John Hagee:  Christian Zionism’s Cause or Effect?

By:

Stan Moody

March 26, 2008

He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8b)

The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths (2 Timothy 4:3,4)

John Darby (1800-1882), the British father of a fundamentalist school of thought known as Dispensationalism, created a dualism that has since plagued the Christian Church and now threatens the national security of both Israel and, according to many, America.  His thesis was that, contrary to the Christian messianic proclamation of the one Kingdom of God, there are two Kingdoms – an earthly, material Kingdom promised to the Jewish people and a spiritual Kingdom promised to Gentile believers in Jesus Christ. 

This theme was picked up by the very popular Scofield Reference Bible published in 1909, followed by the Ryrie Study Bible in 1994.

Not all who call themselves Dispensationalists would fully agree with Darby.  What they do agree on, however, is the forensic distinction between Israel and the Church.   Thus, they would view many or all of the Old Testament prophesies as yet to be fulfilled in the modern nation-state of Israel.  This dualism assumes both the dispensation of the Mosaic Law and the New Testament age of Grace to be running concurrently with different objectives.  As the Gentile believer cannot be reconciled to God outside the person and work of Jesus Christ, so the Jewish people cannot be reconciled to God outside the land that most Dispensationalists would consider to be Historic Palestine – the land at least from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.

FULL ARTICLE (pdf file) 

Christian Zionists are No Friends of Israel

It has been heartening to note that prominent Jewish spokespersons are beginning to become vocal about something that has been highlighted on this site since its inception,  that  the apocalyptic wing of the Christian Zionist movement represented by John Hagee and his Christians United for Israel are no friends of Israel.  Where most Israelis are seeking ways to move beyond the perpetual conflict that marks their lives, John Hagee and his CUFI allies advocate policies that would exacerbate that conflict.  Where most Israelis support a two state solution to the dilemma created by endemic war and occupation, John Hagee and CUFI oppose it.   With friends like these  . .  .

The latest evidence of this is seen in the establishment of a new Jewish Lobby group called "the J Street Project."  Composed of prominent American Jewish leaders and  philanthropists and endorsed by at least two dozen key Israeli political and military  figures, J Street seeks to counter the deleterious  influence of Christian Zionist groups like Christians United for Israel by advocating for a negotiated two state solution. In doing so J Street signals their desire to re-define the term   "Pro-Israel" tying it to advocacy of positions and policies which will help bring peace and prosperity to both Israelis and Palestinians. 

"The definition of what it means to be pro-Israel has come to diverge from pursuing a peace settlement," said Alan Solomont, a prominent Democratic Party fundraiser involved in the initiative. In recent years, he said, "We have heard the voices of neocons, and right-of-center Jewish leaders and Christian evangelicals, and the mainstream views of the American Jewish community have not been heard."    

from truthout.org 

What the members of this new lobby group are recognizing is that those of us in the mainstream Christian community - Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox -  evangelical and non -  who oppose Christian Zionism are  "friends of Israel."  We are friends of Israel because we raise our voices against  expansionist policies advocated by Christian Zionists which do nothing but perpetuate the conflict.   We are friends of Israel also in the desire we express for a negotiated peace (opposed by Christian Zionists)  which, in recognizing the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians for their own independent states within internationally recognized borders, encourages them to deal with each other as equal partners in the peace process.   In saying this we also raise our voices in opposition to  the extremists among the Palestinians whose call for the destruction of Israel has done nothing to further the interests of the Palestinian people.  As true friends of Israel we seek those things which make for peace.  It's the only position acceptable to those who understand the core message of the scriptures holy to Jews and Christians.  

We wish the new J Street Lobby all the best in their efforts to work with the Jewish community here in America to become advocates for policies which can lead to peace.  We will certainly do what we can to advocate the same.  We are friends of Israel.  We are friends of Palestinians.  We are friends of peace. 

John Hubers

Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism 

Suspicions Raised About "Ex terrorist" Christian Zionist by Israeli Newspaper

Self proclaimed "ex-terrorist" Christian Zionist, Walid Shoebat

In an astonishing expose suspicions were raised this week by the conservative Israeli English daily, The Jerusalem Post,  that prominent self-proclaimed ex-terrorist, Walid Shoebat, is, as some of his critics have long suspected,  a fundamentalist Christian Zionist  scam artist who has concocted a fictional persona to give credence to an anti-Muslim,  apocalyptically-driven evangelical  message for a steep speaker's fee.  The Jerusalem Post article takes him to account for both issues – the veracity of his biography and questionable financial dealings. 

While others have made similar accusations of Shoebat, noting that many of the claims he makes about his  "terrorist" past lack credibility,   the Post article represents the first time a journalist has done the work of speaking to Shoebat's family members in Palestine as well as checking on claims he has made about the status of his charitable foundation. 

Of particular interest to the Post reporter was an incident which Shoebat uses on the circuit to establish his bona fides as a legitimate "ex-PLO terrorist." It was an attempt to bomb an Israeli bank.  But, as the Post reports, this account runs counter to the recollections of his family as well as officials at the bank in question.

