More on Christian Zionism on the politics of Israel-Palestine
One major political factor in the politics of the Israel-Palestine conflict in the US is the power of Christian Zionists within Protestant fundamentalism and the Republican Party.
Talia Lavin and David Swanson have a helpful roundup of Christian Zionism in the US since the 1980s and how it has affected Republican Party positions toward Israel.1 Lavin writes:
What [Christian Zionism] amounts to is cheering on Armageddon from the cheap seats—and directing funds to ensure it occurs. It's a grotesquerie of geopolitics and religion, and it carries undue weight in American foreign policy, thanks to the merger of the Christian Right and the Republican Party. A game of chess with eternity at stake.
Often, Christian Zionism—the fanatic belief that animates tens of millions of evangelical Christians in the US, many of whom have disproportionate power on the Christian right and by extension the Republican Party—redounds on Jews. The eschatological fantasy for which Israel is prime fodder requires our exploitation. Nonetheless, the “I stand with Israel” message that Christian-right congressmen, church leaders and governors proudly declare is viewed as another piece of evidence that Jews have unnatural and pernicious influence over American foreign policy.
It's worth noting that among Christian Republicans, and politicians who wish to appease the extremely politically active evangelical base, the fanatic support for American aid for Israel—particularly military aid, which makes apocalyptic conflict so much more tangible—comes from a dark well of faith, as well of prophecy and tribulation, of mass conversion and mass death, the highly anticipated kingdom at the end of the world. [my emphasis]
Yes, it is fundamentally fanatical and destructive.
Bart Ehrman is a Biblical scholar who puts a lot of time and effort in producing books and presentations designed to bring serious scholarship on the Christian Bible to a popular audience. This is a video podcast from him on the subject of the End Times.2
Another video from the same YouTube channel is blocked from being embedded: “The Book of Revelation and the End of the World: Are the Signs Now Being Fulfilled?”3. But it deals more directly with the Christian fundamentalist view of the End Times.
Lavin, Talia & Swanson, David (2023): America's Apocalyptic Cheerleaders: The Sword and the Sandwich 10/17/2023. <https://theswordandthesandwich.substack.com/p/americas-apocalyptic-cheerleaders> (Accessed: 2023-18-10).
Ehrman, Bart (2022): The Coming Apocalypse! Jewish and Christian Views of the End of the World. Bart D. Ehrman YouTube channel 12/13/2022. (Accessed: 2023-18-10).
Ehrman, Bart (2023): The Book of Revelation… Bart D. Ehrman YouTube channel 02/13/2023. (Accessed: 2023-18-10).
Don’t forget that Iran and its proxies, that the Left celebrates, excuses, or minimizes as a threat, are just as apocalyptic. They are far Right religious nutters, behind this war and many others, but of course an anti Zionist would avoid mentioning them.
"Iran is the epicentre of Shia Islam. The doctrine of Shia Islam is built around The Twelfth (and final) Imam, al-Mahdi, whom they believe is currently in occultation - alive, but hidden - and will only return once the holy land is rid of the Jews, and the Islamic world is pure, to fulfil his role as the saviour and leader of humanity. That’s what they actually believe. That’s why no negotiation, no reason, no compassion is even conceivable, despite President Obama’s criminally naïve attempts. "
https://open.substack.com/pub/amirpars/p/confessions-of-a-former-antisemite?r=1mebvk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web