1687 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 04 2018