Why America’s ‘Bless Israel’ Obsession Risks the Church, the World — and the Truth
During a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz displayed not only alarming geopolitical ignorance but also a brazen willingness to distort scripture in defense of his unwavering support for Israel. The verse he quoted — Genesis 12:3 — was shamelessly truncated, a common tactic used to lend divine legitimacy to Zionist exceptionalism in End Times prophecy. This verse has become the theological bedrock of a militant worldview known as Christian Zionism.
Even Jewish critics of Israeli state policy express dismay at the historical illiteracy and theological crudeness fueling this metastasizing ideology within American evangelical circles. I recall debating this phenomenon over a decade ago on LinkedIn with Jewish and Israeli acquaintances. I had dubbed it a “trailer-trash cult” — a fusion of biblical illiteracy, apocalyptic fervor and geopolitical delusion. Some of my Israeli counterparts, in a strange display of casual prejudice, alternately referred to Cruz and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio simply as “the Mexican.”
Christian Zionism thrives on ignorance and selective scriptural appropriation. Though often presented as ancient and immutable, it is in fact a relatively modern phenomenon, emerging alongside the rise of political Zionism in the late 19th century. Rather than treating scripture as sacrosanct, it distorts the biblical canon into a pliable tool — one that must conform to the ideological imperatives of the moment. In a nation like the United States, which has been at war for nearly 95% of its existence, this distortion often serves as theological cover for an “endless war” doctrine, with cherry-picked verses used to baptize geopolitical aggression and the confection of new enemies.
After World War II, when the Soviet Union became the first nation to grant de jure recognition to the modern state of Israel, this same movement began feverishly mining scripture to cast the USSR, and Russia in particular, as the apocalyptic villains Gog and Magog. (The geographic Gog and Magog of old lies in present-day Turkey). (more...)
Sacrilege and Statecraft: How Christian Zionism Distorts Scripture to Serve Empire
No comments:
Post a Comment