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NOTABLE BOOKS ON CHRISTIAN ZIONISM AND CHRISTIAN ZIONISTSBook of the Month
Author Michael Standaert contextualizes the Left Behind phenomenon by probing millennial thinking across cultures, from pre-Christian times to the present, and tracing the evolution of militant evangelism in the U.S., uncovering the links between fundamentalist religious figures and mainstream right-wing politicians through organizations like the Moral Majority. NEWS N BLOGS ON CHRISTIAN ZIONISM and CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS Updated 1 July, 2009 My First Christians United for Israel Event - US News & World Report The Thieves Pause: Israel "Open" to Summer Building Pause - Wallwritings - al Ahram -Mondoweiss - Monthly Review Church Leaders Back New Critique of "Israeli Apartheid" -Ekklesia Zion: Salt Lake City or Jerusalem? - Salt Lake City Examiner Israel Losing the PR "War" So badly that even Evangelical Support is Eroding - Jerusalem Post Christian Leaders Send Letter Backing Peace Efforts - Financial Times (UK) Obama Reversing Christian Right's Damage to Islam - Washington Post Obama is the First Sitting President to Speak of the Suffering of Palestinian Christians - Huffington Post The Bible is Not a Real Estate Guide - Weekend Post Biblical Prophesy and the Iraq War: Bush, God, Iraq and Gog - Counter Punch
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Pro-Peace
Christian Group Urged to Stand Up to Christian Zionist Fundamentalism.
During the Bush administration, the harmonic
convergence between the Christian Zionist theology and the
neoconservative political agenda ground U.S. peace efforts in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a halt. But Christians who support a
two-state solution, as evidenced at this week's annual conference of
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), are hopeful that Obama's call for
a settlement freeze will open the door for more robust advocacy for
Palestinian statehood. What struck me about CMEP, a coalition of 22
denominations' policy arms, is how different it is in tone and strategy
from Christian Zionist movements I've covered. The CMEP attendees,
church members from all over the country, are liberal mainline
Protestants and Catholics. They reject biblical literalism of the
Christian Zionist apocalyptism and its blind fixation on Israel as God's
land transfer to the Jews. In contrast to people I've met at Christians
United for Israel (CUFI) events, who get a one-sided view of the
conflict by traveling to Israel with televangelists like Hagee, many
CMEP attendees I met had traveled to the occupied territories to
document human-rights abuses. While CUFI hardly represents a majority of Christians,
it has a formidable political operation, fundraising capacity, and
organizing strategy compared to CMEP. And its ability to capitalize on
fear, of course, is not to be underestimated. This week, Hagee warns in
a video e-mail to supporters, "these are dangerous days for Israel." He
asks, "Will our leaders in Washington stand with Israel, or will they
focus their energy on forcing Israel into making concessions?" Daniel Levy, director of the Middle East Initiative at the New America Foundation, gave the CMEP audience a big heads-up about the Christian Zionists' organizing power, of which many in the audience seemed well aware. CMEP supporters need to organize and mobilize, and they need to advocate their case with members of Congress. "If there's not a counterbalance [with the Christian Zionists]," he said, "I don't see how even this president with his determination and good intentions succeeds." Videos on Christian Zionism from
Christians United for Israel (CUFI) as Barrier to Peace in Israel/Palestine An Evangelical Leader and Jewish Rabbi Speak on CUFI and Peace Resources for the Study of Christian Zionism and Christian ZionistsFrom the Interfaith Commission of the National Council of Churches (USA) ![]() Why We Should be Concerned about Christian Zionism From the Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism:An Adult Christian Education Course: Left Behind: Israel, the Bible, and the Future |
ARTICLES and MULTI-MEDIA PIECES ON CHRISTIAN ZIONISM AND CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS
Sabeel Makes a Statement at the Christian Zionist Parade in Jerusalem
ZIONISM AND
POST-HOLOCAUST CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY: A JEWISH PERSPECTIVE
Mark
Braverman, Ph.D.
Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace I have to tell
you that as a Christian, I feel personally responsible for the evil of
anti-Semitism and indeed for the Holocaust itself. I have been involved in
human rights work for my entire career, including for years working with an
interfaith group of Christian and Jewish clergy. Until recently, Israel and
the Palestinians simply didn’t come up. When, however, the issue of he
Presbyterian Church’s divestment from companies involved in the Israeli
occupation was raised in 2004, we decided not to discuss the issue out of
sensitivity for the rabbis in the group. My Jewish pedigree must be impeccable. I looked at him and with what can only be described as chutzpah, said: ‘Pastor, you need to do something else with your Christian guilt. The rabbis who will not engage with you in an honest discussion about Israel and Zionism are not friends of Israel. We Jews are in spiritual peril, and Israel itself is in grave danger. We need your help as a Christian leader and as a worker for justice and peace. Allowing this discussion to be muzzled and holding back from engagement in this struggle is not what Jesus would want you to do.’ The pastor didn’t flinch – not by backing off from his position, and not by dismissing my challenge. Our friendship – and our continuing dialogue – began onthat day. Christian Zionism: It challenges our Lutheran commitments |
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