"Shoebat's claim to have been a terrorist rests on his account of the purported bombing of Bank Leumi. But after checking its files, the bank said it had no record of an attack on its Bethlehem branch anywhere in the relevant 1977-79 period."

According to the Post, Shoebat's family members also wonder why he claims to be living under a pseudonym for fear of reprisals when in fact he is using his own name.  They also are puzzled as to why he claims to have grown up as a  Jew-hating Islamist when   the ideology with which he  was  raised was actually "rather mild." The fact that this occurred  at a time when Palestinian nationalism had not yet become wedded to a militant interpretation of  Islam gives  even more weight to his family members' recollections.

The Sunday Telegraph described Shoebat as a man who "for much of his life... was eager to commit acts of terrorism for the sake of his soul and the Palestinian cause."

In that interview he described how he and his peers were indoctrinated as children "to believe that the fires of hell were an ever-present reality. We were all terrified of burning in hell when we died... The teachers told us that the only way we could certainly avoid that fate was to die in a martyrdom operation - to die for Islam."

But an uncle and a cousin of Shoebat, who still live in Beit Sahur in the Bethlehem area, where Shoebat grew up, said that Shoebat's education was rather mild ideologically, and that religion did not play a dominant role.

Even more potentially damning is what the journalist who wrote the piece for the Post uncovered about the foundation Shoebat established to receive monies for his work.  According to Shoebat this foundation is a registered charity in Pennsylvania.   When state officials were contacted about this, however, there was no evidence that this was the case, not, at least under Shoebat's name. Even more suspicious is the way donations are received on Shoebat's website:

Visitors to Shoebat's Internet site are encouraged to make a donation to his foundation to enable him to disseminate his message. However, a notice on the page states that for "security reasons," the money will not be debited to his foundation, but rather to a company called Top Executive Media. The name Top Executive Media is used by a greetings card firm from Pennsylvania called Top Executive Greetings, a company with an annual turnover of $500,000. When one makes a donation through the Shoebat Internet site, the Web address changes to topexecutivegreetings.com/shoebat.

This seems to be the only active page for the company; its homepage is blank.

Asked by the Post whether the Walid Shoebat Foundation is a registered charity, Shoebat replied that it is registered in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania State Attorney's office said it had no record of a charity registered under this name.

Clearly this needs to be investigated further. One wonders, in fact, how all of this got past officials at the  Air Force Academy who welcomed Shoebat and two other self-professed "ex terrorists" to speak to their students last month.  One wonders, too, at the wisdom of any group who would invite Shoebat and his cohorts  to speak while these accusations remain largely uninvestigated. This includes Christians United for Israel, who plan to showcase the "three ex-terrorists" at their annual summit meeting in Washington this coming July. 

The Jerusalem Post has done a great service in taking the first steps towards the encouragement of a more thorough investigation of of Shoebat’s public personae and his fundraising practices.  It's important that others now pick up where they left off. 

FOR THE FULL JERUSALEM POST ARTICLE CLICK HERE

Max Blumenthal on Christian United for Israel 

Daniel Trieman of the Jewish Daily Forward interviews Max Blumenthal  on his latest satirical  video from the Christians United for Israel convention in DC.  Blumenthal explains why Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and the Christian Zionist movement  pose a grave threat to the State of Israel

So I take it from this video that you don’t think that American Jews should ally themselves with these Christian Zionists?

Whatever you think about Israel, whether you’re a Zionist or not, whether you’re a Likudnik or you support Labor or even a more left-wing party, you have to recognize that Israel’s survival depends on a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. And this organization opposes and lobbies against any sort of negotiation with the Palestinians or Israel’s Arab neighbors, and that’s extraordinarily dangerous to Israel’s short-term security and long-term survival. If you look deeper in a moral sense, it’s absolutely immoral for Jews to align themselves with this organization — and cynical, because of their theology, which is openly antisemitic and culminates in a battle between what one participant in the conference described as a war between the Christians and the anti-Christians — the anti-Christians encompass Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, anyone who isn’t a born-again Christian, including mainline Christians and Palestinian Christians who’ve lived in Nazareth and Bethlehem since the days of the Apostles. So absolutely, I think it’s cynical and dangerous for Jews to align themselves with this organization and with Christian Zionists. And those who have reflect a level of desperation that I think is really troubling.

In part, this is because American Jews feel spurned by some groups that they had seen — particularly liberal Jews had seen — as their natural allies. For instance, the more liberal mainline churches are seen as unfairly placing the onus on Israel for its conflict with the Palestinians. The Presbyterians had moved forward on a divestment measure, an effort that we’ve seen echoes of in other mainline denominations. And many Jews view the intellectual left or the activist left — including The Nation magazine — as hostile to Israel. So people say, “Well, Jews and Israel should take their friends where they can get them, irrespective of what these friends think is going to happen in the afterlife.” How would you respond to people who say that, who feel because they perceive those on the left as being unfriendly to Israel, they can’t really turn away these people who are coming to them as allies, and as supporters of Israel?

“Being friendly to Israel” is sort of a loaded phrase. It’s a very subjective phrase. And I don’t know how you would define that, “Being friendly to Israel.” But if anyone thinks “being friendly to Israel” means encouraging Israel to take more land, encouraging Israel to expand its illegal settlements in the West Bank, encouraging Israel to ramp up hostilities with its neighbors, then I think those people need to look in the mirror and assess the consequences of their priorities, because these sort of initiatives have very dangerous consequences for Israel’s long-term survival. If they want to be in a permanent state of war, I think Christians United for Israel, those are great allies for Israel, and Christian Zionists in general.

Full Interview Here

Christian Right Ramps Up Support for Perpetual War in the Middle East

- by Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak, Executive Director of HaMifgash in Los Angeles, CA and co-director of JewsOnFirst.org and Rev. Dr. Donald Wagner, professor of Middle Eastern studies at North Park University in Chicago, IL. 

 *          *          *          *       * 

On July 16-19, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) will convene its second annual convention in Washington , D.C. and again push its apocalyptic war agenda with the Bush Administration and Members of Congress.   Last year CUFI’s inaugural convention drew approximately 3600 Christian fundamentalists and conservative Jewish supporters.  After three days of “sermons” by “end-time” preachers and politicians calling for war on Iran and additional military support for Israel ’s war with Hizbollah in Lebanon , conferees were deployed to Capitol Hill to lobby for these agendas.   This year’s convention is expected to serve up another diet of end-time Biblical scenarios and perpetual war in the Middle East with the centerpiece being a U.S. or Israeli attack on Iran . 

The Christian “end time” calculations of CUFI loyalists, coupled with  “re-build the Temple settler” Jewish allies, and the cynical demands of American and Israeli politicians form a pathogenic religious brew that is frightening.  Most American and Israeli Jews understand that territorial compromise, a viable Palestinian state and respect for Israeli and Palestinian security and national rights are the key ingredients for a peace agreement in the Holy Land .   CUFI and company prefer to see Israel control every inch of the West Bank and Gaza Strip even if the price is war without end.   We believe these policies are inconsistent with our scriptures, ethical standards, and the future security of both Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs.

CUFI’s President, the Rev. John Hagee, Pastor of the San Antonio Cornerstone Baptist mega-church, is the most visible Christian advocate of Christian Zionism and stronger U.S. ties to Israel ’s right wing political parties.  Despite the significant growth of CUFI and its close ties with Israeli and American Jewish leadership, its support is far from monolithic. In the Jewish community, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest religious grouping in America , reminded the Jewish community of the other agendas of the Christian Right and CUFI.  In a recent “Forward” editorial (5/18/07) entitled “When We Let John Hagee Speak For Us”, Rabbi Yoffie pointed to “the disastrous results of an alliance with John Hagee, who is contemptuous of Muslims, dismissive of gays, possesses a triumphalist theology and opposes a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.”  In addition, the long-held Jewish advocacy for civil liberties, particularly free speech, concern for the environment, and protection from Christian proselytizing activities in government sponsored activities are endangered by associating with the CUFI camp. 

The end-time fear and death theology practiced by fundamentalists (Jewish and Christian) conflicts with the teachings (Torah) of life and the Gospel (“Good News”).  The websites JewsOnFirst.org and Christianzionism.org provide alternative resources and analysis for Christians and Jews to challenge Christian Zionism and similar organizations that play fast and loose with their respective scriptures, the protection of civil liberties, and the separation of church and state. 

The mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches reject the theology and practices of Christian Zionism with five U.S. denominations issuing policy statements that reject the theology and practice of Christian Zionism.  In August, 2006, the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem , consisting of Patriarchs and Bishops representing all major Christian denominations in the Holy Land issued a clear challenge to Christian Zionism.  Citing Christian Zionism’s tendency to frame issues within a theology of war and an end-time Apocalypticism, the statement said: “We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teachings that corrupt the biblical message of love, justice, and reconciliation….We (further) reject these policies as they advance racial exclusivity and perpetuate war rather than the gospel of universal love.” Most Evangelical Christians also reject CUFI’s militant theology, as reflected in a July, 2002, letter to President Bush that was signed by fifty Evangelical leaders, which stated:  “Significant numbers of American evangelicals reject the way some have distorted biblical passages as their rationale for uncritical support for every policy and action of the Israeli government instead of judging all actions - of both Israelis and Palestinians --on the basis of biblical standards of justice. The great Hebrew prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, declared……that God calls all nations and all people to do justice to one to another, and to protect the oppressed, the alien, the fatherless and the widow.”  

The present decade has demonstrated repeatedly that most political conflicts in the Middle East cannot be resolved by military force alone, and certainly not by religious extremists.   Therefore, we call upon people of faith to reject CUFI’s agenda as false prophecy, reckless politics, and contrary to the essential teachings of the  three Abrahamic faiths.  We continue to hope that religious people will embrace the teachings of peace rather than war.  Jews, Christians and Muslims must stop blessing war and seek peace based upon justice.

So we figured this is as good a time as any to make clear, since we haven’t already, that Muzzlewatch does not advocate for the rights of people who are clearly bigots, like Shoebat, David Duke or Israel Shamir. We want a good, fair debate. Let a pure free speech site defend their right to speak. We won’t.

from MuzzleWatch.com